Our columnist warns western commentators quick to advocate caution to Egyptians, that if they are honest noone knows what is taking place in Egypt in these extraordinary days which we are invited to observe - from above. Down below, there is a small problem with driving, and not just in Ethiopia.
Today the Gulf States have reached a political stalemate. Political Islam, playing right into the hands of the governments, has caused damage to the cause of secular reformists throughout the region.
Mariinsky-2, the new theatre in St Petersburg’s renowned artistic complex, opened to fanfares of national pride and triumph. Many locals are not so sure. Was it worth it and what is the end result?
The main item on the agenda in Turkey’s ‘agora style’ park forums over the last days has undoubtedly been “Madımak”.
Who should decide what children and young people should or shouldn’t read? A controversial new law means that in Russia, it's now often the state. Children's author Anna Remez describes the challenges of getting a book past the censors.
Almost by default, the swelling numbers of young Arabs, especially in the culturally vibrant centres of the Arab world (Cairo, Tunis, Beirut, Damascus, Casablanca, Kuwait, Manama), will create plurality - in social views, political positions, economic approaches, and in social identities and frame
A functioning state and pride in this functioning state is as much part of the Egyptian identity as the rest. It is precisely this compact of pragmatism, pride and aspiration that need to be understood to make sense of recent events.
Women can only hope for a better future if the next generation of Afghans is taught to unlearn religious, cultural, and gender prejudices that are instrumental in their oppression. Education is pivotal to this vision, and it is the single attainable factor that keeps the hope of our women alive
جنوب أفريقيا مرشحة أكثر من معظم دول العالم لأن تكون مدافعًا ومروجًا قويًا لحقوق الإنسان، وذلك بسبب ماضيها. حيث لديها القدرة على تزعم طريق الضغط من أجل نظام دولي أكثر ديمقراطية.
The red card for Morsi is at the same time a serious yellow card for democracy in Egypt. It will bring future prospects for democracy into deep trouble.
Ennahda's attempts to institutionalise its power and silence its opposition cannot be condoned. Nevertheless, Tunisia’s stymied liberalisation process must be understood within the broader context of domestic power dynamics, rather than solely through the lens of an ‘anti-democratic’ Islamist regi
