Residents of Akcakale Pressure Turkish Government to Take Action on Syria
This week's deadly shellings by Syria have brought fear to the residents of Akcakale, Turkey. After burying their dead, they are now asking why the government in Ankara didn't do more to protect them?...
View ArticleRussian Plane Suspected of Carrying Arms for Syrian Regime
Moscow is denying that weapons were on board the Syrian Air jet forced to land in Ankara on Wednesday. But the incident is likely to increase tensions between Turkey and Syria. As Putin's cancellation...
View ArticleGrowing Influence of Religion Sparks Fears across Egypt
When he took office as Egypt's new president in June, Mohammed Morsi pledged to follow a pluralist policy that respected the rights of women and non-Muslim minorities. But everything he has done since...
View ArticleLebanon Tribunal May Investigate Recent Assassination
In mid-October, a massive car bomb killed Wissam al-Hassan in downtown Beirut. The intelligence chief was buried as a hero and praised by the West for his help in investigating the 2005 assassination...
View ArticleSyrian Rebels Have Drifted into Regime Style Violence
The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has perpetrated brutal attacks on both rebel fighters and civilians alike. Lately, though, the spotlight of world attention has been on alleged atrocities...
View ArticleSpiegel Speaks with ElBaradei on the Situation in Egypt
Last week Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi granted himself sweeping new powers, a move that has sparked widespread backlash. In a SPIEGEL interview, Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei argues that the...
View ArticleGerman Media: Morsi Power Grab A Move Towar Egyptian Islamization
Democratic reform in Egypt has taken a distressing turn for the worse with President Mohammed Morsi's recent move to give himself sweeping new powers, German commentators say on Monday. Many fear that...
View ArticleEgypt at a Crossroads after Morsi Grants Himself Sweeping Powers
Egyptians elected Mohammed Morsi to the Egyptian presidency just a few months ago. Now, the Muslim Brotherhood leader has made a grab for absolute power. The move has torn open old wounds in the...
View ArticleInterview with Former Arab League head Amr Moussa about Egypt
Thousands of protesters again took to the streets of Cairo on Tuesday in protest against far-reaching new powers President Mohammed Morsi has reserved for himself. Former Arab League General Secretary...
View ArticleMuslim Brotherhood Planning Massive Counter-Demonstration
Egyptian President Muhammed Morsi seems unshaken by the massive protests that shook Cairo on Tuesday night. He has shown no interest in retreating from his recent power grab and the Islamist group...
View ArticleMuslim Brotherhood Powers Through Opposition in Egypt
Two worlds are colliding in Egypt. While President Morsi wants to force through an Islamist constitution, the secular opposition is holding massive demonstrations in protest. Both sides are unwilling...
View ArticleGerman Media Commentary on New Unrest in Egypt
The fight for power in Egypt is heating up as President Mohammed Morsi struggles to counter the influence of the remnants of the pre-revolutionary regime. Now, as Mubarak-era judges go on strike,...
View ArticleIslamists and Secular Society Battle for Freedoms after Arab Spring
The rise of political Islam following the Arab Spring has many worried that the democratic achievements of the revolution could be lost. In Egypt and Tunisia alike, citizens are once again taking to...
View ArticleSalafist Intimidation Campaign Threatens Young Democracy in Tunisia
Almost two years after the Arab Spring got its start in Tunisia, Salafists are intimidating women, artists and intellectuals. Many fear that the government is tacitly supporting the radical Islamists...
View ArticleViolence in Egypt Escalated on Wednesday as Morsi Protests Turn Bloody
Five people were killed and 450 injured on Wednesday night in Cairo as Islamist backers of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi clashed with the opposition outside the presidential palace. The government...
View ArticleGerman Media Warns of More Violence in Egypt
In the face of growing opposition, Egyptian President Morsi has pledged to forge ahead with his polarizing constitution and defended the decrees that have granted him near absolute power. German...
View ArticleMohammed Morsi Fans the Flames of Hatred in Egypt
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi addressed his nation on Thursday night. But instead of striking a conciliatory tone aimed at calming the tense situation in his country, he continued to toe the Muslim...
View ArticleSPIEGEL Interview with Israeli President Shimon Peres on Peace
The United Nations has recognized a Palestinian state and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to prefer confrontation over negotiation. But in an interview with SPIEGEL, Israeli President...
View ArticleMuslim Brotherhood Accused of Vigilante Justice During Clashes in Cairo
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood are resorting to vigilante justice in Egypt's power struggle. During clashes with opponents of President Mohammed Morsi last Wednesday night, the Islamists took...
View ArticlePresident Mohammed Morsi and His Ties to the Muslim Brotherhood
Mohammed Morsi may be the president of Egypt, but it's the Muslim Brotherhood that appears to be calling the shots. The Islamist group waited decades for a shot at power in the country and it isn't...
View ArticleGaining a Clearer View of the Increasing Barbarity in Syrian Civil War
After spending months reporting on the conflict, a SPIEGEL journalist has pieced together a realistic view of the situation on the ground, and reports that dictator Bashar Assad's fall seems...
View ArticleShift in Balance of Power for Rebels in Wartorn Syria
Since unrest began in Syria in the spring of 2011, reporting from the country has been difficult. Former contacts are now dead or can't be located, and the country lies in ruins. Now, amid harrowing...
View ArticleEgyptian President Reportedly not as Conciliatory To Israel as He Appears
Is Mohammed Morsi a peacebroker or a virulent anti-Semite? A former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, who has known Morsi for 13 years, believes that behind the Egyptian president's veneer of goodwill...
View ArticleMerkel Pledges No New Aid During Visit by Egyptian Leader to Berlin
Right in the middle of the biggest crisis of his presidency, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has come to Germany. Morsi had been hoping Berlin would forgive hundreds of millions of euros in debt. He...
View ArticleOpposition in Egypt Becomes More Radical with Black Bloc
Protests against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood are becoming increasingly violent. One factor behind this is the founding of the "Black Bloc," a loosely organized group of...
View ArticleKilling of Opposition Politician Risks Plunging Tunisia Into Chaos
The murder of opposition politician Chokri Belaïd was also an assault on Tunisia's emerging democracy. It has exposed the chasm between Islamists and secularists, and threatens to plunge the nation at...
View ArticleMoroccan Blogger Champions Freedom in Swiss Exile
After coming out as a secularist in Muslim Morocco, blogger Kacem El Ghazzali became the subject of harrassment and death threats. At a time when many young people go to college, he saw no choice but...
View ArticleCompetitors and Local Opposition Threatens Desertec Solar Plan
The ambitious Desertec plan to supply Europe with solar power from the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East seems to have stalled. It could now be facing even greater problems as competitors...
View ArticleFormer US National Security Advisor Brzezinski on Syrian Chemical Weapons
In a SPIEGEL interview, former United States National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, 85, discusses President Barack Obama's tepid response to the civil war in Syria and allegations that chemical...
View ArticleA Citizens Protest Movement Builds in Kuwait
Why should the citizens of one of the richest countries in the world take to the streets? Fed up with the paternalizing, incompetent leadership of the ruling family, a citizen's movement is waking in...
View ArticleGerman Press React to Anti-Government Protests in Turkey
With violent protests against the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan continuing in Turkey, both the US and Europe have called for calm. The demonstrations -- and the government's brutal...
View ArticleEuropean Leaders Warn of Setback to Democracy after Egypt Coup
Leaders in Europe and elsewhere have expressed dismay at the coup which saw the Egyptian military topple the country's president on Wednesday night. Some are warning that it sets a "dangerous...
View ArticleEgypt Faces Violence and Tension as it Seeks to Reestablish Democracy
Egypt has been racked by violence since last week's military intervention to remove President Mohammed Morsi. What, though, is the way forward? The stories of three Cairo residents help provide clues.
View ArticleOpposition Politician Murder Sparks Anti Government Protests in Tunisia
The murder of a leading opposition figure in Tunisia has sent thousands of Tunisians to the streets. They accuse the governing Islamists of being behind the killing, and many in the opposition hope to...
View ArticleNew Riyadh Metro Could Usher In Social Change In Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, a subway under construction isn't just a means of public transport -- it's a symbol of change. Officials hope the Riyadh Metro will relieve gridlock and help revive public life. It...
View ArticleTensions Rise between Secularists and Islamists in Tunisia
Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring over two years ago. But growing frustration and violence have caused the chasm between secularists and Islamists to widen, leading many to fear political...
View ArticleViolence In Egypt Forces West To Choose Sides
Egypt's political unravelling puts the West in a tight spot. Its reaction to this week's massacre will affect its image in the Arab world for many years to come. So far, it has been anything but...
View ArticleLawyer Farid el-Deeb: Hosni Mubarak Will Be Set Free
Farid al-Deeb, the lawyer of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, talks to SPIEGEL about his client's health and ties to the current transitional government -- and why he believes the ex-president...
View ArticleThe Price Egyptian Aliaa Elmahdy Paid for Posting Nude Photo Online
Egyptian Aliaa Elmahdy became an icon of the Arab Spring after she posted a nude photo of herself online. Then she fled to Sweden after receiving death threats from Islamist extremists. What and whom...
View ArticleProfile: Mohammed El Mahdi Seeks To Reconcile Divided Egypt
Mohammed el-Mahdi is Egypt's new minister for reconciliation. He's fighting to create a new country, even as society fragments. It's an uphill task in a land where the military is expanding its power...
View ArticleCatching Up with the Leaders of the Tahrir Square Uprising
Four years after the Arab Spring uprising, Egypt has once again become a dictatorship. How could things have come to this? Author Thanassis Cambanis tracked three leaders of the revolution at Tahrir...
View ArticleTracing the Rise of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi
In June 2014, former military officer Abdel Fattah el-Sisi became Egypt's president. Did his election represent the will of the people or was it the product of a coup? And will it mark the end of the...
View ArticleIslamic State: Egyptian President Sisi Calls for Help in IS Fight
In a SPIEGEL interview, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi discusses his country's struggles, the forceful overthrow of his predecessor Mohammed Morsi and the threat against Egypt posed by Islamic...
View ArticleYoung Activists Disappear Amid Egyptian Government Crackdown
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's security forces have been kidnapping scores of young activists in the country. They include former revolutionaries and Islamists who are, in many cases, being...
View ArticleLibya Descends into Chaos as Islamic State Expands
With two separate governments waging war against each other, Libya is crumbling. Islamic State is taking advantage of the turmoil to put down roots in the country. The US is weighing intervention.
View ArticleMiddle East: Iran Influence Could Lead to More Violence
The Arab Spring may have passed over Lebanon and Iraq eight years ago, but now protestors in both countries are taking to the streets to demand changes to the system. The regime in Iran is unlikely to...
View ArticleHoney and Hope: A Spark of Optimism in the Yemen Civil War
The province of Shabwa in Yemen has become home to a minor miracle. First, a hospital was built, and now a holiday resort is in the works. The local governor would like to see the province provide a...
View ArticleTunisia's President Turns Back the Clock to Authoritarianism: A Wave of...
Over a decade ago, the Arab Spring got its start in Tunisia. Now, the country's president is tightening his authoritarian grip. The Europeans, though, have been largely silent: They need the Tunisian...
View ArticleAssaults, Harassment and Beatings: Does the EU Share Blame for Police...
The West has provided the Tunisian security apparatus with millions of euros in funding. It had been earmarked for combating terror, curbing migration and strengthening the democratic transition....
View ArticleIran's Conflict with Israel: A Dangerous Spiral of Violence in the Middle East
The danger of all-out war in the Middle East is greater than ever. How did Israel and Iran get into this mess? And can they still find a way out?
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