Syria's dictator Bashar al-Assad likes to present himself as a champion of his nation's religious minorities, in particular the Christians. But increasing numbers of Syrian Christians in exile are resisting this narrative. By Martina Sabra
Egypt faces severe environmental challenges – but there is little environmental awareness among the public. Even leading intellectuals are interpreting news of global warming as a chimera created by "the West". Joseph Mayton reports
Aboubakr Jamaï is one of the most prominent representatives of Morocco's independent press and holds the 2010 Gebran Tueni Award of the World Association of Newspapers. He speaks to Claus Josten about his criticism, not only of the Moroccan government, but also of the role of Europe and the USA in the Moroccan situation
Ten years ago a unique intercultural center was founded in the Lebanese Shuf Mountain. Individual travelers and groups are invited there to learn about the postwar realities of Lebanon or to learn Arabic. Martina Sabra introduces the center
The Lebanese author Iman Humaidan-Junis has written a novel set in her country's civil war years. Her figures' stories, and thus the novel's atmosphere, are characterized by their disturbing and terrible ability to adjust to the reality of war. Angela Schader read the novel