India’s Iran calculus
Is India an adversary or ally of the West in opposing Iran’s nuclear ambitions? As one of the countries that has consistently voted against Iran at the IAEA–yet has been loathe to abandon business with...
View ArticleObama gets Osama
The sudden killing of Osama Bin Laden by US special forces is being celebrated all over the world, but especially in Afghanistan and Iraq which became, wrongly, the victims of American wrath following...
View ArticleThe Bahrain formula
A year ago the Grand Prix in Bahrain was cancelled because of demonstrations by the country’s approximately 70% Shia majority, protesting their second class status. Bahrain was a creation of the...
View ArticleBook review: Eclipse of the Sunnis
The destruction of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003 created a power vacuum in the center of the Middle East. Nearly a decade of sectarian warfare and chaos ensued as militants from various communities...
View ArticleWhy Islam and Democracy Go Well Together
The Shiite scholar Mohammad Mojtahed Shabestari is regarded as one of the Iran’s most influential Muslim reformist thinkers. In an interview with Jan Kuhlmann, he explains why there is no inconsistency...
View ArticleIran-Egypt: old foes, new competitors
The recent outburst of violence in Gaza diverted the Western media’s attention from Syria. But Iran, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s closest regional ally, has remained focused on Syria. Iran...
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