Latest
Last updated: 1 March 2010
Latest items
March 2010 - The Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel remain controversial, but Arabs and Israelis can draw lessons from Anwar el-Sadat's quest for peace.
February 2010 - For a new generation of young Egyptian artists, music is not just about love.
Foreign hegemony or repressive self-rule?
February 2010 - The Arab world may debate the merits of external occupation versus repressive self-rule, but neither are acceptable.
Zero tolerance=zero difference
February 2010 - Belgian media hysteria over crime and calls for zero-tolerance policing miss the real issue – social exclusion in the inner city.
The naked truth about body scanners
February 2010 - Airport body scanners are being touted as the latest anti-terroism wizadry. But do they actually work and are they worth the invasion in privacy?
February 2010 - Christians across the Muslim world use ‘Allah’ to refer to ‘God’, so why has this led to violence and controversy in Malaysia?
Moving house with a twist. ©Christian Nielsen.
February 2010 - Island retreats are like rich ice cream… lovely until you become lactose intolerant. One place has all the creamy pleasure and none of the hype.
Egyptian football's pious turn
February 2010 - The national team is increasingly flaunting its Muslim religiosity. Where does that leave Christian, let alone secular Egyptians?
February 2010 - Big corporations are using the banking crisis as an excuse for exploiting cheap labour. Is it time for a global minimum wage?
January 2010 - Lean, green commuting machines will be the new black for Belgian fleet car managers this year.
The wealth of nations revisited
January 2010 - Natural wealth is so undervalued that countries believe they are getting richer when they are poorer. Can economists see green beyond the greenback?
January 2010 - From 'gay girls' to 'shagging flies', the changing meaning of English words causes no end of confusion.
My plan for a democratic Egypt
January 2010 - With the right leadership, Egypt could rid itself of nepotism and inequality to become a prosperous and egalitarian society.
January 2010 - Israel is building a new anti-migrant barrier along its Egyptian border – leaving Mubarak's regime with one problem fewer.
Diagnosing the Middle East's ills
January 2010 - Author and journalist Brian Whitaker diagnoses the Arab world’s problems.
Should America fear a democratic Egypt?
January 2010 - The depiction of Egypt as a country of religious fanatics who await a breeze of freedom to turn Egypt into a radical regime is far from accurate.
January 2010 - Visiting friends and relatives is a thriving tourism sector. But is visiting the dead a growing, if somewhat, morbid niche market?
January 2010 - Like shrimps on the barbie and hard yakka*, the great outdoors is one of the binding contracts of being Australian. Except it really isn’t.
Hating the 'world's smartest woman'
January 2010 - Linda De Win is clever, competitive and middle-aged – would Belgians respect her TV victories if only she were male too?
January 2010 - A Saudi journalist is demanding that women be given the right to four husbands. Should equality mean monogamy or polygamy for all?
December 2009 - The British are famously reserved, but so are the Belgians. Let's break the ice and make the public sphere more friendly.
Facebook: consider yourself de-friended
December 2009 - Facebook, Sellaband, Twitter… social networking is like the classics with the clap. And a bloody waste of time to boot.
December 2009 - Prominent Muslim Brotherhood member Kamal Helbawy talks about his research and ending the misconceptions that tie terrorism to Islam.
Labouring under a false premise
Iskander, shortly after his birth.
December 2009 - Barring men from the delivery room will not make giving birth any easier. In fact, it is a case of throwing out the father with the bathwater.
Getting in your face - it's a sensitive issue
December 2009 - Do you breed people like Nick Cave, or do they grow organically? Some adults and children are just more in tune with their surroundings.
Building intolerance in Switzerland
December 2009 - The Swiss minaret ban doesn't mean European Muslims are persecuted, but it makes me worry for the Europe my son has been born into.
