A recipe for mashing civilisations
By Khaled Diab The migratory history of foodstuffs and cuisines reveals that our dinner tables, like our societies, are both
Read morerevolution
On the high-tech path to destruction
By Khaled Diab Rather than humans becoming enslaved by robots, machines have become the new slave or serf class, with
Read moreTrump is terrible but Europe and the Middle East have racism too
By Khaled Diab Outside America, Donald Trump has provoked near universal outrage and dismay. However, Europeans and Middle Easterners must
Read moreLost in ‘know-ware’ land
By Christian Nielsen It is the cypher of the age, the new C-word that the know-ware machine must not detect
Read moreBelgium’s endless identity crisis
As it stumbles from one political crisis to the next, Belgium faces a profound existential threat. But can the slow
Read moreThe unlikely demonisation of Salman Rushdie
By Khaled Diab Salman Rushdie made a very unlikely target for the fury of conservative Muslims, which is why the
Read moreThe clash between realpolitik and principled politics
The contrast between the red card from protesters and the red carpet from officials that greeted Mohammed bin Salman on his world tour highlights the growing global battle between a principled grassroots and a ‘pragmatic’ political leadership.
Read moreTunisia: Freedom and the pursuit of unhappiness
With greater freedom has come greater unhappiness in Tunisia. Behind this apparent paradox is economic hardship and nostalgia for a past that never was.
Read moreDissenting into the abyss
Western inaction against Saudi Arabia is emboldening the region’s regimes to clamp down harder on dissent. But by silencing peaceful and constructive change, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern regimes are paving the way to violent and destructive rage.
Read morePrisoners of our guilty consciences
The intensifying crackdown on the media and civil society in Egypt leaves Egyptians who are out of the country feeling powerless to help and guilty about the freedoms they enjoy.
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