Stories Archive | Page 15 of 72

Analyses

After surpassing 90 percent approval in the first round of the presidential elections on October 6, incumbent Tunisian leader Kais Saied faces his new term in a political, social, and economic climate vastly different from that of 2019. We discussed this shift with writer and essayist Hatem Nafty, whose latest work, Notre ami Kaïs Saïed. Essai sur la démocrature tunisienne (Our Friend Kais Saied: An Essay on the Tunisian Dictatorship), was presented in late September.

Religion, Society
The Alarming Globalization of Islamophobia
Jocelyne Cesari 16 March 2023

Since 9/11, it has gained political traction over Europe and the US to decry all types of ethnic and religious prejudice against Muslims who are not only immigrants but also citizens. In the last decade, the surge of Islamophobia has become worldwide, reaching India, China and even Muslim countries.
International Affairs, Society
Trying To Reset 12 Years of History in Tunisia
Federica Zoja 14 March 2023

Tunisia is undergoing an authoritarian pivot that seems to be taking back to a time before the Jasmine Revolution paved the way for democracy. It is not difficult to find those who recognize this trend, not only among President Kaïs Saied detractors but even among those who originally supported him. Very few, however, agree to do so in the light of day, putting their name and face to it. Once again, it’s a time for “prudence,” “risk calculation,” “always better to avoid,” because the risks of retaliation even for one’s own family members are real. Reset DOC talks with Tunisian intellectuals, Amel Grami and Zyed Krichen to gauge moods and anxieties over the future of their country in view of the instauration of the Assembly on March 15th.
Human Rights, Society
Six Months After Mahsa Amini, Iran’s Will for Change
Hasn’t Died Out
Marina Forti 8 March 2023

Iran’s street demonstrations seem to be over. Since January, the news coming from inside the country reports minimal, albeit flashy gestures: a banner hanging from an overpass, graffiti, or small impromptu demonstrations. Signs that collective anger continues to simmer
International Affairs, Society
The Turkish Malaise: Cengiz Aktar on What has Led Turkey Down a Dark Path
Sofia de Benedictis 6 March 2023

On February 6th, two devasting earthquakes left officially over 45 thousand dead in Turkey while the actual figure is estimated to be three to four times higher. This year Turkey is marking 100 years since the founding of the Republic in 1923 and in his most recent essay, The Turkish Malaise, Cengiz Aktar, argues that a combination of factors have led to its current sorry state, which first and foremost is due to the fact that modern Turkey has never faced the sins of its past, and ignoring them has led to Erdogan’s swing towards totalitarianism and kleptocracy over the last 10 years.
Migrations
Sub-Saharan Migrants in Ouled Ziane:
a New Urban Reality in Casablanca
Rabii El Gamrani 13 February 2023

On one of Casablanca’s busiest thoroughfares and in the adjacent and centrally located Ouled Ziane bus station, in the construction site of the tracks of the third tram line, hundreds of sub-Saharan citizens camp out day and night, consuming their lives waiting and idle and living on handouts and gimmicks. They are so-called transit migrants whose goal – unlike other sub-Saharan nationals who have chosen to settle in Morocco – is to reach the other side of the Mediterranean.
Human Rights, Media and Communication
India’s Ban on BBC Doc Sheds Light on Press Freedom
Maria Tavernini 10 February 2023

India’s ruling Bhratiya Janata Party has blocked “The Modi Question”, the documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Arts, Society
Its Creative Impetus Might be
how Beirut Gets its Glory Back
Nicole Hamouche 1 February 2023

“Art is before anything, the confrontation with one’s destiny”, wrote the Lebanese poet, Nadia Tuéni. And the Lebanese have had indeed no choice but to confront their destiny. Against all odds, the last years of repression and depression, marked by the October 2019 revolution, the port’s blast, and the financial crisis, have given rise to a buoyant creativity in all forms.
Human Rights, International Affairs
Israeli West Bank Occupation at a breaking point:
National Security Minister Ben Gvir’s Endgame
Claudia De Martino 16 January 2023

The Supreme Court’s affaire is diverting the public opinion from a plan that may bring about a breakthrough: the final blow to the “two States-solution”.
Philosophy, Religion
When Habermas and Ratzinger Shared
the Idea of a Post-Secular Age
Giancarlo Bosetti 4 January 2023

Ratzinger shared with Habermas a “post-secular” vision, namely the idea that for contemporary societies the classical narrative of modernity as secularization, disenchantment and the abandonment of religion to the margins of society, or its confinement to the private sphere, should be discarded. Both saw the value in the possibility that from a dialogue between public reason and faith, both sides could benefit or, going further, that processes of “mutual learning” could be initiated.
International Affairs
Basque Separatists Find New Voice in Spanish National Politics
Andrea Walton 3 January 2023

In the first coalition government in the history of modern Spain that does not rely on a stable parliamentary majority, the role of regional parties has significantly increased and so has the role of municipal and regional elections; the next ones are in May 2023 to be followed by general elections later in the year. On May 28, 2023, there will also be the Basque foral elections, in the autonomous community historically divided between separatist and nationalist forces.