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Saudi Arabia

Understanding the Current Political Opening

In recent years international and domestic reform demands have injected new elements of openness into Saudi Arabia's political reality – but they have not altered the authoritarian nature of the political system fundamentally. By Amr Hamzawy
Saudi Arabia

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Recently there have been signs that Saudi Arabia has reached a historical turning point. Pressure from the international community but also from within has forced the Saudi royal family to cautiously introduce reforms. Joseph Croitoru reports
Interview with the Saudi Writer Badriya Al-Bishr

''Anything You Write about Is Made a Scandal, Even Love''

In her novel "Hind and the Soldiers", Saudi author Badriya Al-Bishr focuses the daily struggle of women in her native country for a little more personal freedom. Christoph Dreyer interviewed the Dubai-based writer and columnist
Literary Awakening in Saudi Arabia

A Distant Echo of 9/11

Close connections between the political system and the rigid religious authority of the Wahhabis have blocked Saudi Arabia's cultural and social development for a long time. But now, the fact that most of those responsible for the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 came from this country has had the effect of rousing its literary landscape. By Fakhri Saleh
Janadriyah Cultural Festival in Saudi Arabia

Diabolical Temptations

A festival in the north of Riad has been celebrating Saudi Arabia's culture since 1985. Now, after 25 years, the festival organisers have finally decided against gender segregation. Hanna Labonté reports on a festival between two worlds
Interview with the Saudi Reformer Taufiq Al-Seif

"Everyone Is Waiting for Political and Social Reforms"

Taufiq Al-Seif considers that domestic and foreign support for the new Saudi king, as well as a favourable economic and social situation, mean that conditions are right for the renewal of the country's political and social system. He spoke to Hassan Mustafa
The Saudi Arabian Legal System

Firm Alliance between Rulers and Scholars

When a woman who had been raped was sentenced to imprisonment and strokes of the lash in Saudi Arabia in November, the Saudi leadership found itself confronted with a wave of criticism. But how realistic are demands for reform? The Islam scholar Guido Steinberg examines the Saudi legal system
Publishers in the Arab World

You Don't Have a Chance, so Take it!

Almost everywhere in the Arab world, publishers have to make do without any marketing or distribution. How, then, do books reach their readers? Arab publishers met at a workshop in Abu Dhabi to seek common solutions. Gabriele Rubner has the details
Cairo's Literature Scene

Between New Dynamics and Political Repression

Arabic literary publishers usually only conduct small print-runs, and readers usually belong to a restricted clique of intellectuals. But recent times have seen a shift in the literary scene on the Nile. Susanne Schanda went to see for herself
Literary Publishers in Cairo

A Special Form of Modern Publishing

The German literary publisher Axel von Ernst was invited to Cairo to talk with Egyptian colleagues about the local literary world, as part of a German-Egyptian cultural programme. He describes his impressions in this report