Dramaturgie im zeitgenössischen Tanz ist ? positiv gemeint ? ein heißes Eisen. Idealerweise sind Dramaturginnen und Dramaturgen während der Erarbeitung eines Stücks die besten Freunde der Choreografen. more
I admire the achievements of the Enlightenment as much as Professor Cliteur appears to do, but I also believe that one of its greatest achievements is the rejection of dogmatism, of any kind. By Ian Buruma.
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Ian Buruma's "Murder in Amsterdam" is written from a postmodern mindset which puts radical Enlightenment on a par with radical Islamism. But this approach will do nothing to pacify the most radical elements - as the mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, knows only too well. By Paul Cliteur
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Islam is not as diverse as Ian Buruma maintains in his answer to Pascal Bruckner. On the contrary, it is an oppressive social reality, codified in the "Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam." Signed by 45 Muslim countries, this upholds the Sharia as the basis of the Islamic identity. By Necla Kelek
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Neither live-and-let-die separatist multiculturalism nor the secularist republican monoculturalism preached by Bruckner work. Policies of integration cannot be based on the assumption that millions of Muslims will drop their faith when they come to Europe. Timothy Garton Ash responds to Pascal Bruckner.
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Nobody is defending honour killing or female circumcision. Such crimes are matters of law enforcement. Trickier is the question of how to prevent mainstream Muslims from being infected with violent ideologies. Ian Buruma responds to Pascal Bruckner. (Image © Stefan Heijdendael)
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali doesn't only look beautiful, she also invokes Voltaire. This is too much for Ian Buruma and Timothy Garton Ash, who call her an "Enlightenment fundamentalist." But their idea of multiculturalism amounts to legal apartheid. By Pascal Bruckner
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On January 1, Romania became a member of the EU. While the country has managed to comply with most accession criteria, it has not been able to do away with Securitate, the invidious secret service of the former dictatorship. Romanian-German author Herta Müller takes a closer look.
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One fifth of the population of Chechnya has died in the war there. The West has played deaf. Studies Without Borders is the initiative of a few French students to bring Chechen students to Europe to study. A drop of hope in an ocean of indifference. By Andre and Raphael Glucksmann.
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The country is like a prefabricated building on historic land. With Turkey's opening to the West, the question is: What is supplanting the Islamic mysticism which, for centuries, provided the inspiration for that country’s music and literature? By Zafer Senocak
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Nationalist chic has Bulgaria in its grip and anti-Europeanism is catching on fast. Europe's main problem is the divergence of rule of law and democracy and the consequences will be extremely hard to turn back, writes the Bulgarian cultural anthropologist Ivaylo Ditchev.
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Since France's first suburban riots took place there in 1981, Les Minguettes has had a serious image problem. The suburb of Lyon is synonymous with integration problems, urban violence and social decay. But having taken the time to look behind the apartment block facades, Anne-Marie Vaterlaus paints a picture not entirely devoid of hope.
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Supposedly wiped out after September 11, 2001, Taliban once again control half of Afghanistan. The group's leaders have issued a new book of rules. In a worldwide exclusive, the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche published the text of the new Taliban codex which addresses behaviour towards "infidels" and enemies of Islam, the administration of justice, and rules of daily life. It is published in English here for the first time.
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The Taliban once again control half of Afghanistan. The group's leaders have issued a new book of rules. In a worldwide exclusive, the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche published the text of the new Taliban military codex and an interview with Mullah Sabir, one of the hard core of the Taliban cadre. By Sami Yousafzai and Urs Gehriger.
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Amid reports of brutal sexual abuse in broad daylight - linked with political intimidation - there are also stories of courage and creativity in an Egypt whose ties with Europe remain strong. In her letter from Cairo, Mariam Lau writes about despair and hope in the streets of the capital.
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Jürgen Habermas laments the swelling feel-good patriotisms in Europe and the flagging communal European spirit. The EU will only be able to fulfill its international mandate if Europeans learn to form a common front, and to recognise that the Polish plumber and the Portugese winegrower are key to European unity.
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