Orient Xxi

Orient XXI is an online magazine on the Arab and Muslim world and the Middle East, founded by the former editor-in-chief of Le Monde diplomatique, Alain Gresh.

The media outlet offers a platform to specialists, journalists, academics, researchers, and diplomats who are experts in this region and contributors who live in the countries covered, and who have insider knowledge of their languages, cultures, and civilisations.

The idea of creating this media outlet appeared after observing that the French press was not presenting the information about the conflicts and wars of this region with enough knowledge, context, and background. The events were poorly covered, leading to acute debates about Muslims, Islam, and Palestine. The organisation wishes to offer "a rich and diversified approach to this zone in full transformation and whose future concerns us all".

Furthermore, it aims to serve as a bridge between these countries and European societies, approaching these worlds from all their aspects: political, economic, and cultural. The idea was to publish in French and Arabic with a small English section; the team wanted to encourage Arabic-speaking authors to write and translate the articles from Arabic to other European languages.

Finally, Orient XXI aims to connect the young generation of researchers with the broader public. In France, there are experts in the Arab and Muslim world, but their publications and academic production take a long time to be known, and Orient XXI's team wishes to play an active role in making this research known.