Hassan Mahamdallie discovers shoots of hope in the wastelands of Detroit. Peter Clark thinks that Istanbul is the eternal capital of the world, Robert Irwin is impressed by intellectual developments in Medieval Basra, Boyd Tonkin is unimpressed by off-the-peg culture in Persian Gulf Cities, Eric Walberg finds friendship, authoritarianism and Islam in Tashkent, Javaad Alipoor is haunted by utopias in Tehran, Nimra Khan visits the transgender community of Lahore, Jeremy Henzell-Thomas tries to make sense of city rankings, Paul Vallely investigates the complicated financial system of the Vatican, Irfan Yusuf takes us on a guided tour of mosques in Sydney, Martin Rose recounts the history of Rabat - the 'pearl of Morocco', Irna Qureshi and Syima Aslam organise a literary festival in Bradford, VMK photographs the migrant workers of Dubai, and Zina Mamouni watches Abderrahmane Sissako's brilliant film Timbuktu. 

Also in this issue: S Parvez Manzoor on Obstinate Sovereignty (again), Muddasir Ramzan on a bold new novel about Kashmir, a short story by the novelist Maria Chaudhuri, four poems by the Australian hip hop artist Zohab Khan, Stuart Schaar's Last Word on the late Fatima Mernissi and our list of Ten Cities to Visit Before You Die!