openDemocracy

15 February 2003 anti-war protest, London

With voting in the Labour leadership contest underway, David Wearing examines why the Iraq war was such a fundamental call which has much to teach us about a future leader's judgement.

Iran reinvigorates a strategy for regional dominance

Ehsan Azari

Tehran’s ‘three Persian speaking countries’ project is aimed at subjugating Afghanistan

Obama’s failing middle east policy

Avni Dogru

Avni Dogru summarises the middle east's falling in and out of love with US President Barack Obama.

Wednesday 25th August

What kind of feminism does war provoke?

Cynthia Cockburn, 25 August 2010

The to-ing and fro-ing about ‘women’s peaceful natures’ is no more than an excitable bubble of argument out of touch with facts on the ground. Antiwar feminism is a pretty holistic feminism that is forged in the crucible of war.

Beware of meddling in Kyrgyzstan!

John Heathershaw, 25 August 2010

Despite deep fissures in Kyrgyz society in the aftermath of the upheavals, external intervention would be counterproductive, advises John Heathershaw. Instead, foreign governments should concentrate their efforts on reducing the stakes of the conflict.

Sex, secularism, and religious influence in U.S. politics

Elizabeth Bernstein and Janet R. Jakobsen, 25 August 2010

To promote gender equality, feminist alliance politics in the U.S. needs to challenge Protestant hegemony in both its religious and secular guises, while recognizing religious diversity both among and within religious traditions. Anti-trafficking policies illustrate the effects of the current neoliberal/conservative consensus

Tuesday 24th August

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of August 23, 2010

Charles Shaw, 24 August 2010

We lead this week's report with a groundbreaking new study from the UK Drug Policy Commission on the extreme social stigma suffered by addicts. It raises some fundamental questions about the nature of addiction and the extent to which it is seen as a moral, medical or social issue.

Disarmed

Jim Gabour, 24 August 2010

In a return to the putrid nightmare of post-Katrina New Orleans, Jim Gabour learns the hard way about what is needed to keep on the right side of life. First published September 5th 2005. Updated August 24th 2010.

A radical idea for party funding reform: one-person-one-card

Guy Aitchison, 24 August 2010

The disclosure by the Electoral Commission in the UK of donations to the political parties has revived age old questions about party funding reform. Here's one idea for reform that would strengthen citizens' control over the political process and reduce the influence of big money.

Al-Shabab renew offensive in Mogadishu

Luke Heighton, 24 August 2010

More attacks in Mogadishu, as Al-Shabab steps up its campaign against African Union troops. Convicted Islamists escape prison as fears of militant action in Central Asia increase. Russian security forces kill top Causcaus Emirate leader. Report calls for further US-Russian nuclear disarmament. All this and more in today’s security briefing.

Building a global peace movement

Diana Francis, 24 August 2010

How can we build a strong and effective global peace movement?’ Cynthia Cockburn, Howard Clark and Dave Webb reply to Diana Francis

Twenty-first century mercenaries - Afghanistan's answer?

Ray Kane, 24 August 2010

Contracted officers could be the future of international support for the Kabul government, argues Ray Kane.

Zijo’s Journey

Jennifer Purwin and Michael Jovic, 24 August 2010

New forms of communication are considered necessary to reenergize the Roma rights movement and raise awareness about the precarious situation of Roma in Europe. The documentary film "Zijo’s Journey" represents an exploration of the continuing plight of the Roma Gypsies in Europe and an attempt to catalyze social change

Kaliningrad's Day of Anger

Konstantin Rozhkov, 24 August 2010

Some weeks ago Kaliningrad achieved a first in Russia by getting its governor Georgy Boos fired by the Kremlin. On 21 August thousands gathered to protest at the state of Russia and to demand the resignation of Putin and his government.

The Clash of Civilizations revisited

Carlo Ungaro, 24 August 2010

Samuel P. Huntington’s oft-pilloried work, “The Clash of Civilizations”, has long lost its original academic potency. However it has growing leverage at the grass-roots level where the clash has been reinterpreted to justify growing islamophobia

Monday 23rd August

The Battle for Khimki Forest

Yevgenia Chirikova, 23 August 2010

The plan to construct a section of the new Moscow-St.Petersburg motorway through the legally-protected Khimki Forest Park will destroy a rare eco-system. Dogged local resistance has turned this into a national, even international issue. But it has not derailed the plan The article was first published on March 17, 2010

The Poet and the Tsar

Olga Sherwood, 23 August 2010

When Putin sat down to tea with artists and musicians before a charity concert last month, he could not have expected difficult questions, writes Olga Sherwood. He had not counted on DDT's Yury Shevchuk, who found the courage to stand out from the crowd and launch a memorable and principled criticism of the current political course. The article was first published on July 1st, 2010

How billionaires can help the world

Lorenzo Fioramonti, 23 August 2010

The Giving Pledge promoted by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett is a huge commitment of funds by the super-rich to philanthropic ends. At its core is a view that business, however conducted, is just a means to an end, the source of money to be distributed to good causes by wealthy elites. Business leaders would do well to apply their zeal and skills to reforming the objectives and operations of their vast engines of wealth.