Pick of the Web
Finland's 'Iraqgate': passing the test of democracy
Finland’s anti-war prime minister, Anneli Jäätteenmäki, was forced to resign over her conduct in relation to a leaked memo on Iraq. As questions to American and British leaders intensify over their own record in the prelude to war, does Finland’s ‘Iraqgate’ reveal a political culture where consistency between words and actions still matters?
Towards genomic solidarity: lessons from Iceland and Estonia
How can the experiences of Iceland and Estonia in establishing national Genes Banks contribute to a global understanding of genes and ownership? An American life sciences historian recommends adopting the model of labour unions as a way to inform donors and public about all the variables of research and consent. Could Britain, with its strong union history and recent creation of the UK Biobank, be a pioneer of such ‘genomic solidarity’?
World Social Forum: what should it be when it grows up?
The spectacular growth of the World Social Forum has outstripped its opaque structures of governance. How should it be reformed? To be effective, must it become a decision-making body, or instead reinvent itself as a smaller theatre for delegated representatives? Should it cut its shadow relationship to the World Economic Forum? These questions of governance reflect fundamental issues of political direction for movements seeking a way beyond the current globalisation model.
Part 2: 'Pro-gumbo': culture as anarchy
Part 2 of The new information ecosystem: cultures of anarchy and closure
God, Yahweh, also known as!Allah
Politics begins with the way we use words, George Orwell reminded us. At a precarious moment for relations between Muslims and their ‘others’ it is important to recall that Allah is not the name of the Muslim god; that God, Allah and Yahweh are different words for the same deity.
Too much champagne, not enough leadership
The draft EU constitution isn’t all that its supporters like Ben Crum claim: deep compromises on the substance are shown up in divided – or absent – leadership structures, the bifurcated presidents of Commission and Council being the most obvious example. Why not be honest about federalism?
More offensive buffoonery
Silvio says, Gerhard groans, Raffarin Raffarindes. Plus, ©Mother Teresa gets legal.
The nature of Iraqi resistance
The scale and sophistication of attacks on United States forces in Iraq reinforce the problems of American military planners and ground troops alike. Is this a pre-planned campaign, or an insurgent resistance to the occupation fuelled by the depredations of war and the failures of reconstruction?
Iraq and chemical weapons: a view from the inside
In both the United States and Britain, there is passionate contest over the legitimacy and honesty of government attempts to justify war with Iraq, especially claims of the existence of active Iraqi chemical weapons programmes. In an interview of profound insight, the man responsible for chemical weapons destruction operations in Iraq from 1991-94 talks to Anthony Barnett and Caspar Henderson of openDemocracy about the true extent of Iraq's capacity to produce, store and deliver weapons of mass destruction.
A realist security strategy for the United States
What should a National Security Strategy for the United States in the 21st century look like? Two Heritage Foundation analysts see twin dangers in Charles Pena’s focus on homeland security and Philip Bobbitt’s emphasis on alliance-building: isolationism and internationalism. The challenge for the US is to avoid both neglect and overstretch, and to pursue a realist foreign policy that can ensure its global hegemony for centuries to come.
The Estonian Genome Project: a hot media item
The Head of Information of the Estonian Genome Project Foundation replies to Tiina Tasmuth’s critique and argues that those with ‘dissenting views’ are few while the majority of Estonians support the country’s Gene Bank project.
Do the poor like globalisation?
When it comes to globalisation, where does wishful thinking end and clear-headed analysis begin?
European Islam: the return of Hagar
The arrival and settlement of significant Muslim populations in Europe’s heartlands is often met with political oppression, security obsession, and religious suspicion from its governments and media. It need not be so, says a British Muslim convert: Muslim migration could reinvigorate Europe, if the continent can learn to think globally, resist irrational reflexes, and rediscover itself in the encounter with its most significant ‘other’.
Does the CAP fit?
The European Union’s common agricultural policy is coming under sustained attack from all sides. Should it be scrapped, or reformed? An insider from the office of the commissioner for Agriculture for the EU explains some of the principles of reform – decoupling, degressivity, modulation – and argues that the reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) emerging from the Doha Development Round, will lead to a fairer, and sustainable, Europe wide policy.
Poland and the CAP: snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
As the European Union initiates widespread reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Krzysztof Mularczyk tells the sorry tale of Poland’s failure to prepare its huge agricultural sector to meet the challenge of accession. Is Poland set to benefit from the new CAP?
Growing insurgency in Iraq
The US administration’s relentlessly positive view of developments in Iraq is at variance with the reality on the ground. High American casualties signify well-organised resistance, while efforts at peace-building and democratisation look increasingly inadequate. On current trends, there are troubles ahead for American policy and strategy in Iraq and the wider region.
Eigen Volk Eerst!
The far-right Vlaams Blok gained ground in Belgium’s May 2003 elections on an anti-immigrant, nationalist platform. The journalist Nick Ryan spent time there with suits and skinheads. This extract from his book ‘Homeland’ tells the gripping story of their attempts to “save their identity” from “globalisation and mongrelisation” – a battle fought on the streets, in pubs and in the parliament.
Communism, Fascism or Berlusca-ism?
Silvio reigns over Europe’s parade, Mugabe meets Gaddafi, Bush heads to Africa
Reflections on China's internet boom
A persistent western narrative views the internet boom in China as a vehicle for the “opening of a closed society” that is hitherto shielded by an informational “Chinese Wall.” The impenetrable wall may always have been a fiction; in any case, the information explosion of Chinese cyberspace challenges stereotype and heralds the emergence of a new social force: public opinion.
China has been experiencing a digital explosion.
Bitter victory: June 1953 through the East German lens
The 50th anniversary of the 17 June 1953 uprising was filtered through current concerns, including a powerful ‘ostalgie’ for the progressive elements of the old German Democratic Republic. East German historians have proposed an interpretation of the uprising which puts the workers’ protest at the centre. Its achievement should be celebrated, they argue, as it compelled GDR politicians and their Soviet masters to defuse the tensions that the mass strike produced.
This week's editor
Europe from the bottom up
European debate
Democratic Wealth
Nuclear non-proliferation
Women and the Arab Spring
oDRussia at journalismfestival .com
Mali - the plot thickens
.jpg)
Remote control war
Stay Informed
Sign-up for a free weekly email
Sign-up for a free weekly email
Advertising notice
openDemocracy on Twitter
Cities in Conflict
Window on the Middle East
openDemocracy on Facebook
Our Authors
Lis Howell On broadcasting
Dan Hancox Revel, Riot and Rebellion
Martin Rose Bliss Was It in that Dawn to Be Next Door
Vron Ware Up in Arms
Jim Gabour Sunday Comics
James Warner Standing Perpendicular, as books do
Markha Valenta Inter Alia: religion, politics, culture
Paul Rogers on Global security
Mary Kaldor on Human security
Lis Howell On broadcasting
Dan Hancox Revel, Riot and Rebellion
Martin Rose Bliss Was It in that Dawn to Be Next Door
Vron Ware Up in Arms
Jim Gabour Sunday Comics
James Warner Standing Perpendicular, as books do
Markha Valenta Inter Alia: religion, politics, culture
Paul Rogers on Global security
Mary Kaldor on Human security
openDemocracy Ltd, The Print House, 18 Ashwin Street, London, E8 3DL. Tel: +44 (0) 207 193 0676
