Pick of the Web
The assassination of Zoran Djindjic
The murder of Serbia’s prime minister has created a dangerous political vacuum in a country still trying to recover from a decade of war, poverty, and unrest. Dejan Djokic laments a tragedy, puts it in historical context, and assesses the likelihood of Serbian democracy coming together to challenge the gangsters threatening it.
Corporate Timeline
What are the key events in the rise of modern corporations? Why do these institutions matter? Are they more powerful now than before, better behaved or worse? openDemocracy's corporate timeline explores the long, complex and controversial history of this engine of contemporary capitalism.
Journalists need to think: a reply to David Loyn
An experienced journalist and advocate of ‘peace journalism’ takes on David Loyn in a compelling and comprehensive defence of engaged journalism.
Fiery death or watery grave?
The performances of Salma Hayek and Nicole Kidman, two candidates for the ‘best actress’ Oscar award, draw on their celebrity status as well as the allure of the great artists they portray: Frida Kahlo and Virginia Woolf. But only one burns with life.
Turkey prepares for a refugee influx from Iraq
Twelve years ago this month some 2 million Iraqi Kurds, fleeing Iraqi suppression of widespread revolt in northern Iraq, escaped to the Turkish border and into Iran. They suffered terribly. How would they fare in the event of conflict this time?
Thank you, President Bush
From the world's most popular novelist, Paulo Coelho, an open letter of praise for President Bush.
Another Cameroon is possible!
The benefits of globalisation are hard to see in Cameroon. The deprivation of the rural majority, says one of its social activists, is reinforced by the venality of the World Trade Organisation, giant corporations, and local politicians. The answer? Cameroon people must learn from the vibrant protest movements of India and Latin America, and imagine themselves into a better country.
F.A.: no home in the world
The West African state of Guinea is home to thousands of refugees, in flight from its neighbours’ wars. One mutilated teenager – born in Sierra Leone, raised in Liberia, in limbo in Guinea – has nowhere left to turn.
The "Mother Of All Bombs" - how the US plans to pulverise Iraq
A devastating new weapon will be part of the US’s massive assault on Iraq. Paul Rogers, openDemocracy’s international security correspondent, explains what it is, how it developed, and why its use is likely to destroy civilian lives in their thousands.
Through other people's eyes
Exclusively for openDemocracy, a young artist and curator explains why, this time, she went in search of other peoples’ eye-views. Plus, a selection of images from her exhibition.
After the Iraq war: planning the humanitarian response
To win a war in Iraq, the US has to win the peace. Its military forces as well as one of its leading independent humanitarian agencies, the International Rescue Committee, will have a crucial role. But can the military work with the United Nations and non-governmental organisations in ways that save lives, secure post-war order, and preserve the latter’s independence?
Your TV is watching you
The interactive television revolution will mean more choice, more control and more freedom for the viewer, right? Wrong says the man behind White Dot – the campaign to switch off television – all it means is more ways for media corporations to keep tabs on your viewing habits and tailor their products to your tastes. Don’t believe him? Listen to what the corporations say…
The net as a global library
The internet is culture not trade, library not warehouse, treasure-house not bank, popular not elitist. Free it, train everyone to use it, and it will fly – and carry democracy on its wings.
We'll Always Have Paris!
A grand tour reveals that France’s attitude to America mirrors its soul: jealous, glorious, sensual and venal. Between Seine, Sorbonne, and Algeria, Dominic Hilton listens to the voices off – and ends up with a scoop about the Foreign Legion.
Liberate Iraq on the world's terms
The slogan ‘No to war: No to Saddam!’ leaves the world polarised and incapable of concerted action. What would it take to reconfigure this crippling divide so that a clear choice helps the world move forward? Could the European Union’s foreign policy coordinator, Javier Solana, lead the way?
Witch-hunts and War Jitters
Hollywood protest, human shields, and Swiss utopia
Bush: Home Alone - America's futile attempt to woo its insulted allies
The US advance toward war has myriad justifications, but is best understood in the framework of a new world order: perpetual war for perpetual peace, says Michael Naumann. Multilateralism is dying, but what will take its place? At the least, existing nuclear powers like North Korea look set to buttress their defences...
Civic hacking: a new agenda for e-democracy
The political potential of the internet lies not in connecting people to politicians, still less in online voting; it lies in the possibility of bringing citizens together to help themselves, argues a veteran of online politics.
Decoding broken promises
Five years ago, the company deCODE made the first bid to set up a comprehensive, medical records database, in Iceland. A leading activist explores the ways in which the equation of medical data with economic promise can lead to the erosion of truth, raising the key issue of presumed versus informed consent and other challenges for any democratic society.
My American dream
This Sierra Leonean filmmaker was saved from prison and torture in Liberia by Americans. But when he worked in Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan, American good intentions appeared in a different light. Can democracy’s ‘big daddy’ learn from its mistakes?
This week's guest editors
Our guest editors James Ron, Leslie Vinjamuri, Sophie Arie and Archana Pandya introduce this week's theme of:
Our guest editors James Ron, Leslie Vinjamuri, Sophie Arie and Archana Pandya introduce this week's theme of:
A Turkish Spring?
Woolwich - terror or conflict?
Palestinian borders
Nobel Women's Initiative
Europe from the bottom up
The media in Europe
Mali: the plot thickens
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Remote control war
oDRussia at journalismfestival .com
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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
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