'Domestic work is the beginning of all labour; it is central to our lives and is at the heart of our economy and society.' Three years on from her award-winning article 'Cry of a migrant', Marissa Begonia reflects on the ongoing fight for the rights of migrant domestic workers in Britain. 

Why did the terror watchdog with 'unrestricted access' appear to have only limited access to the security files on the government's secret justice bill, now shamefully going through parliament?

A comprehensive understanding of how, why and when opposition groups in civil war engage in civilian governance must have important policy implications for outsiders engaging or toying with engaging in Syria.

In a reply to Rahila Gupta, Celeste West argues that we can’t have meaningful feminism or a meaningful democratic project without ensuring that people have a chance to speak for themselves

Doctrines, deployments, and the political value attached to "nuclear deterrence" are being challenged at the NPT conference.  As 78 nations co-sponsor a growing "humanitarian initiative", the five NPT nuclear-armed states and some of their "nuclear umbrella" allies like Japan, Australia and Germany are in denial. Rebecca Johnson reports

Europe is increasingly unpopular, the recession hits the euro area and Angela Merkel is now facing a new populist party. So Brussels opens up to a timid change of season. But austerity has not yet been defeated politically, in elections and in the streets.

Up in Arms normally focuses on the figure of the soldier in order to track the militarization process. Here we visit the overlooked role of the ‘military wife’ as a key to interpreting far-reaching policy decisions.

What is missing is any serious discussion about the plight of the Syrian people. If it turns out that a red line has been crossed, then any intervention will be a geo-political intervention against the Assad regime. The likely response is to arm the rebels rather than to intervene to protect ordinary people.

This second of two essays on military spending and the EU crisis, explores the role of the European arms trade, corruption and the role of arms exporting countries in fuelling a debt crisis, and why these 'odious' debts need to be written off. See Part One here.

One might be forced to return to the  question posed, this time with a view to the current situation in Egypt. Do the Egyptians really understand democracy? 

In a region with a long history of nuclear and chemical weapons, when is a red line a red line?

At the Citizens Advice Bureau the real Thatcher legacy can be seen every day: social disengagement, indifference and injustice. It is Thatcherism that needs burying.

A Labour MP sets out why his party's plan to establish a network of regional banks is a step towards a fundamental reshaping of the UK economy.

A wave of enthusiasm took Icelanders through the 2012 referendum after the 2008 crash, once the widely-praised 'crowd-sourced' constitution appeared to be within reach. But Icelanders’ hopes seem to be evaporating in the haze of this week-end's parliamentary elections.

Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week, Beyond Arab vs Berber: the rich complexities of Algerian identity should be celebrated, not feared

In launching their war of independence in November 1954, Algerians emphatically rejected this divisive bait, presenting instead an unshakeably united front against French hegemony, and rejecting numerous attempts to re-cast them into warring tribes fighting one another.

There has been little consideration of the possible positive contributions of Somali youth from the diaspora. 

Government always claims they are protecting the downtrodden by monitoring the powerful, though nowadays through standards often written by the lobbyists of the powerful, which has a remarkable resemblance to catering to their almost every whim. 

The concept of a "grand coalition" in Italy is unlikely to work due to a history of distrust between the two main parties, and the emergence of Beppe Grillo's Five Stars Movement as a considerable political force.

Milos Zeman, the new president of the Czech Republic, has clearly distanced himself from the Eurosceptic views of his predecessor. Yet, a recent standoff with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows unexpected tension over foreign policy might be just around the corner.