For the last 12 months Russian cities have witnessed regular demonstrations to protest restrictions on the right to assemble enshrined in Article 31 in Russia’s Constitution. 31 May was no exception in Moscow, with particularly brutal police involvement. Strategy-31 is spreading: will the authorities crack down even further or will they have to compromise? First published: April 26.

The release of official United States material by the website Wikileaks confirms and amplifies enduring political assessments of the Afghanistan war, not least on openDemocracy.

In half a generation, a period that straddles two presidencies, politics has lifted millions of Brazilians from misery. Arthur Ituassu explains how it was done.

A BBC documentary on the creation of the UK's Coalition poses some interesting questions about what happened.

Ahead of the UK Feminista summer school this weekend, OK co-editor Anthony Barnett and director of IPPR Nick Pearce discuss what can be done to rectify the woeful under-representation of women in UK politics and public life.

The investigation into the assassination of President Rafiq Hariri is just one trigger among many that could lead Lebanon and the wider region to war.

As Louisiana braces itself for Tropical Storm Bonnie, Jim Gabour reflects on the current mood in New Orleans.

After a drubbing in the press, the Welsh-language TV channel S4C needs champions

While debate on Assam's future rages in the Assamese media, the issue continues to be ignored by the Indian national press.

More unites than divides Left and Right in the fierce debate on multiculturalism, argues Jens-Martin Eriksen and Frederik Stjernfelt.

The International Court of Justice ruling on Kosovo’s declaration of independence benefits Serbia too. But what of its effects on Bosnia? Florian Bieber considers the implications of the ICJ opinion.

In their remote forest republic 400 miles east of the Moscow, the pagan Mari people are once again being harassed by the authorities. While the administrative lever used today is different — charges of “extremism” — their approach is more than reminiscent of the way their Soviet counterparts dealt with dissent.

Dave Lannen calls on Nato to make full provision for the care of wounded Afghan civilians.

Convicted felons continue to be barred from voting in the US, with severe consequences for their rehabilitation and the democratic process. An effective campaign for their re-enfranchisement is vital, argues Rebecca Gould.

The government's "Big Society" approach to citizenship endangers other successful community initiatives.

Since the anniversary of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall last year there has been a renewed interest across Europe about the intellectual ferment of those years, with the publication of a host of previously untranslated writers. One such author is the Lithuanian Ricardas Gavelis. His Vilnius Poker, first published in 1989, was translated into English last year by Open Letter Books and shortlisted for the Three Percent Translation Prize. Rereading it, Chris Parton finds many lessons for today.

Serious constitutional and political issues are raised by the UK Coalition's decision to hold the AV referendum alongside the devolved elections.

Iraqi interior ministry opens protection centres for victims of domestic abuse. Israeli defence minister says all Lebanon would be within bounds in case of Hezbollah confrontation. France declares war on al-Qaeda in northern Africa. All this and more in today's security briefing.

Call for artistic submissions for openDemocracy's next Discourses event, Subaltern voices, opening on October 7th.

The biggest crime in the U.S. criminal justice system is that it is a race-based institution where African-Americans are directly targeted and punished in a much more aggressive way than white people.