Michael Rebehn was formerly openDemocracy’s Science&Technology editor.

Recent articles

In the deluge of instant imagery and flaky symbolism that surrounds us today, what other people think simply adds to the confusion. Is it possible to act at all? Over a number of years and different episodes in his life, this writer moves towards a tentative conclusion….

International efforts to limit the proliferation of dangerous weapons have focused recently on questions of verification. But there may be a deeper problem in the way that the spread of destructive power across the world is fuelled by the subjection of science and technology to political ambition.

The Financial Times’ coverage of the global antiwar protests of 15 February differed markedly between its German and English editions. This unsettling discovery, framed by an imaginary encounter on a Berlin–London flight, brings Michael Rebehn down to earth with a jolt.

Recorded use of weapons of mass destruction goes back to the Middle Ages. Whenever the rules of war fell into disregard, the target moved from the enemy’s soldiers to his people. The weapon of choice against a civilian enemy became biological, then chemical and nuclear, as soon as scientific advancement and technological development made them available. This timeline aims to give a broad overview, in time as well as space, of the development of WMDs as a lengthy prelude to recent events in Iraq.

Twice in the next month, citizens worldwide will march in the streets – and engage in imaginative other kinds of protest – against US war on Iraq. Here, openDemocracy maps the democratic insurrection of a million minds and hearts.