“Only war makes it possible to mobilize all of today’s technical resources while maintaining the property system.”

- Walter Benjamin, 1936

About Valerie Hopkins

Valerie Hopkins is an American journalist based in New York City. She spent three years in the Balkans reporting primarily on politics, transitional justice, organized crime and corruption.

Articles by Valerie Hopkins

LGBT violence in the Balkans

Valerie Hopkins 23 May 2013

Throughout the Balkans, LGBT advocates and their supporters face violence, cancelled Pride parades, and unresponsive or disrespectful police. What hope is there for sexual minorities in the region?

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of homeschooling

Valerie Hopkins 20 February 2013

The increasing presence of homeschoolers on the US election campaign trail testifies to the growing strength of this highly organized constituency. Could they rival the influence of labor unions?

The US: the real 47 per cent

Valerie Hopkins 6 November 2012

There is another 47% - Americans who do not vote in Presidential elections. Is America the only democracy that does not help its people vote?

Montenegro: mafia state in the EU neighbourhood

Valerie Hopkins 5 July 2012

The European Union is set to begin formal access talks with Montenegro. But as the case of Prva Banka shows, no progress against corruption will be made without a shift in the regime that has led the country since independence

This week's editor

Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

Europe from the bottom up

European Union stars in Paris. Flickr/notarim. Some rights reserved.

A new Europe can only come from the bottom up
Etienne Balibar

A social Europe must be a political Europe
Bo Stråth

As Europe is provincialized: a reply to Etienne Balibar
Sandro Mezzadra

European debate

A republican call for a basic income
Daniel Raventos and Julie Wark

Nuclear non-proliferation

oDRussia at journalismfestival .com

Mali - the plot thickens

Remote control war

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Conference coverage from 50.50

Conference. Moving beyond Militarism and War to a Nonviolent World: A Forum Devoted to Sharing Women-Driven Solutions

Articles exploring the themes of the fourth international Nobel Women's Initiative conference May 28-31. Jennifer Allsopp and Heather McRobie will be reporting for 5050

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James Warner Standing Perpendicular, as books do

Markha Valenta Inter Alia: religion, politics, culture

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Mary Kaldor on Human security

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