global politics | openDemocracy

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

- Walter Benjamin, 1936

Paths to change: peaceful vs violent

Martin Shaw 5 February 2013

The diverse experiences of the Arab spring renew the question of whether non-violent movements are more effective than armed struggle in achieving the overthrow of authoritarian regimes, says Martin Shaw.

Convincing suicide-bombers that God says no

Adam Lankford 19 January 2013

The dominant perception of suicide-attackers has paid too much attention to the unchallenged assumptions of past experts and too little to the clinical evidence, says Adam Lankford.

Refugee studies: the challenge of translating hope into reality

James Souter 8 January 2013

It is one thing for rigorous research to influence policy, and another for that policy to then go an and achieve its intended positive outcome. James Souter argues that Refugee and Forced Migration studies has an important, yet ultimately subsidiary role in the task of improving the lives of refugees and forced migrants

The 'politics' in Ethiopia's political trials

Awol Allo 30 November 2012

The Ethiopian regime is using the legal system to eliminate dissident voices and drag protesters to court under terrorism charges. Far from guaranteeing equality and justice, the country’s courts serve as an instrument in the Government’s hands to legitimize persecution of political adversaries while justifying its practices to the west.

India Burning

Amritpan Kaur 27 November 2012

When the rice harvest season finishes in a few weeks, fields in India will turn black as farmers burn thousands of acres. This practice shows one of the failures of the Green Revolution, with devastating regional and global consequences. A food-security-obsessed India cannot ignore these issues for much longer.

Stateless in Burma: Rohingya word wars

Amal de Chickera 12 October 2012

In order to understand how the ‘Rohingya crisis’ has come to pass we need to consider the narrative built by three groupings of international actors - the Burmese government, host countries for Rohingya who have fled and the international community at large.

Through hell to limbo in a lorry

Elizabeth Kennedy 8 October 2012

“In my life I will forget lots of things, but I will never, ever forget those two small boys … left behind in the snow.” Elizabeth Kennedy reports on children’s journeys from Afghanistan to England and life in limbo as they approach 18.

The Taliban and Afghanistan’s war

Antonio Giustozzi 4 September 2012

The pattern of war in Afghanistan is changing amid evolving relationships within the Taliban, between the movement and its base, and its engagement with western and local forces. Antonio Giustozzi examines the current military and political situation.

Fred Halliday: an unfinished voyage

David Hayes 26 April 2012

The core themes of a new book of Fred Halliday’s openDemocracy columns underline his work's enduring vitality, says David Hayes.

[This article was first published on 23 March 2011}

The Holocaust and genocide: loose talk, bad action

Martin Shaw 21 March 2012

The dangers of genocide denial are widely recognised. But the politics of "genocide mobilisation" - and the legal and discursive infringements that often follow - can also be a barrier to historical understanding and justice, says Martin Shaw.

Sanctioning Iranian oil

Reyhaneh Noshiravani 19 January 2012

With increasing geopolitical instability in oil producing states and the barriers that stand in the way of reaching a multilateral policy, the threat of sanctions in Iran only serves to intensify uncertainty surrounding oil price forecasts for 2012

Iran in the straits?

David Madden 5 January 2012

How are recent events in Iran to be interpreted? History has a lot to teach us, argues David Madden

Giant strides or fairy footsteps

Simon Maxwell 18 November 2011

How much progress can be made in tackling climate change without a global deal?

Armed conflict, land grabs and big business: Colombia’s deadly pact

Kyla Sankey 16 November 2011

The recent assassination of Colombian marxist insurgent group leader Alfonso Cano has been hailed internationally as an advance towards peace, giving Colombia a boost down the path to becoming the latest emerging market of Latin America. A closer look at the history and nature of Colombia's nearly 50 year-long armed struggle, however, tells us otherwise.

Terrorism in historical perspective

Fred Halliday

Terrorism is the defining issue of the post 9/11 world. It is also one of the most confusing and contested words in the political lexicon. The route to understanding, says Fred Halliday, is through making connections: between past and present, state and insurgent violence, nationalist and religious movements.

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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