global politics

War, globalisation, nationalism, revolution: Fred Halliday illuminates the forces shaping 21st-century world politics
Thursday 19th January

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
Thursday 5th January

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
Friday 18th November

Giant strides or fairy footsteps

Simon Maxwell, 18 November 2011
How much progress can be made in tackling climate change without a global deal?
Wednesday 16th November

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.
Monday 2nd May

Terrorism in historical perspective

Fred Halliday, 2 May 2011

All human beings are locked into a conflict that will endure for decades, the outcome of which is not certain. In face of it, says Fred Halliday, citizens need five resources: a clear sense of history; recognition of the reality of the danger; steady, intelligent, political leadership; the building of mass support for resistance to this major threat; and above all, a commitment to liberal and democratic values.

(This article was first published on 22 April 2004)

Tuesday 26th April

Solidarity: trails, perils, choices

Fred Halliday, 26 April 2011

The idea of solidarity retains its moral force. Yet it is vulnerable to the same manipulations as any category of modern politics. Fred Halliday examines the paths of solidarity under colonialism, communism, and post-1989 democracy; its deformed applications to the Arab-Israeli conflict; two voices of universalism that give it life; and what it needs in order to flourish in the 21st century.

(This essay is published in memory of Fred Halliday, who died in Barcelona on 26 April 2010)

Wednesday 6th April

The Left and the Jihad

Fred Halliday, 6 April 2011

The left was once the principal enemy of radical Islamism. So how did old enemies become new friends? In a panoptic sweep of a contested history, Fred Halliday reflects.

(This article was first published on 7 September 2006)

Tuesday 5th April

Yemen: travails of unity

Fred Halliday, 5 April 2011
The insecurity and violence of an ancient Arab land are creating a political implosion
Monday 21st March

Fred Halliday: an unfinished voyage

David Hayes, 21 March 2011
The core themes of a new book of Fred Halliday’s openDemocracy columns underline his work's enduring vitality, says David Hayes.
Friday 19th November

The global 1989

George Lawson, 19 November 2010
The political transformation and social drama of the 1989 revolutions in east-central Europe promised a decisive rupture with the past. But the perspective of two decades and of a global frame offers a more complex picture of this historic moment, says George Lawson.
Monday 15th November

Time for the human approach

Mary Kaldor and Javier Solana, 15 November 2010
Dmitry Medvedev’s proposal for a new post-cold war security order offers a significant opportunity for the world. But both the West and Russia need to move on from conventional security logic, and think in terms of the human, argue Mary Kaldor and Javier Solana.
Thursday 7th October

The AfPak endgame

Paul Rogers, 7 October 2010
Behind the escalation of United States cross-border raids into Pakistan and of Taliban attacks on coalition tanker-convoys lie the cold political reality of an unwinnable war.
Monday 4th October

Targeted sanctions on Mugabe - should the EU appease Jacob Zuma?

Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 4 October 2010
The EU must not submit to Zuma's calls for the lifting of sanctions in Zimbabwe, argues Clifford Chitupa Mashiri
Wednesday 14th July

Kyrgyzstan’s referendum brings a flicker of hope

Baktybek Abdrisaev, Scott Horton, and Alexey Semyonov, 14 July 2010
The new constitution which the Kyrgyz people voted in on 27 June 2010 seeks to break the presidential pattern of government. But the recent violent upheaval has left the government weak. America and Russia both need Kyrgyzstan to thrive as a country ruled neither by despotism nor fundamentalism. They will have to collaborate closely to bring this about
Tuesday 13th July

Son of the Bani Tanwir: the work of Fred Halliday (1946-2010)

Stephen Howe, 13 July 2010
The death in April 2010 of Fred Halliday, engaged political intellectual and scholar of international relations, provoked many tributes from among the worldwide fellowship of colleagues he had done so much to create and nurture. Now, in what is both a preliminary assessment and an incisive overview in its own right, the historian Stephen Howe critically surveys the extraordinary range of Fred Halliday’s writing across four decades.
Wednesday 9th June

Barcelona i Catalunya: the real thing

Fred Halliday, 9 June 2010
The scholar of world politics and openDemocracy columnist Fred Halliday lived and worked in - and fell in love with - Barcelona. In a warm essay written five months before he died on 26 April 2010, Fred celebrates the home of his last years.
Thursday 29th April

Who is responsible? An interview with Fred Halliday

Danny Postel, 29 April 2010
Fred Halliday, who died on 26 April, talks to Danny Postel about realpolitik, religion, universal rights and the pitfalls of the Left. He discusses the need to combine solidarity with critical distance, to know what is really happening in Third World countries. This interview, published in Salmagundi, not previously available on the web, was recorded on 23 November 2005, in Chicago.
Monday 26th April

Fred Halliday, 1946-2010: a tribute

David Hayes, 26 April 2010
The death of political analyst and international-relations scholar Fred Halliday extinguishes a voice and a light that have illuminated world politics for more than forty years. David Hayes pays tribute and presents a selection of his work for openDemocracy.
Friday 23rd April

In our hands – the human right to water

Isobel Foulsham, 23 April 2010
If you wanted to raise the issue of water privatisation and its effect on the human right to water, you might turn to animation. Particularly if you needed to emphasise the role we all play as consumers in the water crisis
Friday 16th October

What was communism?

Fred Halliday, 16 October 2009
A lasting judgment of the system that imploded in 1989 needs a large view. Fred Halliday's your man
Syndicate content