R2P is misused

Mient Jan Faber 5 May 2011
R2P, introduced without the slightest idea of how it has to be implemented, is nothing more than an alibi for half-hearted (Libya) or fully fledged (Ivory Coast) military operations and interventions. With regard to non-combatants (civilians), the UN should and could have done a better, more honest job.

All the frogs croak before a storm: Dostoevsky versus Tolstoy on Humanitarian Interventions

James Warner 3 May 2011
Dostoevsky was in favor of military intervention in the Balkans, Tolstoy opposed to it. The arguments they put forward are surprisingly relevant to our own current wars.

Protecting civilians: too important to be left to the military

Tim Wallis 1 May 2011
Civilian protection requires simple, straightforward dialogue and negotiation with the people who can control whether other people are safe or not. And it works. As soon as you bring guns, tanks and air support into the picture, you are talking about something which more often than not does not work

Refolution in the Arab world

John Keane 28 April 2011
A new word is needed to describe these events of recent months. They should be called ‘refolutions’, radical refusals of the old choice between reform and revolution - remarkably sensitive to the grave dangers and high costs of using violent means to get their way

Armed drone attacks sanctioned in Libya

Oliver Scanlan

Just over a week after withdrawing fifty aircraft from operations in Libya, the US is now employing Predator drones in the stalemated conflict. US defence secretary Robert Gates stated that they were deployed on Thursday, following an order from the president. It is thought they will be used against loyalist forces currently besieging Misrata.

Libya: the view from the bunker

Paul Rogers 21 April 2011

Libya's war is being shaped by Tripoli's defiance, the rebels' endurance, and the western coalition's strains. In the mix, a Gaddafi regime faced with elimination is making larger plans.

Libya and R2P: norm consolidation or a perfect storm?

Tim Dunne and Jess Gifkins 19 April 2011
A similar conjoining of purpose with process, in relation to the collective use of force, has not been seen since the 1991 Gulf War.

Humanitarian wars and rejected refugees

Marco Scalvini 17 April 2011
For France, acting in a ‘humanitarian’ manner means intervening in Libya’s civil war but does not extend to freely accepting refugees from Libya or Tunisia within its borders.

Audio: What sort of organisation is Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb?

Yvan Guichaoua and Tony Curzon Price 17 April 2011
Yvan Guichaoua, West Africa expert researching non-government armed groups, describes what kind of force Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is, what motivates its members and what are the conditions of its success. Smuggling, fast cars, and the economics of ransoms combine with ideology to create a threat. Listen to this 40minute conversation on the nature of Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb

Libya, and the decisive moment

Paul Rogers 14 April 2011
A single incident in Libya's evolving conflict may come to be pivotal in shaping the fate both of the anti-Gaddafi effort and of western military intervention.

Libya and the fog of intervention

Dan Smith 12 April 2011
Now the war has started, which side are you on? Should the intervention stop because the war will be long and bloody? Which means that instead the war will be short, Qaddafi will be victorious, and the aftermath will be bloody – probably as bloody as the war.

The Arab spring: protest, power, prospect

David Hayes 11 April 2011
What is the “Arab spring” becoming? After three months of upheaval, repression and conflict, the democracy wave in the region, including Iran, is at a crucial stage. openDemocracy authors offer concise perspectives on a complex and fluid political moment.

(The first contributions in this series were published on 4 April 2011)

The Arab Revolution will not be televised in Latin America

Massimo Di Ricco 10 April 2011
The position of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) on the crisis in Libya has derailed the continent’s chance to support the revolutionary paradigm it should be spreading worldwide.

Libya and Iraq: a long war’s risk

Paul Rogers 7 April 2011
Both the west and the Gaddafi regime are assessing the prospect of a military stalemate in Libya. In any extended campaign, United States-Israel cooperation could offer Tripoli an unexpected gift.

Libya: popular revolt, military intervention

Martin Shaw 7 April 2011
The changing dynamics of the Libyan conflict highlight the contradictions of "humanitarian intervention" when pressed to serve the western way of war, says Martin Shaw.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


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

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