globalisation

Enjoy contested debates and in-depth analysis by leading actors and thinkers – plus word from ‘ordinary’ people experiencing the effects of globalisation. The aim is clear thinking – and workable solutions for globalisation
Thursday 9th February

America after Iraq-Afghanistan

Paul Rogers, 9 February 2012
Washington's military withdrawal from Iraq and problems in Afghanistan are forcing a change of strategy. Barack Obama's political fate will determine how far it will go.
Wednesday 8th February

China's elite: a language deficit

Kerry Brown, 8 February 2012
Beijing is concerned by Washington's more assertive regional policy in Asia. But here as elsewhere the Chinese leadership's inability to talk to the rest of the world in a natural way blunts its capacity to respond, says Kerry Brown.
Tuesday 7th February

Taiwan's election, and the need for nuance

LC Russell Hsiao and Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, 7 February 2012
Taiwan's presidential election saw the incumbent Ma Ying-jeou win another four-year term in office over his opponent Tsai Ing-wen. But the interpretation of this outcome by Washington and Beijing misses an important dimension of Taiwan's political reality. Their flawed understanding could have damaging consequences over the next four years, say LC Russell Hsiao & Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao.
Friday 3rd February

America, Israel, Iran: signals of war

Paul Rogers, 3 February 2012
A range of military and political developments, from the very rare planned deployment of three huge United States armadas in the Persian Gulf to Israeli fears of Barack Obama’s re-election, is evidence of rising danger around Iran.
Thursday 26th January

The Iran complex: why history matters

Paul Rogers, 26 January 2012
A sense of enduring history and more recent experience of bitter conflict inform Iran's nuclear stance. To understand this could be a way to avoid war.
Friday 20th January

The thirty-year war: past, present, future

Paul Rogers, 20 January 2012
The prognosis of a thirty-year war looked outlandish as Saddam's regime toppled, persuasive as Iraq's insurgency erupted - and now less plausible amid American forces' retreat. But two core issues continue to give it life.
Thursday 12th January

Al-Qaida: an open endgame

Paul Rogers, 12 January 2012
There is powerful evidence for the argument that the al-Qaida movement is in decline. But there are other processes at work - including in United States presidential politics - that could yet create a different outcome.
Thursday 29th December

America, Israel, Iran: a dangerous moment

Paul Rogers, 29 December 2011
The tensions between Washington and Tehran are being further fuelled by naval exercises and discussion of strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. This makes the absence of a direct communications channel all the more worrying.

North Korea, the arts of succession

JE Hoare, 29 December 2011
The aftermath of the death of Kim Jong-Il highlights the obstacles in the way of a clear assessment of North Korea's power dynamics, says JE Hoare.
Saturday 24th December

2012, an era of uncertainty

Takashi Inoguchi, 24 December 2011
The tsunami and nuclear accident made 2011 an especially hard year for Japan. But the questions raised by the experience are similar to those being asked across the world, says Takashi Inoguchi.
Thursday 22nd December

America, Israel, Iran: a shifting risk

Paul Rogers, 22 December 2011
A series of developments - in Iraq, the United States and Iran itself - nudges the balance of calculation towards an attack on Tehran. The additional danger is that this could happen by inadvertence.
Thursday 15th December

America, Israel, Iran: war in focus

Paul Rogers, 15 December 2011
The argument in America for war against Iran is often couched in religious-apocalyptic terms. But the decisive element in the end will be strategic and political calculation.
Thursday 8th December

A world in crisis: echo, need, hope

Paul Rogers, 8 December 2011

A fresh awareness of system-failure and resource-constraint draws on the experience and ideas of the 1970s. But this time the vision of radical change is real possibility as well as urgent necessity.

(This article was first published on 1 December 2011)

Thursday 24th November

The crisis and the change-makers

Paul Rogers, 24 November 2011
In the face of the world’s urgent economic and environmental problems, political leadership is failing. But from the ground up, new tools of understanding are emerging to fill the gap and point a way forward.
Tuesday 22nd November

Support a world-wide awakening

Anthony Barnett, 22 November 2011
openDemocracy’s founder Anthony Barnett writes to you...
Thursday 17th November

A world in protest

Paul Rogers, 17 November 2011
The global demonstrations of 2011 both highlight the reality of economic system-failure and reveal its linkage to the crisis of resource constraints. The result is a measure of the scale of change needed over coming decades.
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.
Friday 11th November

Israel vs Iran: the regional blowback

Paul Rogers, 11 November 2011
The prospect of an Israeli military assault on Iran's nuclear assets is growing. The scale and impact of any attack would be far greater than most observers expect.
Thursday 3rd November

Libya: victory, tragedy, legacy

Paul Rogers, 3 November 2011
The western military alliance sees the result of the anti-Gaddafi war as a vindication of its strategy. But the true accounting of Nato’s campaign - including on the ledger of arms companies - tells a different story.
Thursday 27th October

Mad men, nuclear pasts, human futures

Paul Rogers, 27 October 2011
The dismantling of a powerful nuclear bomb closes a chapter of the cold war. But the choices and responsibilities embedded in the story of the B53 make this a 21st-century story too.
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