A constitution for the UK may be emerging, typically in the form of an official manual. But what if “We the people” were to begin from the popular end of the debate? Andrew Blick reviews a brave book that seeks to initiate that debate.

The former UN envoy to Afghanistan criticises Pakistan’s arrest of senior Taliban figures, saying this has put talks with the militant leadership at risk. The Quartet condemns Israeli settlement construction. The Burmese military sustains casualties fighting against northern rebel groups. All of this and much more, in today’s security update.

The Home Office minister is in la la land over child detention.

Can India begin to channel some of the creative energy of its twenty-five million street children? Why don’t school lunch schemes work?

While the conflict that is the legacy of British involvement in Palestine daily captures world headlines, Britain's foster-role is too often ignored. Such an omission is all the more tragic, James Renton argues, since mandate era misjudgements are being readily repeated.

You can’t reason with the absurd, as IKEA found when it tried to build a model business in Russia. Institutional corruption is out of control. Kafka’s Castle is finally collapsing. This is good news, as Russians, ordinary Russians are losing their fear. Now they’re just angry, says Andrei Loshak.

The votes are in and the Iraqi coalitions have entered a complex process of deal making and realignment. Little can be predicted with any certainty, but the Kurdish parties look set to regain their place as kingmakers in Baghdad.

Healthcare is not God's work

This Commission’s report is perhaps the first document to identify the lack of effective engagement by UK civil society as a contributor to the financial excesses proceeding the crash

The serious row between Washington and Tel Aviv is about far more than the construction of homes in east Jerusalem; it goes to the heart of the close military alliance between the two states.

The UK's leading left-wing weekly runs a major essay calling for a realignment from below

My name is Denny de la Haye, and I'm running for Parliament in Hackney South and Shoreditch. My manifesto is a little unusual... I'm proposing that instead of having my own policies, I will hold online polls to determine how I should vote in Parliament.

Two very different ways of viewing the world result in radically different ways of approaching conflict. When we come from the viewpoint of ‘eat or be eaten’, the whole of life is a contest for control; when we ground ourselves in the notion of interdependence we work to a very different agenda.

Eritrea rejects findings of UN report. Obama denies crisis in relations with Israel. Jonathan dissolves Nigerian cabinet. Thai protestors vow to remain in Bangok. Khartoum signs second deal with rebel alliance. All this and more in today's briefing.

Global coverage of world conflicts pales into insignificance when compared with reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Noah Bernstein explores the causes and consequences of such an imbalance, as part of our series forgotten conflicts.

A quick clarification on debts, deficits and affordability

Typically missing from most of the plans put forward in the UK media debate is any really innovative thought about how to raise new resources to support high-quality journalism in new times

Roger assesses the effects of agricultural subsidies and market barriers on the welfare of the world's poorest.

openDemocracy is launching a new quarterly series of live art events featuring art exhibitions and discussions on a wide array of social, cultural and political issues.

The plan to construct a section of the new Moscow-St.Petersburg motorway through the legally-protected Khimki Forest Park will destroy a rare eco-system. Dogged local resistance has turned this into a national, even international issue. But it has not derailed the plan