“Who is the enemy other?” asked Jeffrey Murer in an openSecurity agenda-setting article. Identifying the ‘enemy’ lies at the heart of security policies and practices, and despite numerous indications that these constructions are generally stereotypical and misguided, this tendency seems impossible to overcome.

Over the past year openSecurity has explored these issues in the collection below.

From Pan-Germanism to new populism in Austria

Anton Pelinka 12 July 2012

When it comes to European exclusionary politics, the Austrian case is a puzzling story of a historically rooted right-wing extremism which managed to overcome the outdating of its main ideological component – thanks to anti-immigration xenophobia.

The security turn of French politics and the rejuvenation of the Front National

Brigitte Beauzamy 12 July 2012

Has the increasing focus on security issues in French politics given an advantage to the radical right or the conservative right? The defeat of Nicolas Sarkozy indicates that the FN remains a length ahead in this domain.

Political opposition in Tunisia : obligatory but impossible

Annabelle Boissier 9 July 2012

Turmoil surrounding the destruction of artworks in Tunisia has suddenly illumined contemporary art as a site for resistance. Yet the international art world is far from understanding the true nature of such rebellion.

Agni-5: the national firework of India

Antony Ou 5 July 2012

India's successful launch of a long range inter-continental ballistic missile has led to hyper-nationalist posturing and antagonism with China, of a kind disappointingly reminiscent of Cold War hubris. The bombastic rhetoric must not undo the bilateral ties between the two states.

Crime and punishment in the Netherlands

Merijn Oudenampsen 3 July 2012

Under the pressure of right wing populism, the Netherlands have been transformed from a country that was a model of humane crime policy to one hung up on security and punishment. The offensive of the populist right has been so effective that even social democrats now repudiate their multiculturalist past and lament over their policy mistakes.  

Security and the radical right in Flanders

Benjamin de Cleen 3 July 2012

Security has been a major theme in the rhetoric of the Vlaams Block/Belang since the late 1980s. Their combination of strong anti-immigrant statements and simplistic proposals has been appropriated by mainstream parties in Belgium.

Exploring the fascist roots of Islamophobia

Tony Mckenna 2 July 2012

Contemporary Islamophobic discourses thrive in a fascist imaginary which Slavoj Zizek analyses.

My friend has a story

Mohammed Suliman 27 June 2012

This isn’t my story. But it could have been, and it can be the story of any young Palestinian living in this small besieged part of the world.

Reconciliation and the destruction of the past in divided societies

Cillian McGrattan 20 June 2012

Ongoing controversies in two of the quintessential cases of divided societies - Northern Ireland and the Former Yugoslavia - are best understood by examining the political dynamics created through procedures of remembrance, and those of reconciliation.

Grammars of enmity: a Golden Dawn of contemporary Greek democracy?

Salomi Boukala 18 June 2012
Far right groups like Golden Dawn are not a new phenomenon in Greek society, nor do they derive from the consequences of today’s financial crisis. The roots of fascist groups are to be found in an old tendency to rely on the vilification of a political enemy to rule.

Greek populist parties and the disoriented mainstream

Aristotle Kallis 18 June 2012
The results of May's legislative elections in Greece may derive from the degree of public anger at the EU-IMF rescue package. Nevertheless, immigration was featured very prominently in party programs and public discourses as the main security concern – a trend not limited to the radical right.

Security Discourses and the Radical Right

Ruth Wodak 18 June 2012
Ruth Wodak launches a series of updates on the rise of the far right and exclusionary discourses in Europe. What should the democratic response be to these ideologies?

From the inside out: reconciliation is more than possible

Voices for Reconciliation 21 May 2012

Amidst the deep hurt of civil war, many think it impossible to speak with, let alone work with, people from across divisions of conflict. A diverse group of young British Sri Lankans have directly experienced this. Here they examine reconciliation as not only a possibility, but a present undertaking.

See the debate: Is reconciliation possible in Sri Lanka?

Reaping the political rewards of the Iranian nuclear crisis

Arash Falasiri 14 May 2012

Both Iranian and Israeli governments mutually benefit from the threat of war, as they both use the excuse to polish their propaganda and to silence internal opposition.

Marine Le Pen, the radical right and French Islamophobia - Part II

Nicolas Lebourg 1 May 2012

Nicolas Lebourg continues (see part one) to explore how the Toulouse events contributed to shaping Marine Le Pen’s electoral strategy. While it is dubious that Islamophobia played the most decisive part in her latest presidential score, she placed it on the top of the political agenda for the second round.

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