Conflict

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.

As the Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, undergoes an unprecedented internal power struggle, the time has come for western decision-makers to constructively engage moderate Islamists not only in Tunisia and Egypt, but also in the Palestinian territories

This question has provoked extensive debate not only among the Iranian left and democratic forces, but between these forces and the extremist neo-liberal forces in Iran. Disoriented progressives world-wide have failed to understand the nature of the Iranian regime.

Military action against Iran, and even the continuing threat of attack, is likely to give the Islamic Republic a new lease on life.

Several new elements are added, almost daily, to worsen the complexity of the situation, and rumours of an imminent military coup in Islamabad do little to clarify matters.

The dominant interventionist approach to peace and security in Africa by-passes the hard work of creating domestic political consensus and instead imposes models of government favoured by western powers. The emergent African methodology offers a chance to develop locally-rooted solutions too often sidelined.

Peacebuilding and development can no longer be thought of in terms of what was always an over-simplified polarisation between the powerful stability of the giver and the weak turbulence of the beneficiary. It was always wrong to see the world that way; now it’s impossible.

Conflict with Iran is looming, with the US and Israel circling around the possibility of a pre-emptive strike to prevent the manufacture of nuclear weapons. What course should Britain take? And what is the role of the Liberal Democrats?

A chance to share stories that underscore the rich Palestinian history of popular resistance and sumud (steadfastness).

Following the closure of the Detainee Inquiry chaired by Sir Peter Gibson, the government must commit to a new, transparent and robust investigation if it wishes to restore the moral authority it has lost.

Salman Rushdie's wholly involuntary no-show at the Jaipur Literary Festival, a big event in India's cultural calendar, highlights yet again the country’s failure to uphold freedom of speech as well as the authorities’ cynical readiness to pander to religious fanatics for narrow electoral advantage

The strategic significance and territorial claims on the region of Abkhazia have meant its citizens have become used to a life lived in geopolitical limbo. Following the 2008 South Ossetia war, however, a small number of small countries began to recognise Abkhazian independence. A tailor thought of a novel way to mark the development, reports Oliver Bullough.

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.

The report attempts to collate data on 2010 weapons sales by EU member countries. Western Europeans were the biggest arms exporters. The biggest customers were the repressive regimes of the Middle East and North Africa who collectively bought 8.3 billion Euros worth of arms.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is the main obstacle to the revolution, and parliament is to be permanently distracted by political contestation irrelevant to the goals of the revolution.

The reason the French genocide law has proved so popular amongst Armenians is that it represents the prospect of a final catharsis to a tragic history. In reality, however, it is yet another obstacle to reaching a conclusion.

A new French report into the incident that sparked Rwanda's genocide is of vital importance on three grounds: discrediting false accounts, establishing facts, and raising further questions. But it leaves critical questions unanswered, including over the role of a key French mercenary, says Andrew Wallis

The situation in Syria is becoming increasingly grim. As the standoff between the protesters and the regime turns more violent, the prospects for a democratic transition become more remote.

The Occupy Movement, far from having no programme, has revolutionized our sense of self. The Citizen of the World adopts a panoramic view of society and takes the interests of others all over the world to be as important as her or his self interest.

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.