Power dynamics in Afghanistan shift after a series of assassinations

Humayun Saleem 20 July 2011
Hamid Karzai’s political influence in southern Afghanistan diminishes as his brother Ahmed Wali Karzai and adviser Jan Mohammed Khan are assassinated. Mumbai responds to bombings with promise of security overhaul. Libyan rebels and government forces engage in fierce clashes. UN gives aid to Islamist run camps in Somalia.

Yemen: a kidnapped revolution

Olga Aymerich 19 July 2011
Bypassing the civil society that started the revolution leads to two options for Yemen's future, and neither bodes well for stability.

Is Italy on the brink of debacle?

Carlo Ungaro 19 July 2011
The austerity measures will be felt primarily by a lower middle-class, already tested by the ever-growing divide between rich and poor in Italy. But a bleak political prospect goes well beyond the sense of panic caused by the economic and financial problems which beset the country

Mexican Caravan of Solace: a movement begins

William Lloyd George 19 July 2011
A movement has begun in Mexico. United by the poet Javier Sicilia, victims of the misguided, corruption-fuelled war on drugs are coming together to resist the cartels and the country’s widespread violence.

Who's afraid of the boycott

Miri Weingarten 19 July 2011
In Europe, a marked reticence among diplomats, lawmakers and bureaucrats has been recorded whenever this particular bill is mentioned. But Israel's boycott law may for the first time enable an open and honest discussion of the possibility of nonviolent civil disobedience, boycott and disinvestment - measures that have been taboo for too long.

Israel and the anti-boycott law: the wider implications of popular indifference

Antony Lerman 19 July 2011
The motivation for the law is not primarily to give voice to the sentiments of the Israeli-Jewish majority, although it relies on the existence of those sentiments to achieve its goal - and that is something altogether more far-reaching.

Ukraine: blackmail and bluff

Mykola Riabchuk 18 July 2011

Under the direction of the new Polish presidency, the EU has dangled a huge integration carrot in front of Ukraine’s misbehaving political elite. The rationale, no doubt, is to win out in an us-or-Russia scenario. But Mykola Ryabchuk remains unconvinced the Yanukovych clan needs persuading which way to turn.

US and Iraq grapple with US troop deployment extension

Jaffar Al-Rikabi 18 July 2011
US and Iraqi leaders discuss future Status of Forces Agreement for Iraq. Syrian tanks and troops deployed to Homs. Rumours of Mubarak coma denied as protestors fill Tahrir square. All in today's security briefing.

Shifting landscapes of citizenship

Christina Slade 18 July 2011
In a time of globalization, the renaissance of cultural nationalism is remarkable. Classical countries of immigration, such as Australia, Canada and the United States, have been joined for the first time by the countries of western Europe in this strong global tide towards citizenship testing.

Playing politics with Schengen

Polly Pallister-Wilkins 16 July 2011
The European Commission has been at the forefront of criticism of France and Denmark for re-introducing border controls. This was not because they in fact threatened Schengen but because such decisions undermine the Commission’s power as the executive of Europe, argues Polly Pallister-Wilkins

Spectre of US-China tensions as budget crisis continues

Oliver Scanlan

At a press conference held in Tokyo on Friday, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, characterised differences between the United States and China as ‘stark’. Admiral Mullen was speaking after visiting China as part of his Asia tour; the first such visit in four years. It entailed a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, chief of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) general staff Chen Bingde.

America and Afghanistan: politics in charge

Paul Rogers 14 July 2011
The United States’s military strategy in Afghanistan is fracturing, but what matters most now in Washington is the domestic electoral timetable.

Poland’s European infusion

Krzysztof Bobinski 13 July 2011
The six-month Polish presidency of the European Union starts with a welcome dose of optimism from its prime minister. Now for the hard part, says Krzysztof Bobinski.

Cybersecurity: politics, interests, choices

Ben Schiller 13 July 2011

The threat of cyber-attack is driving states and corporations to devote ever-greater resources to meet the challenge. The accompanying debate about the scale of the risk has profound implications for the future of the internet, says Ben Schiller.

US postpones aid payments as Pakistan relations reach new low

Radu Nikolaus Botez 13 July 2011
Tensions in US-Pakistan relations rise as Washington announces suspension of military assistance. Serbian president Tadic vists Sarajevo to improve relations with neighbour. China criticizes US over military drills in South China Sea while Assad is further isolated following attacks on US and French embassies in Damascus. All in today's security briefing.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


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

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