Tom Burgis - openDemocracy (Page 2)

Who's the daddy?

Just before the Belarusian elections in March, a panoply of the country's musical stars went on national television dressed in flamboyant white outfits. There, they sang a song

By Tom Burgis

/ 1 May 2006

Clerical errors

The first months of 2006 have been a time to panic. From startling new evidence on melting ice and rising sea-levels via political threats of nuclear escalation and war to

By Tom Burgis

/ 2 Apr 2006

Free trade? When it suits us

The butterfly whose effects trigger the twists and turns of globalisation has been flapping vigorously of late. Take Suez, the French utilities giant that Paris could not bear to see

By Tom Burgis

/ 14 Mar 2006

Meles unveiled

The ranks of cameras documenting the closing flesh-pressing of last month's progressive leaders' summit in Hammanskraal, South Africa, on 11-12 February captured a telling gap. Tony Blair,

By Tom Burgis

/ 1 Mar 2006

George W Bushs nemesis

The woman who answers the phones at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was taken aback to be asked whether her organisation known for its "cloak and ballot"

By Tom Burgis

/ 31 Jan 2006

Howard's way

It is a surprise, to say the least, that John Howard scoops Decembers Bad Democracy award. A ruthless campaign of intimidation could not persuade openDemocracy readers to vote for

By Tom Burgis

/ 3 Jan 2006

The WTOs raw deal

Margaret Beckett did not hide her displeasure. When openDemocracy pointed out that the current round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks was meant to be about promoting development and not

By Tom Burgis

/ 19 Dec 2005

The siege of Hong Kong

Hong Kongs Exhibition and Conference Centre is veiled in a pall of haze. It is here that ministers, trade officials and civil-society campaigners from 149 countries today, 12 December,

By Tom Burgis

/ 12 Dec 2005

The Berlusconi brief

Click here to view this month's list of bad democrat's, and cast your vote today In October 2003, Silvio Berlusconi unveiled to his adoring public yet

By Tom Burgis

/ 1 Dec 2005

Bad Democracy!

Shame is a powerful thing. The mighty, a breed often given to vanity, denounce the conduct of their opponents as shameful, conferring on themselves an aura of righteousness. Shame is

By Tom Burgis

/ 24 Oct 2005

The return of the Aids plague

If youre going to contract HIV, make sure you do so in a well-heeled corner of Europe or north America. You will have the benefit of drugs that may

By Tom Burgis

/ 16 Aug 2005

The G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland kept everyone outside the global elite on the other side of the security fence amateur golfers, part-time protestors, professional poets, and representatives of most

By Tom Burgis

/ 25 Jul 2005