Maldives

This week's editor

Mary Fitzgerald is Editor-in-Chief of openDemocracy.

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Our coverage of the Charlie Hebdo attack

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No to TTIP

The secretive EU-US trade deal explained

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Jonathan Tomlinson
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Michael Baum
Why is the government putting health watchdogs on the leash of ‘promoting economic growth’?
Jen Persson

Arrest of a nonviolent leader in the Maldives challenges the international community

Matt Mulberry 27 February 2015

‘Terrorism’ charges might give the government leverage against a bid made by Nasheed to participate in any official political action at any point in the future. What happens now?

Democratic decline in the Maldives: will the world wake up?

Matt Mulberry 13 October 2014

When Gayoom the elder was president, the government sought to facilitate the entrance of Islamist groups into the Maldives. The resumption of this now may be another opportunity for proponents of genuine democracy to sharpen the concern of international observers.

Is Islamic State a cover for government policy in the Maldives?

A. Mohácsi 26 August 2014

Journalists, independent social media activists, human rights defenders and opposition politicians in the Maldives are being continually harassed and threatened. A look at what lies behind these attacks explores whether extremism is being fuelled by the Maldivian Government for political gain.

The Maldives: a serial coup in progress?

Stephen Zunes 15 October 2013

Should Britain, the United States and others who claim to be concerned, stand by and allow reactionary forces to stage-manage a phony election, this sends yet another inconsistent and disheartening message to those struggling for peaceful democratic change in the Islamic world and beyond.

Apparent fraud in Maldivian elections threatens prospects for democracy

Stephen Zunes 16 September 2013

There are a number of troubling indicators that major fraud may have occurred in the election held on September 7, which raises questions regarding the integrity of the September 28 runoff.

For South Asians on the “We are all Malala” bandwagon

N. Jayaram 17 October 2012

Given such levels of violence against girls and women, it is a wonder that so many Indians can feel superior while talking about the Taliban assault in neighbouring Pakistan. It will take more to defeat the Taliban, be they of the Islamic, Hindu or any other variety.

The ongoing attack on democracy in the Maldives

Stephen Zunes 11 October 2012

If western countries are unwilling to place any pressure against a regime of questionable legitimacy, allied with a former dictator and hard-line Islamists, while failing to provide any support for a popularly-elected leader committed to democracy and to nonviolence, what kind of message does that send?

Democracy imperilled in the Maldives

Stephen Zunes 8 March 2012

The United States and much of the international community has understandably been focused on increasingly violent conflict in Syria. However, attention also needs to be given to the Muslim people of this Asian nation and their commitment to the power of nonviolent action

Maldives struggling with infant democracy

Balaji Chandramohan 30 September 2010

Two years after becoming a multi-party democracy a political struggle between the president and the opposition-dominated parliament has thrown the country into political deadlock