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# Analysis, Empathy and Insight: September 3rd - 9th on openDemocracy
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/analysis-empathy-and-insight-september-3rd-9th-on-opendemocracy/
- Published: 2012-10-05T12:10:31.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-23T01:14:37.000Z
- Description: Analysis, empathy and insight at openDemocracy this week, as our writers make an effort to understand fallout from the Olympic games and the US party conventions, the horrors of Syria's war and struggles for dignity in Sudan, India and Belarus.
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: The Week in 1 Minute, #Migrated, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:27, #appended-excerpt

The competing claims over the **legacy of the Olympics** are [outlined in OurKingdom by Anthony Barnett](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/352e0f68ca&ref=opendemocracy.net), who **invites openDemocracy readers to a public discussion** of the issue [in London on 10 September.](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/03b72c5dd8&ref=opendemocracy.net) The BBC has been central to the Olympics spectacle, and [Dan Hancox](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/a6361992b6&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Jamie Mackay](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/95219dc375&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Natalie Fenton](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/5226f364cf&ref=opendemocracy.net) continue OurBeeb's interrogation of its role.

**As the US presidential election enters its crucial phase**, [Selina O'Grady](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/b5733d562d&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Jim Gabour](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/591c7b77f9&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Joseph Attwood](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/9dd0cf1bfb&ref=opendemocracy.net) bring a critical eye to Republican strategy and ideology, Paul Rogers [links the contest's outcome to the possibility of an assault on Iran](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/dcc33b17ad&ref=opendemocracy.net), and Cas Mudde warns of the [extremist ideas of America's right-wing fringe](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/b321dc7b35&ref=opendemocracy.net).

**Syria's descent is producing ever-greater violence**, aspects of which are explored by [Mohammad Al Attar](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/dca0b7947c&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Rita](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/e021860e84&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Natalie Samarasinghe](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/05370aa596&ref=opendemocracy.net), and [Dawn](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/b0010280cd&ref=opendemocracy.net)[ Chatty](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/306c736196&ref=opendemocracy.net); [Amro Ali](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/32a3ed0dcb&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Shane Farrell](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/c85620ab3e&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Samir Yousif](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/dcd39f0bcf&ref=opendemocracy.net) weigh the regional implications. We are shown the underside of India's democracy, including [attacks on civil society](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/d3251c27e7&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [urban sexual violence](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/a055bdea1b&ref=opendemocracy.net); while [Amel Gorani](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/66ad650ad3&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Nazik Kabalo](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/a6dcb0042c&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Zainab M.Hassan](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/1fdb6d6b27&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Siham Rayale](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/6b2dbab6d3&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Sanam Vakil](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/481d9557b6&ref=opendemocracy.net) focus on women's activism in Sudan, Somalia, and Iran.

**Back in the UK, the return of party politics sharpens the argument**, with [Nick Pearce](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/9d73c40622&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Trevor Smith](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/7a5ce804ef&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Stuart Weir](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/d03dc7137a&ref=opendemocracy.net) all offering their examinations of the Conservative-Liberal government's reshuffle, we look at positions of [Labour](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/46623944d4&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [the Greens](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/9b4c7d67d6&ref=opendemocracy.net), along with insightful assessments of [health](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/f38dde9541&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [education policy](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/262afd3ebb&ref=opendemocracy.net).

Illuminating the dark day, along with Marte Christensen's [video-project](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/61fe52259e&ref=opendemocracy.net) \- in which Thomas Hylland Eriksen is an interviewee - and Magnus Nome's [trilogy of tragedy](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/493a74bd3b&ref=opendemocracy.net), Eriksen argues that the political motive behind **Norway's terrorist attacks** of July 2011 [continues to be evaded in the country](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/d41741eff9&ref=opendemocracy.net).

Andrew Wallis [traces the roots](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/39c23535c9&ref=opendemocracy.net) of a **new eruption of conflict in the DR Congo**, Antonio Giustozzi analyses [the various strands within the Afghan Taliban](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/675d7dc8e2&ref=opendemocracy.net), Christopher M Davidson [dissects authoritarianism in the UAE](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/2a35017867&ref=opendemocracy.net), and Mark Taylor sees [movement in dealing with conflict minerals](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/d214718158&ref=opendemocracy.net).

**The experiences of child migrants** [between Mexico and the US](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/14d61ca5cc&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [disabled people in Belarus](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/9cf5acd219&ref=opendemocracy.net) are shared by Elizabeth Kennedy and Sergey Drozdovsky. Finally, Halina Ward and Clare Shine launch [an initiative to combine democracy and sustainability](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/a709679d31&ref=opendemocracy.net): a reminder of the fundamentals that can still - beyond spectacle, violence and insecurity - shape the century.

**Links not to miss:**

Egyptian security forces [destroy Alexandria’s historic book market](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/59fe967fa9&ref=opendemocracy.net) 

Bill Clinton delivers *the* [speech of the 2012 US election](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/c4ebfc02ef/v=uzDhk3BHi6Q&ref=opendemocracy.net)

One of the most respected federal judges in the US [calls for legalizing marijuana](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/9c8763773e&ref=opendemocracy.net)

With ACTA dead, the [EU still wants to "sanitize" (tame) the Internet](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/05d574e015/7262321cfa/b23dd5e598&ref=opendemocracy.net)

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**Analysis, empathy and insight**at openDemocracy this week, as our writers make an effort to understand fallout from the Olympic games and the US party conventions, the horrors of Syria's war and struggles for dignity in Sudan, India and Belarus.