Marco Mezzera is a senior adviser at the Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre (NOREF), with responsibility for its Asia and mediation programmes. He has 15 years of policy research experience in conflict and development, globalisation and governance and democratisation issues, focusing on Asia. He spent five years in south-east Asia working as a research associate for a Bangkok-based policy research organisation.
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Published in: openSecurityArrested democracy: why Thailand needs a new social contractThe Thai military may think its May takeover has run smoothly but authoritarian dictates and an elite power monopoly will not keep the country together in the longer term.
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Published in: openSecurityThreatened in the bud: the fragile existence of policy research and advocacy in PakistanThe international focus on Pakistan has affected how knowledge is produced within Pakistan, and who for. Looking ahead, Pakistani research faces a multiplicity of threats, even as non-governmental voices proliferate.
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Published in: HomeDante in Karachi: circles of crime in a mega cityKarachi’s astonishing violence is generally ascribed to political and ethnic rivalry. While this may be true to an extent, its roots run deep into the incredibly complex structure of this city of 18 million people, where politicians, criminals, terrorists and migrants from nearby warzones compete for power and survival
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Published in: HomePakistan: the rising dangers
Pakistan’s society and government are under intense pressure from the growing influence of extreme religious movements. In the absence of enlightened and unifying political leadership the prospect of a great regression remains alive, says Marco Mezzera.