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# October 24 - 30 on openDemocracy
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/october-24-30-on-opendemocracy/
- Published: 2011-11-10T10:11:33.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-23T00:49:45.000Z
- Description: The Tunisians started the Arab Awakening. Now, after a human nine months we can all celebrate the birth of free elections in their country - and it is indeed their achievement writes Ayman Ayoub. But will a consensus between Islamist and secular parties be enough to ensure Tunisian women share ful
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: The Week in 1 Minute, #Migrated, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:19, #appended-excerpt

As democracy arrives in the Maghreb the Russian artist Maxim Kantor is biting about the way it has permitted the rise of a global “[lumpen elite](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/ba431b1187&ref=opendemocracy.net)” enjoying a parallel life and pointless art - and you can scroll through his own graphic etchings.

Other Russians share his pessimism: an increasingly illegitimate leadership has begun high-risk [brinkmanship](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/6978742957&ref=opendemocracy.net) over the nation’s economy; its secret services are investing huge sums into developing [savvy tools](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/d9c24d675b&ref=opendemocracy.net) for monitoring its online and engaged public; while oil giants and the authorities are colluding in [cover-ups](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/9fc6c09245&ref=opendemocracy.net) of the most outrageous nature. But what did you expect, asks Andrei Konchalovsky? [Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/f39e2b2bf4&ref=opendemocracy.net): a country can only ever be a mirror of its nation, and in Russia that nation remains totally disengaged. Surprising that so many thought democratic evolution was a possibility, [concurs Daniil Kotsyubinsky](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/fa5187ed83&ref=opendemocracy.net).

But the [Occupy Wall Street protests](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/4b5389e60d&ref=opendemocracy.net) offer hope of a world free from crony governments and media. Shilpa Kameswaran is [unconvinced](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/d9758c1cd5&ref=opendemocracy.net): what chance does Zuccotti Park have if the protestors come from near identical white backgrounds? She claims they will have nothing like the success of Hazare’s massive anti-corruption movement in Delhi and is rebuked for shallowness, as our [#Occupy](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/d1fe03fb6c&ref=opendemocracy.net) debate grows.

openDemocracy loves connecting the dots, and from his Scottish vantage point [Gerry Hassan](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/11db1b6c3a&ref=opendemocracy.net) sees the connections between nationalism and Euroscepticism while from London’s ippr [Nick Pearce](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/059e901531&ref=opendemocracy.net) tracks how those who default on orthodoxy like Argentina and Iceland… do best.

Many in Eastern Europe carry on failing to connect with their [war-time past](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/63550f04e9&ref=opendemocracy.net). Perhaps the west does too. But we explore what really happened as we continue our partnership with [the conference](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/a68fca6159&ref=opendemocracy.net) on a century of bombing. Dick Gregory exposes [The American way](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/2a3b95f117&ref=opendemocracy.net). And there is good news! You almost certainly have not read about it elsewhere. Hiding behind an abstract headline is a fascinating report by Paul Rogers on the dismantling of the last of the most powerful thermonuclear bombs in the United States arsenal, [the US B53](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/0ac49a68c3&ref=opendemocracy.net).

PS: Can anyone spare a ticket to the Bolshoi? It [opened](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/585a342cc4&ref=opendemocracy.net) its doors again after six years of restoration charging £240 entrance.

Three links you won’t want to miss:

[Should ecocide become a crime against humanity? (Video)](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/723efc5bd2&ref=opendemocracy.net)

[Canon of St Paul’s ‘unable to reconcile conscience with evicting protest camp’](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/4a60cb80d8&ref=opendemocracy.net)

[Libya: where are the women’s voices?](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/4731c20dfc/b5696a98c8/80cd8bcf0e&ref=opendemocracy.net)

The Tunisians started the Arab Awakening. Now, after a human nine months we can all celebrate the birth of free elections in their country - and it is indeed their achievement writes [Ayman Ayoub](https://www.opendemocracy.net/ayman-ayoub/tunisias-elections-consolidating-democracy). But will a consensus between Islamist and secular parties be enough to ensure Tunisian [ women](https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/kristine-goulding/tunisia-womens-winter-of-discontent) share fully in the success, Kristine Goulding sets out a three-part answer.