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# Redemption hovers in San Quentin - The Week in 1 Minute: Jun 30 – Jul 5 on openDemocracy
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/redemption-hovers-in-san-quentin-week-in-1-minute-jun-30-jul-5-on-opendemocracy/
- Published: 2014-07-04T23:07:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-23T01:41:28.000Z
- Description: We begin the week with a fresh look at why the Syrian army is winning which, like divide-and-rule in Iraq, fills some gaps in our grasp of a Middle East now plunged into regional war or what could be called the new great regional game. Others argue that a new map is needed, while just keeping up w
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: The Week in 1 Minute, #Migrated, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:46, #appended-excerpt

At the beginning of the week, *Transformation*’s new series treats us to [6 amazing photos](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/5b54dadc2b&ref=opendemocracy.net) that show **Palestinian hopes for the end of occupation,** and by the end, we face a new [heartbreaking round of violence](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/2505cd10a4&ref=opendemocracy.net), a **rejection of occupation** that [looks like self-defeating vandalism](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/9f0eb4e532&ref=opendemocracy.net), but isn’t, and [Israel building another wall](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/86fbe4ca1d&ref=opendemocracy.net). Tragic fall-out from the Libyan conflict continues for [migrants](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/441ea7782d&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [asylum seekers](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/f7c983d9a5&ref=opendemocracy.net), and *openGlobalRights* is discussing whether [R2P is dead after Libya](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/dd2acbadac&ref=opendemocracy.net), while *50.50* reports on desolation at [the murder of Salwa Bugaighis](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/2018f1cb27&ref=opendemocracy.net), and [asks](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/c108632a84&ref=opendemocracy.net) was this **what those who fought against Gaddafi were fighting for?**  
  
Algeria is [in triple crisis](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/040be0401c&ref=opendemocracy.net); in Ethiopia, [the leadership is in disarray](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/5d34fd04cb&ref=opendemocracy.net); in Burundi, the international community is responsible for [a façade democracy](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/71ba20a0f2&ref=opendemocracy.net) leading to violence, and **in Mali, the west wilfully ignores** [the criminal state](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/3d572c35c1&ref=opendemocracy.net). Not surprisingly, there [isn’t much celebration to be had](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/11135cc209&ref=opendemocracy.net) around **July 4**: but there is a heroic attempt to look [beyond American angels and demons](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/1e0f3245b9&ref=opendemocracy.net). Redemption hovers, however, [in San Quentin](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/d1dfed20a3&ref=opendemocracy.net) of all places.  
  
Argentina must avoid [the language of heroes and villains](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/05f0305be8&ref=opendemocracy.net) in the context of default; and we take a closer look at managing [violence in Rio de Janeiro](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/cfdf49ac4a&ref=opendemocracy.net), while in Mexico, [despite some beautiful laws](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/ee6d6e8595&ref=opendemocracy.net), **the leadership is also in disarray**. *oDR* shows us how difficult it is to be [an NGO in Russia](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/1009d5cd74&ref=opendemocracy.net) especially [when the rules change](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/31024a18cf&ref=opendemocracy.net), or when [fighting drug addiction](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/9db6fccc23&ref=opendemocracy.net), let alone as an ecology activist [on the run](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/1d26077a47&ref=opendemocracy.net). In China, we focus on [struggles over land and housing](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/a2ac0e02f3&ref=opendemocracy.net), five years of [ethnic tension regarding the Uyghur community](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/16d643d360&ref=opendemocracy.net), and what China does for the [Habermasian concept of public space](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/cf553b665a&ref=opendemocracy.net).  
  
We draw some conclusions about [the algorithms that run our lives](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/2f6674a9b5&ref=opendemocracy.net), twenty-first century [protest and surveillance](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/e9f6b07b3e&ref=opendemocracy.net), and [what it means to be a man](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/2a9320ca7d&ref=opendemocracy.net). Ivan Krastev warns that a lot depends on[what history books we are reading](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/b1a16841dc&ref=opendemocracy.net). *OurKingdom* finds a Scotland [beyond yes and no](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/5ab090ee37&ref=opendemocracy.net) as well as [a 37](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/f26692470d&ref=opendemocracy.net)[th reason](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/7dc8f66363&ref=opendemocracy.net) for yes; takes on the relentless injustice of ‘[joint enterprise’](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/2f8852909f&ref=opendemocracy.net); and ponders [strikes](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/ab52792762&ref=opendemocracy.net),[pamphleteers](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/9e7f661dc4&ref=opendemocracy.net) and the [public control](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/4fac71e305&ref=opendemocracy.net) of services. We ask what to do about [Radovan Karadžić’s hateful poetry](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/fc67625353&ref=opendemocracy.net), and are charmed by an [epic struggle on wheels](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/f73b1b06bf&ref=opendemocracy.net).  
  
  
**Don’t miss:**

- [Reclaiming liberalism](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/0005b8b20a&ref=opendemocracy.net) by Edmund Fawcett
- The [colonial strategy of ISIS](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/c0df99f62b&ref=opendemocracy.net) in Syria
- [“Down with this Classist Society”: A Letter from Mahienour El-Masry](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/8972a2c594&ref=opendemocracy.net)

**openDemocracy’s week in 1 minute is emailed to friends, supporters and authors who help pay for and create our great content. Please forward this to anyone who you think could be interested in** [**supporting us**](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/2e578fcd51&ref=opendemocracy.net)**.**

We begin the week with [a fresh look at why the Syrian army is winning](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/2baaa5132c&ref=opendemocracy.net) which, like [divide-and-rule in Iraq](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/879bb7088e&ref=opendemocracy.net), fills some **gaps in our grasp of a Middle East** now plunged into [regional war](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/30391e01ca&ref=opendemocracy.net) or what could be called [the new great regional game](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/47f60df6cd&ref=opendemocracy.net). Others argue that [a new map is needed](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/7baf835c8a&ref=opendemocracy.net), while just keeping up with [who runs Mosul today](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/3fc6759129&ref=opendemocracy.net) or who is [failing to destroy chemical weapons](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/05c8a32593&ref=opendemocracy.net), is bewildering; but Paul Rogers comes to our rescue by [explaining an unlikely alliance](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/3e06b4a616&ref=opendemocracy.net). Juan Cole predicts that [the Arab millennials will be back](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/920b4cbd1c&ref=opendemocracy.net), while others say that Egypt’s [opposition has been tamed](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/072f0114d7&ref=opendemocracy.net) or that [government by bullying is never enough](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/cc8173750d/7262321cfa/97636a9290&ref=opendemocracy.net).