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# Shifting realities (Oct 15 - 21)
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/shifting-realities-oct-15-21/
- Published: 2012-12-14T11:12:14.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-23T01:19:45.000Z
- Description: There are two weeks left till the US elections, and openDemocracy launches its series, How it looks from here - perspectives on the American choice from across the globe - with voices from Russia, Greece and Cuba. In the US, Ruth Rosen looks at the key role of women in the elections, and Meredith
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: The Week in 1 Minute, #Migrated, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:27, #appended-excerpt

Paul Rogers revisits the major [shift in modern warfare](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/bd9c840608&ref=opendemocracy.net) which is the remote use of armed drones, and unfolds the [Syrian-Mali-Niger](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/0ebac58189&ref=opendemocracy.net) dynamic of interrelated pressures on the international community.  
  
Ulrike Guerot and Konstanty Gebert tell us that **Poland may have replaced France** as Germany’s [most trusted European partner](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/d66ce37451&ref=opendemocracy.net). Ana Stanic urges that [the EU and Spain must remember lessons from Slovenia’s independence](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/da4ce798fd&ref=opendemocracy.net), noting the parallels between Spain and 1980s Yugoslavia. Daniel Trilling [talks](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/e151955124&ref=opendemocracy.net) to Jamie Mackay about the **prevailing myths surrounding the far right in Britain**, while [Cas Mudde insists](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/0c7d70bbb4&ref=opendemocracy.net) that the **victory of conservatives and nationalists in Flanders** has brought about a newly challenging democratic landscape.  
  
Rachel Clogg treats us to a roll-call of peacebuilders in the new cabinet in [post-election Georgia](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/32fa510a37&ref=opendemocracy.net), and peace talks begin between the **FARC and the Colombian government**, with Darynell Rodriguez Torres [delineating the challenges ahead](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/50c7b1e413&ref=opendemocracy.net). Tim Wallis looks at an altogether new [Philippines Peace Agreement](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/1cd21ade92&ref=opendemocracy.net), which builds peace on the ground first; while [Jessica Horn](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/a6809cc6da&ref=opendemocracy.net) brings together the counter-narratives of African women’s critical resistance, Engin Isin looks at ["movements without frontiers"](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/ba33c72685&ref=opendemocracy.net) that are neither commercial nor protected, and openSecurity’s [Andrew Wallis](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/26bc4d4f85&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Pete Jones](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/34d3cde61e&ref=opendemocracy.net), in English and French, address themselves to breaking the cycle of violence in the Congo.  
  
In a vexed Middle East, Mohamed-Salah Omri asks if there is [anything to celebrate](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/ffb518b11f&ref=opendemocracy.net), as the **first anniversary of Tunisia’s post-revolution elections** approaches. Amro Ali returns to Egypt’s Tahrir Square to investigate its[ rent-a-thug culture](https://www.opendemocracy.net/amro-ali/tahrir-square-rent-thug-culture), and the lessons that arise for the Muslim Brotherhood, while Rita tries to fill out our knowledge on [Syrian Salafis](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/47d9ce49fd&ref=opendemocracy.net), and Vicken Cheterian takes on [leftist analysis of events in Syria](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/1732dcaea7&ref=opendemocracy.net).  
  
In his obit, Patrice de Beer chastises [‘armchair analysts’](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/4baadd930f&ref=opendemocracy.net) too quick to make reductivist assertions on the life choices of Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia: [David Chandler](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/eb68132101&ref=opendemocracy.net) agrees that the King-Father is inseparable from his country’s history. Meanwhile N Jayaram notes that the **shooting of Malala Yousafzai** [should not be used](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/e738ec88b8&ref=opendemocracy.net) by South Asians to paint themselves as superior to one another in their treatment of women, given the levels of violence against women and girls in all South Asian communities.  
  
Follow openDemocracy for more on a world that shifts, on the surface and beneath it.  
  
**Don’t miss:**

- [A call to prosecute bankers](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/e0c66a90d0&ref=opendemocracy.net)
- [What can we learn about war from our primate relatives?](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/fb74958d2d&ref=opendemocracy.net)
- [Blood on the Iran-Afghanistan border](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/2f912b8d2c/pagewanted=all&%5Fr=4&&ref=opendemocracy.net)

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There are two weeks left till the US elections, and openDemocracy launches its series, [How it looks from here](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/b9800cf655&ref=opendemocracy.net) \- **perspectives on the American choice from across the globe** \- with voices from [Russia](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/6505f4f1a4&ref=opendemocracy.net), [Greece](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/c2e03831dd&ref=opendemocracy.net) and [Cuba](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/5e432403e4&ref=opendemocracy.net). In the US, Ruth Rosen looks at the[ key role of women](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/4199187a83&ref=opendemocracy.net) in the elections, and Meredith Tax accuses [the US anti-war movement](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/850a6a6def/7262321cfa/7d0ad99f64&ref=opendemocracy.net) of failing to develop a politics that is critical of both US imperialism and religious fundamentalism.