Under Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelley stop-and-frisk has been a racist technology of control wielded by an unchecked police force. With large-scale popular mobilisations against police racism and violence, and de Blasio set to take over as mayor of New York City, reform of stop-and-frisk seems in sight. But is such a practice reformable? 

The history of tear gas traces a metamorphosis from chemical weapon of warfare to 'legitimate' crowd control technology. Whilst casualties are persistently blamed on 'misuse' by police and security forces, history reveals tear gas to be an inherently dangerous weapon.

The professionalisation of entrepreneurs in violence into a legitimate 'private security' industry provokes profound questions for state-citizen relations. Who has the power to hold these companies accountable, and how?

Western analysts often and articulately point out why the United States fears Iran. But what does Iran have against the United States? Do we understand why Iran is taking such a belligerent course?

The Newtown school shooting has re-awakened debates not only on gun control and mental illness, but also on the role of law enforcement in detecting and eliminating emerging threats. Quietly emerging is a solution that means not more guns, but more militarization.

Over the past 30 years, American culture has increasingly drawn from the military model. Now, as even military pensions and health care are outsourced and privitized, what will be the fate of social welfare in America? 

The war on terror has focused many discussions on the identity of the perceived perpetrators. These debates fail to incorporate how victims of terrorism are themselves denied their voice.

The geopolitical scramble to exploit the resource wealth unearthed by climate change exposes enduring classic realist tensions in an era of common global security concerns.

Unless strong political leadership and decisive diplomatic efforts are quickly shown on all sides, war between the US and Iran will become increasingly probable due to the elimination of all other policy options.

What can we learn about militarised ideas of gender from the Lackland Air Force scandal? Military inquiries focus on the individual perpetrators but fail to address deep-rooted gendered practices in military basic training.

Apart from gun control, there is another problem that the authorities in the US (and in most of the world’s societies) avoid addressing: the culture (or subculture) of violence in the electronic entertainment era.

A collision of events - a misjudgment in the Persian Gulf, an attack in Damascus, a visit to Israel, a bomb in Bulgaria - hands militarism a further advantage over diplomacy in the region. The dangers of a sudden escalation are increasing.

The United States is more seriously preparing for military action against Iran than is widely realised. An attack - obviating the need for one by Israel - may not be immediate and is not yet certain, but it is being intensively planned. 

The formation of an official agency charged with helping Washington identify and address threats of atrocity around the world is notable. But the United States's own foreign-policy record raises serious questions over its likely impact, says Martin Shaw.

The prospect of a military attack on Iran to disable the country's nuclear facilities is being intensively considered in Tehran. But the internal tensions between rival factions - especially supporters of the supreme leader and of the president - are an obstacle to a coherent response, says Omid Memarian. 

Security is nothing if not the radical equality experienced when acting in concert. But even in spaces created through collective action, producing security in the commons requires positive action.