As the civil war in Syria continues, refugees are desperately seeking refuge. It seems that Bulgaria has consistently preferred to engage in exacerbating the situation. Bulgarians have built a wall and are allowing far-right xenophobic rhetoric to prevail.
In Israel/Palestine, former combatants are using the Theatre of the Oppressed to move towards an end to the occupation. Recently London theatre group Cardboard Citizens invited a former Israeli officer to share his experience of making theatre for peace.
Organisations which claim to challenge or seek to change the power structures of society too often mimic those power structures in their own organisations.
Turkey’s most influential and widely respected civil society organisation, the Hizmet movement, is under continual attack by PM Erdoğan who accuses it of seeking to establish a “parallel state”. Such rhetoric and 'securitization' may destroy the democratic fabric of Turkish society.
A reflection on the three years that have passed since the Egyptian uprising began with a list of lessons for future generations.
Corruption and inequality in the Palestinian territories are a significant factor behind public scepticism and cynicism about economic plans. Palestinians are well aware of corruption in business, and their negative views are exacerbated by socioeconomic divisions.
Every conceivable attempt to mobilise all the extremes has been used to beef up recent French demos. With some success.
The de-regulation of financial capital threatens to bring us back to capitalist authoritarianism that flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. But this time it gathers strength with no strong popular movement in the United States or any European country to challenge it.
