As Norway ends its first month of mourning, media soundbites tell us that there is a desire to draw a line and move on. But there are lessons to be learned about the consequences of institutional ‘hate speech’ and prejudice in high places. Can Norway lead the way in learning these lessons?
This week we lead with the alarming news that Irina Teplinskaya, friend of the openDemocracy Drug Policy Forum and renowned human rights activist currently undertaking litigation against the Russian Government, has been arrested while crossing the Russian border. Our lead article is an impassioned
In an environment of increased political liberalisation, yet without clear channels to apply pressure on government agencies and leaders, citizens today frequently resort to ad hoc demonstrations, protests and occasionally riots.
The Sri Lankan regime needs to be intellectually and electorally defeated. But in this task, the spectre of international intervention is not merely a distraction, but a hindrance.
The J-14 movement in Israel and the Wisconsin Cheddar Revolution raise similar issues of security, social welfare and democracy. Both are challenged by a newly potent, yet de-classed Middle Class.
The (unsuccessful) coup d’état in August 1991 eventually brought about the end of the USSR. Rodric Braithwaite was British Ambassador at the time. He kept a diary and has kindly allowed openDemocracy Russia to publish the entries for those eventful 5 days.
Obama wants Assad gone, but can US ‘ally’ Iraq be persuaded to turn on the Syrian regime?
To understand the riots that swept across English cities, remember the carnival: a temporary lapse in the normal social order when the law is suspended and the oppressed become free
Half of the largest Irish Traveller Community in Britain must vacate their homes by the end of this month, or face the bulldozers. The eviction is to go ahead despite UN warnings that Britain is in danger of violating her international human rights obligations
The United States remains embroiled in conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq. The outcome of the current presidential-election campaign will determine whether it can escape another decade of war.
In post-revolutionary Egypt, many activists have shifted their attentions to drafting the next constitution, which they hope will deal a coup de grâce to the nation’s vestigial ills. But such efforts seem misplaced. Constitutions everywhere are seldom panaceas, and no legal document will right the
