A high-stakes constitutional tussle over the future of the United Kingdom is under way. The political transformation of Scotland since the 1950s will help to shape the outcome, says David Hayes.
All across the world, authoritarian governments are crashing, and new forms of democratic and term-limited regimes are arriving in their place. Sooner or later this wave will reach Central Asia. When it does, the Kyrgyz model of slow political and economic reform might be the most effective way to
A military build-up, harsh rhetoric, third-country attacks - and the political calendar - make war against Iran a real possibility. It is all the more vital that those attempting to avert it should succeed.
The challenge of accommodating and promoting the rights of ethnic, religious and other minorities tends to emerge whenever a formerly authoritarian country begins to move towards democracy. It is faced today as the middle east and north Africa embarks on its own democratic transition. The region c
The Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad made both friends and enemies in the course of his detailed reporting of Islamist groups and insurgencies in the country. An official report on his abduction and murder in May 2011 may leave key questions unanswered, says Nick Fielding, but read careful
A decade of violence and insecurity has deeply marked Colombia's society, politics and institutions. For Colombia to move on, its beleaguered yet independent justice system will have a vital role to play, says Adam Isacson.
The uprisings across the Arab world are becoming more complex and variable as they enter their second year. This makes it all the more important to identify their main dynamics, says Volker Perthes.
The attitudes of the political left, including left-wing Jews, to Israel have varied greatly across the state's six decades. Loyalties acquired before or independent of Israel's foundation - to the Soviet Union, or to the idea of revolution - have often played a part in shaping them, says Colin Sh
Beijing is concerned by Washington's more assertive regional policy in Asia. But here as elsewhere the Chinese leadership's inability to talk to the rest of the world in a natural way blunts its capacity to respond, says Kerry Brown.
The effort by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón to investigate killings of civilians during the era of General Franco’s dictatorship has made him a legal target. The process raises profound legal and moral issues, says Pia Navazo.
