The popular uprising across the Arab world is shaking not just the region's authoritarian regimes but fallacies about the Arabs themselves. The consequences will be momentous, says Khaled Hroub.
The portrayal of Egypt’s uprising in terms of its potential capture by Islamists is doubly misleading, says Asef Bayat: for this misses both the true character of the people’s movement and the transformation of the Arab world’s religious politics.
A radical overhaul of Egypt’s ruling institutions and personnel is a precondition of the freedom that its citizens want, says Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi
The new age of insurgencies of which Egypt is an emblem has its deeper source not in the anger of the marginalised but in the system operated by the world's financial elites.
The change that is unfolding across the middle east places an especial responsibility on intellectuals to think civically and engage ethically, says Ramin Jahanbegloo.
Russians can sense that Project Putin has reached its twilight. The prime minister would be well served by retiring before he is forced to. In an exclusive interview for openDemocracy, Mumin Shakirov speaks with former deputy prime minister and opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
The Hungarian government's infringements of media freedom demand to be addressed by Europe as an issue of fundamental democratic values, says Darian Pavli.
The terrorist attack at Domodedovo Airport could have exempted Medvedev from going to the Davos Forum, but in the end he went. Given what he didn’t say in his keynote speech, Dmitry Travin questions if it was actually worth the effort.
The epic events in the Arab world’s heartland are also a lesson in the loneliness of power, says Goran Fejic.
A cinematic project in the Philippines that began as an exercise in political documentary and ended as excavation of the toxic legacies of the country’s early-20th century war with America is a vital counterblast to global amnesia, says Graeme Hobbs.
Beijing’s promotion of a new strike aircraft may be less a powerful addition to its military arsenal than a sophisticated part of a deeper strategy.
The democratic mobilisations in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and elsewhere are lighting a beacon across the middle east and north Africa. The way ahead lies through peaceful protest against extremism and authoritarianism, say Foulath Hadid & Mishana Hosseinioun.
