It is a time of danger in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as crisis in Israel-United States relations. What are the prospects for movement in the blocked peace process; how do Palestinians in the occupied territories view the current stasis; and what role should the international communit
The epic wave of destruction on 27 February 2010 has tested the character of the Chilean nation and the reputation of two of its presidents. A month on, Justin Vogler recalls the moment and assesses the tragedy's political fallout.
The sudden collision between Binyamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama’s administration is reverberating across the middle east. Thomas O'Dwyer gauges the impact in Israel and talks to a senior scholar of US-Israel relations.
The increasingly combative global stance of China’s political authorities is connected to the intense ferment of Chinese society in the society it governs, says Kerry Brown.
An intense controversy over Amnesty International's association with people who reject its universalist principles has been sparked by its treatment of a senior figure who raised the issue. Here, a global petition signed by prominent writers and activists poses questions to the human-rights organi
The doctrinal contempt of Islamist regimes for popular festivals such as the Iranian nowrooz (new year) extends to suspicion of every expression of spontaneous life. The result is to conjure the very rituals of resistance they fear, says Asef Bayat.
The Chinese authorities’ continuing demolition of the urban heartland of Uyghur society is also the outward face of a deeper dispossession, says Henryk Szadziewski.
Brazil’s presidential election of 2010 is the first since the return to democracy in 1985 in which Lula is not a candidate. The country’s emerging political alignment forms a big part of his legacy, says Arthur Ituassu.
Barack Obama’s healthcare-reform bill is a real legislative achievement. But the toxic atmosphere surrounding its passage reflects widespread denial of the very legitimacy of his presidency. This is a new twist on a story that began in the 1960s, says Godfrey Hodgson.
The burgeoning international scandal involving the abuse of children by Catholic clergy is the biggest crisis for the church since the 16th-century reformation, says Michael Walsh.
A spirited protest in central Kyiv embodies the ethos of a new, civic Ukraine whose people - despite their politicians - have internalised the values of the “orange revolution”. Alexander J Motyl reports for openDemocracy
Romania’s post-communist transition was captured by a political elite that consolidated its power, enriched itself and led the country into a European Union that preferred not to notice. Its people are the losers, says Tom Gallagher.
