An inspiring candidate has become a failing president. But a comparison with Lyndon B Johnson shows that the reasons for this outcome are more than personal. Change had come to America before Barack Obama got to the White House, says Godfrey Hodgson.
The Madrid train-bombings on 11 March 2004 provoked a dignified outpouring of collective grief. But the moment was soon reclaimed by Spain’s enduring political warfare over the national past, says Guy Hedgecoe.
An epic military, political, and security scandal continues to absorb Turkey. The affair's latest bizarre sub-plots make the tensions between the country's “deep state” and its constitutional order even more acute, says Bill Park.
A shifting balance of calculation in the middle east makes Lebanon’s Hizbollah movement more confident in its strategy of “deterrence-by-terror” vis-à-vis Israel, says Robert G Rabil
The degrading realities of France’s survivalist economy put the country’s latest debate about Islamic apparel into perspective, says Patrice de Beer.
The emotional and psychological impact on children of the political crisis in Iran is an important and neglected issue, say S Deghati & Linda Herrera.
The Iranian state has won a round in the battle against the opposition "green movement". But the war of survival continues, says Sanam Vakil.
The contest between Iran’s state and the opposition movement that arose after the presidential election of June 2009 is now at a critical point. How confident is the regime, where is the “green movement” going, and what should the international community do? openDemocracy writers examine the impas
Iran’s opposition movement must draw the lessons of its months of activism since the 2009 election and map a coherent political strategy, says Nazenin Ansari.(This article was first published on 17 February 2010)
The complex realities of international politics make a wise and patient foreign-policy approach the only sensible one - especially for Russia’s smaller neighbours, says Rein Müllerson.
The promise of an international order based on principle rather than the exercise of power is exposed as an occidentalist illusion by Russian actions towards Georgia, says Alexander Rondeli.
Nepal’s path to development remains hostage to the lack of accountability over human-rights violations during the country’s civil war, says Meenakshi Ganguly.(This article was first published on 15 February 2010)
