What is the condition of al-Qaida, and what are its prospects in 2011 and beyond? The movement commissions the well-regarded SWISH management agency to deliver a further independent evaluation, to which openDemocracy has exclusive access.
openSecurity's briefings team highlight a selection of security developments from the past year and the clues they hold for 2011.
Dick Marty's report to the Council of Europe reflects the unfortunate politicisation of that body by Russia since accession in 1995. Kosovan politics is not clean, but there is no evidence of organ trafficking by Thaçi. And Marty's judgement is clouded by his anti-American instincts. Christophe So
Dick Marty's Council of Europe report is serious and credible. It alleges organ trafficking and other crimes and corruption at the heart of the Kosovo Liberation Army and implicates the Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi. Justice now demands a proper judicial enquiry. Denis MacShane disagrees here
The air-crash which decapitated Poland’s state elite may owe something to reckless behaviour, official negligence - and the flaws of modern democracy itself, say Adam J Chmielewski & Denis Dutton. (This article was first published on 13 April 2010)
The Belarusian president’s latest election victory and the violent crackdown after it clarify the national challenge he faces, says Natalia Leshchenko.
Provocative demonstrations of US military might are no way to avert conflict in east Asia, argues Angel Gómez-de-Ágreda
The casualties of 19th-century industrial disasters in northern England and tragedies in Bangladesh and Iraq today are connected by deep economic and political forces - and by an ethical understanding that stretches decades ahead.
An annual holiday in the Netherlands that mixes Christmas cheer with racial stereotyping is provoking debate - even if most Dutch people can’t see what the fuss is about, says Philip Ebels.
The systemic flaws in United States governance make long-term policy to address its cavernous deficits impossible, says Godfrey Hodgson.
Ranj Alaaldin argues that only the drastic curtailment of Nato ambitions in Afghanistan, and some unpalatable choices, will secure any semblance of stability in the country.
A visit to a Gaza hospital brings home the effects of a conflict that is a relentless war of attrition
