Behind the escalation of United States cross-border raids into Pakistan and of Taliban attacks on coalition tanker-convoys lie the cold political reality of an unwinnable war.
An Indian court’s ruling on the Hindu-Muslim dispute over the sacred site of Ayodhya sheds light on the relationship between two forms of rationality in India, says Deep K Datta-Ray.
Iran subject to largest-ever cyber-attack. Nigerian Independence Day marred by bombings. Europe steps up terror-alert following US warnings. All this and more in this week's security briefing.
China's military and diplomatic expansion points to an intensifying arms race between the world's two most populous countries, argues Rajeev Sharma.
‘American policy makers should understand religion better and engage with religious communities abroad’ argues the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Zainal Abidin Bagir responds to the report's co-author R. Scott Appleby.
A confrontation between police and president in Ecuador reveals the flawed governance of an unsettled country, says Carlos de la Torre.
Afghanistan was not always the abyss it’s thought to be today. If it is to be stabilised, it needs to resume its position as a transit between its many neighbours. Washington, however, remains over-dependent on Pakistani routes to Afghanistan for fear of increasing Iranian influence and in so doin
The election of a new leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party is a rare opportunity to put fresh thinking on global security at the heart of the political agenda.
UK Labour leader Ed Miliband drew a political line under Iraq in his conference speech. But a future statesman needs to answer the dilemmas posed by liberal interventionism with more thoughtfulness
From Ramallah, a Palestinian student tries to explain to readers ‘outside’ how he thinks the negotiations appear 'internally' to Palestinian eyes.
Markha Valenta opens up a new openDemocracy space - Inter Alia - for the discussion of politics, religion and culture
Today, we see that the rules of western European racism are shifting. On the one hand, they are becoming less racialist; on the other hand they are seeking to become official. How should we Europeans understand this, and how should we respond? In the first of her Inter Alia columns, Markha Valenta
