Barack Obama’s great promise is so far unfulfilled. But his record in office - and his capacity to improve it - must also be measured against the nature of the institution he heads, says Godfrey Hodgson.
The conference on 'Women deepening democracy' held in New Delhi last week examined what can be done to tackle the gender-specific double standard encoded into the DNA of political liberalism
On the eve of Ukraine’s election, Andreas Umland rebukes Europe for its indecisive policy towards Ukraine. By refusing to offer Ukraine a clear prospect of eventual EU membership, the EU has exacerbated the country’s political problems in ways which could prove disastrous.
The US needs to alter its security orientated discourse on Iran to nourish the reform movement and democracy
An accidental explosion in Karachi kills seven suspected militants. A drone attack kills 18 in Waziristan. A suicide bomber kills many in Afghanistan. Haitian aid is arriving too slowly. And Iranian hackers target China’s biggest search engine. All this an more, in today’s security update…
Russia’s foreign policy is outdated, according to the distinguished foreign affairs analyst Dmitry Trenin. In the first part of this interview with polit.ru’s Boris Dolgin he argues that rather than focus on preserving Russia’s status as a great power, its aim should be modernisation. Otherwise, g
A Belarusian novel encourages citizens to question their own role in perpetuating the regime that governs them. The authorities’ response suggests it has touched a nerve, says Natalia Leshchenko.
The combination of Iran's effort to protect its nuclear facilities and Israel's to prevent its rival developing a weapon makes a crisis in 2010 all the more likely.
The political projects of Latin America’s radical leaders have democratic rhetoric at their core. But their dynamics, as in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela, often seem to pull in another direction. The tensions will come to a point of decision in this decade, says Ivan Briscoe.
2010 sees the 19th anniversary of the collapse of the USSR. In the first of this two-part review of the structures set up to replace it, Sergei Markedonov assesses the performance of the Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS). He concludes that a complicating factor has been the lack of clarity
A Dutch inquiry concludes the Iraq war ‘was illegal’ as Alastair Campbell presents his evidence before the Chilcot inquiry. Afghans express anger over alleged desecration of Quran. Yemen kills ‘al-Qaeda cell leader.’ Obama expected to ask $33billion more for wars in February. Israel apologises to
A key institution of modern justice must learn how to speak to the world it inhabits, says James A Goldston.
