The trade-off offered by authoritarianism to its client-constituents is security and high growth rates. After Meles challenges may force change, or build the case domestically for a new strong man.
When the protest against a lecture by the controversial Islamist Bilal Philips risked being hijacked by Danish populist forces, it was a vivid reminder of what happens in practice, despite declarations by right-wing populist leaders.
With a recent internal UN report criticizing its operations in the Sri Lankan civil war, international aid groups and donors are grappling with a new way forward. But any reformed policies may be fundamentally flawed if they fail to understand shifting social roles in this 'post-conflict' state.
The UN Refugee Agency must not be the facilitator of a permissive attitude towards continued corruption and the absence of democracy in Rwanda. By calling on refugees who fled before 1998 to return home to the threat of persecution it risks legitimising Kagame’s autocratic regime.
Mohammed Suliman's interview on CNN was abruptly interrupted by an Israeli missile exploding nearby. In a piece originally published in Ceasefire, he reflects on the experience and analyses the continuity of violence before and after last week's aerial bombardment.
Les pays occidentaux décrivent la violence à l'est de la RDC comme un échec cuisant : des personnes et des événements au Congo (ou au Rwanda) ont provoqué l'échec des processus de paix et de développement. Mais le M23 est le résultat direct de processus qui légitiment la violence du pouvoir. Read
Since 2011 three failed strategies have been attempted, with weapons provision bringing up the rear. The regional politics of the conflict make the dangers of massive escalation imminent: it is time to find a transition acceptable to both sides.
In an increasingly right-wing political environment, addressing the place of the military in Israeli society means going through the cracks rather than lobbying government. International connections help, but it's outreach, not funds, that count.
Female-friendly spaces are on the rise as a means to combat gender-based violence. But do women need to be separated to be protected?
