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Egypt and the Arab uprisings
Three years on, the global significance of the Arab uprisings lies in the reminder of how brittle the seemingly invulnerable machinery of state can be. They remind us that another world is possible,...
View ArticleLet’s remember where this all started
The uprising in 2011 was brought about by socio-economic grievances coupled with state repression. The question is; has any of this changed?Lets go back in time. Since 1952 Egypt has been governed by...
View ArticleThe politics of numbers in the age of austerity
The inherent power of numbers explains why all sorts of data, good or bad, can become a potent weapon to shape complacency and subservience in society.Welfare cuts have become a common phenomenon in...
View ArticleBeyond elitism: towards labour-centred development
There is a fundamental paradox in development as currently conceived. The poor are forced to partake in an economic system that is based upon their exploitation and oppression. The way neo liberal and...
View ArticleContemporary challenges in medecines access
One of the most recent advances has been to successfully advocate for the adoption of a Socially-Responsible Licensing policy on intellectual property (including therapeutic agents) developed by...
View ArticleMajority voting is outdated
Peter Emerson is director of the de Borda Institute in Belfast that works on improving voting systems. How for example could decision-making in Poland's parliament be organised, as an alternative to...
View ArticleHow are social enterprises helping address road safety and transportation...
Ten countries account for more than half of the world's annual 1.2 million road deaths. Across the developing world, enterprises and governments are exploring new approaches to transportation and road...
View ArticleChanges in democratic Argentina: 1983 to the present
The ability of Argentine democracy to tackle reforms when they appear both overdue and feasible, instead of attempting them all at once, might yet come to be regarded as constituting one of its hidden...
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Central African Republic: history of a collapse foretold?
Political instability and administrative weakness have been permanent features of the Central African Republic since independence. What has happened in recent weeks is tragic but is neither genocide...
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Welcome to ‘frackland:’ does a river have the right not to be polluted?
Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas or ‘fracking’ is one of the dirtiest forms of energy on the planet. Halting its destructive impact requires regulation and community control, but also something...
View ArticleA word to white women
If you identify as feminist you must examine what it means to be white, and the problem of the dominance of a white feminism which presents itself as universalWe live in exciting times....
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Is banking liberal?
The inability to distinguish between state currency and ‘bank money’ we have today is unjust and profoundly illiberal.There still circulates a well-nurtured myth. You deposit your savings in a bank and...
View ArticleGender-based censorship
Gender-based censorship, which takes many forms, can be seen in attempts to stifle women’s public voice - from the suppression of Taslima Nasrin’s series for Indian TV to death and rape threats against...
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Russia and the Holocaust – whose genocide was it anyway?
27 January, anniversary of the Red Army’s liberation of Auschwitz in 1945, is widely marked as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but Russia pays little attention to it. Why in a country so...
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Britain, Turkey and trading human rights for 'counter-terrorism'
openSecurity was inspired by a 2005 conference in Madrid on the anniversary of the Atocha station bombings, marked by consensus that 'counter-terrorism' measures had to be consistent with human rights...
View ArticleSustainable security and the challenges of 2014
openSecurity's newest column explores the drivers of global insecurities and addresses their root causes. We look ahead to 2014 and the planet's unsustainable state. Sustainable Security is a concept...
View ArticleBahrain’s attempts at subsidy reform
The burden of debt is being pushed onto the shoulders of citizens, and so subsidy reform may tip the delicate balance of the political and economic impasse.As Bahrain’s public debt approaches its legal...
View ArticleLebanon's shot at utopia
Understanding the shortcomings of Lebanon in the race for Mediterranean oil wealth. Just like Brazil, bad timing might cut the country’s dreams short.2007 - the future looks bright for Brazil....
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Bliss Was It in that Dawn to Be Next Door
The author ponders literacy and the literate 'red blood corpuscles of society'and the way Arabic is taught in the Middle East and North Africa. He explores the shaky relationship between language and...
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Maidan on wheels
Euromaidan in Ukraine has produced another protest movement – Automaidan. It has picked up so much speed that the government is doing everything it can to put the brakes on…The message seemed real...
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