Through the fog of peace
A new book by Gabrielle Rifkind and Gianni Picco highlights the urgent relevance of conflict resolution in addressing problems around the world, from Ukraine and Iran to the Islamic State. In...
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What I learned from going cold turkey on technology
After I developed RSI, the use of social media led to crippling pain which forced me to confront my compulsion to react. What would life be like if everyone thought twice? Credit:...
View ArticleThe body of Colombian women is a battleground
A catalogue of sexual violence has accompanied the armed conflict in Colombia. The peace talks must not brush it under the carpet.A group of 60 victims of the Colombian armed conflict last month spoke...
View ArticlePakistan’s democracy on the rocks
Just when many thought Pakistan was finally on the trajectory towards a functioning democratic system, unrest broke out in a number of cities and provided a stark reminder just how fragile the...
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How children’s charity Barnardo’s locks up kids with Guantánamo contractor G4S
Britain’s leading children’s charity helps the world’s biggest security company lock up children who have committed no crime.This past Summer I’ve been trying to get some answers from Barnardo’s, the...
View ArticleThe Caliphate, the Pope and the West: The “Clash of Civilizations” revisited
Over a decade and a half ago Samuel P. Huntington’s book, “The Clash of Civilizations”, had made a considerable impact on western public opinion, soon to be downgraded, however, to an all-purpose...
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Civil resistance in North America: themes from the James Lawson Institute
Martin Luther King once said, “sometimes it’s necessary to dramatize an issue”. Struggles within democracies may actually be harder to organize than struggles against highly unpopular and corrupt...
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Israel and the mirror of ISIS
Netanyahu is warning us off an organisation which, like Israeli Zionism, claims its legitimacy on religious grounds and certain narratives of religious history.Portrait of Netanyahu, Wikimedia...
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Pentecostal Christianity: retrogressive force or dynamic ally?
Pentecostal Christianity is one of the fastest growing religious forces in the world. Although many secular human rights activists view Pentecostalism as retrogressive, this dynamic religion could...
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Scotland, towards a more just and fair society
An independent Scotland could be the start of something even bigger: disaffected voters in England, Wales and Northern Ireland motivated to find a new society.Molly Harvey under arrest at Faslane Naval...
View ArticleIranian justice
The revised code allows judges to refer to non-codified law (Shi’i jurisprudence which prescribes stoning for adultery) to reach their verdicts and widens the scope of crimes like ‘sowing corruption on...
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25 years: women working against fundamentalism in the UK
In 1989 women of many faiths and none formed a collective in London to work at the interface of feminism and anti-racism, in struggles against both religious fundamentalism and the excesses of...
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Thank you Scotland - and, hold your nerve
If the world could only follow Scotland's example, peace would break out and democracy would spread. The powerful are terrified.Dear Scottish voters,I am starting this letter to you the day after a...
View ArticleForced episiotomy: Kelly's story
Every patient has the right to say “no” to a doctor. Informed consent means that a doctor doesn’t get to say, “I am the expert here.” Content warning: medical violence, rape.Earlier this year, I was...
View ArticleStrengthening UN treaty bodies: some modest steps forward
The recently concluded process to strengthen the UN human rights treaty bodies fell far short of expectations, but still offers some hope for a more effective and better-resourced system. In July 2014...
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The Quantified Self community, lifelogging and the making of “smart” publics
Gary Wolf, co-founder, suggests that self-tracking and life-logging data may be aboutus, but they should also be ours to generate, harvest, access, manipulate, interpret, and use - even sell. How can...
View ArticleCeasefires in which violations never cease: what’s next for Israel, Hamas,...
For a century, the Zionist colonization of Palestine has proceeded primarily on the pragmatic principle of the quiet establishment of facts on the ground, which the world was to ultimately come to...
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Egypt: time to end the diplomatic farce
Many Egyptians are smarting from the betrayal of their revolution while the military-backed regime tightens its grip. The international community can no longer ignore this.Spot the difference: the US...
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Russian Railways: quicker to walk
Russian Railways is one of the three largest transport companies in the world, but its infrastructure is crumbling and standards dropping. Since the early 1990s, the infrastructure of the railways has...
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The Establishment
Owen Jones' new book has put the topic back on the table, that ethereal, undefinable, untouchable thing which everyone yet knows. So what is it?Eton college. Flickr/J.SalmoralStating the obvious is...
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