Beyond Mosul
Shia militias, still operating under the control of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, are laying siege to Latifiyya, especially the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haqq militia. Failure to address the broader...
View ArticleThe Eurosceptic revolution: much ado about nothing?
The success of eurosceptic parties at the 2014 European elections was expected to mark a paradigm shift in both national and European politics. As the dust begins to settle, the eurosceptic wave may...
View ArticleProblems of empowerment
Efforts at the economic empowerment of women in Jordan are missing the point - there are political and social issues that need to be addressed first.Ataf sets her blow dryer down on the boudoir to...
View ArticleCreating the people: an interview with Aurelien Mondon on populism
Populism is a political style whereby the populist creates her/his ‘people’ according to her/his ideological goals. ‘The people’ therefore can take many shapes and forms and be used in both inclusive...
View ArticleWe are one Scotland: anatomy of a referendum
The independence referendum shows a need in Scotland to reach out.It was a momentous moment in Scottish and British history. The Scottish independence referendum. It dominated Scottish and British...
View ArticleCritique of the boycott divestment sanctions movement, from a Jewish...
The moral degeneration of Israel must not have as its indirect consequence the moral degeneration of the Palestinian solidarity movements, for in a desperate struggle there is such a danger as all...
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Take the quiet life
A whole array of trivial pursuits, from Jamie Oliver cookbooks to popular dieting, will always be on hand to liberally furnish our conversations, when we feel increasingly powerless to steer the course...
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Washing away capitalism: workers who’ve occupied their factory provide a...
A soap factory in Greece, abandoned by its owners, has been reclaimed by its workers - and provides a vital example of how things can be done differently.As the Ecotopia Bike Tour wheeled into a sun...
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Direct action is useless without the masses
Marches may not always bring visible results, but they are crucial for political change. Direct action can't be the work of a small, devoted group. A response to "When marches aren't news, and media...
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Money where your mouth is: Salaita, freedom of speech, and the new market of...
I'd like to unpack the widespread idea that one's freedom of speech is relinquished when it is used in the form of “hate speech” or to “spread hate.” Hate is a legitimate and reasonable response to...
View ArticleFailure is success: how American intelligence works in the 21st century
Is repeated failure actually the key to the success and endless expansion of the US intelligence community? What are the odds? You put about $68 billion annually into a maze of 17 major intelligence...
View Article"Waste of money" and "poor care" - NHS privatisation failures exposed across...
Hospital inspectors have written to the first 'franchised' NHS hospital warning them of serious concerns. And up the road, the NHS has won the largest single service tender yet - but only after having...
View ArticleIS in Algeria: serious threat or publicity stunt?
The latest act of violence may be part of a pattern of opportunist 'career advancement' for the leader of Jund El Khalifa, rather than an indication of real IS presence in Algeria.On Sunday 21...
View ArticlePromoting the global secular alternative in the ISIS era
While many of us watch in horror as ISIS advances, and fundamentalist ideas spread across religious traditions around the world, Maryam Namazie and Marieme Hélie-Lucas - secular feminists from Iran and...
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Cultural heritage and violence in the Middle East
When people are dying in their thousands, why should we care about the destruction of artefacts? Cultural violence has long been a component in the obliteration of communities; it legitimates the...
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Orchestrating democracy in Bulgaria
As Bulgaria heads for the polls for the fourth time in 18 months, is there any hope of political stability? What has caused this severe political crisis and can elections make a difference?How does...
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The villa monologues
The discourse around Buenos Aires’ slums rarely transcends the self-righteous polemic of the Argentine press. Such moral outrage does little to resolve an urgent question: how to provide effective...
View ArticleTurkey and the Islamic State crisis: everyone's non-ally?
The military success of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq intensifies questions over Turkey's strategy and decisions. What Ankara does next will help to resolve them. Turkey's parliament, the...
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The cause of labour is Hong Kong’s hope
The voice of the labour movement has been ignored in the international media coverage of Hong Kong’s Occupy protest. Trade unions have taken to the street not only in the name of universal suffrage,...
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The common factor: sexual violence and the Egyptian state, 2011-2014
We must conceptualise the epidemic levels of sexual violence in post-revolutionary Egypt at least partly as “state violence”, and resist the state’s attempt to selectively appropriate women’s rights....
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