Draining development: illicit flows from Africa
Since 1970, Africa has lost at least $854 billion through capital flight which is not only enough to wipe out the continent’s total external debt of $250 billion but leaving around $600 billion for...
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Intervention - imperialism or human rights?
Are we caught between support for liberal intervention which often has disastrous, unintended, but often foreseeable consequences, on the one hand, and an anti-interventionism where we simply ignore...
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NGOs lose ground in Sisi's Egypt
NGOs in Egypt did not expect to have fewer freedoms under Sisi's presidency. But regressive laws and regulations governing them are now being reinforced.Shortly after Sisi’s election, in a July 2014...
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Homophobia, fire and terror in Brazil
While specific horrific cases of homophobia are condemned, the overall mentality is not. Politicians wish the issue would disappear, and there is no education in schools.Demonstrators protest against...
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The greatest coping strategy is helping others: a conversation with Liberian...
You can’t ambush a virus with a bullet. A former child soldier speaks out on Ebola in Liberia.B. Abel Learwellie in the classroom. Credit: Camp for Peace. All rights reserved.Liberian human rights...
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Democratic representation of pro-Kurdish political parties in Turkey
In Turkey, political parties are evaluated by the Constitution Court according to their commitment to the 1982 Constitution. But you have to look to Europe for neutral universal principles, or...
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Democracy in America, Part 2: What's wrong with signing statements?
In his first election campaign, President Obama committed to ending this habit of undermining legislation – but he's continued to do it nevertheless.American democracy has always been messy, rough and...
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Populism and the left: does UKIP matter? Can democracy be saved?
A populist anti-capitalism is the only way the centre left can meaningfully respond to the rise of UKIP.The startling success of UKIP in recent by-elections raises all kinds of questions, for observers...
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Workers’ rights really are human rights
Workers’ rights are human rights, and we have a moral and legal obligation to protect them. No one should be allowed to exploit workers simply to run a more profitable or efficient business.Most of us...
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Five demands for the NHS we must not compromise on
We must demand the NHS has enough, decently paid staff. We can afford it - if we scrap the market, the PFI, and/or Trident. Peter Pannier and OurNHS editor Caroline Molloy running an NHS privatisation...
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Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton: two journeys to wholeness
Two lives show that a truly integrated existence—a life-long process of personal and political transformation—lies within the reach of everyone.Dorothy Day before her last arrest at a farm workers...
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The case for Northern devolution
The time is right for Assemblies in the regions of the North of England.Angel of the North, WikimediaThe debate on democratic devolution within England is moving forward rapidly, with a refreshing...
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Kobane: long live Obama
It now appears that Kobane will not fall. But Turkey’s apathy towards the plight of the city, coupled with their stealthy support for ISIS, is something the Kurds will never forget.Kurdish people enjoy...
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Democracy in America, part 3: What's wrong with court activism?
The present Supreme Court is activist in all three meanings of the term: it accepts cases that it should not take on, is systematically biased in its rulings, and rules more broadly than it...
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Activists and law in Haiti: multi-level human rights campaigns to find justice
A partnership between a Haitian human rights organization and its US partners has become the driving force behind a campaign to obtain justice for Haitian cholera victims. Has this grassroots movement...
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Hong Kong’s umbrella movement
The movement could benefit from encouraging splits within the seemingly unified voice of the elite, bound to have its internal conflicts. Then there are new challenges and new nonviolent opportunities,...
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Occupydemocracy: questions and limitations of a protest
The people camping outside Parliament under constant police harassment deserve more than our indifference.Flickr/LondonPictureCapital. Some rights reserved.Occupydemocracy, now dug-in for over half of...
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Saatchi's 'Medical Innovation Bill' will benefit lawyers and charlatans, not...
This week, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt backed Lord Saatchi's Medical Innovation Bill - but this Bill offers the wrong solutions to patients suffering from terrible diseases. This week Jeremy Hunt...
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Kobane: the struggle of Kurdish women against Islamic State
The international community should support a secular, multi-religious and multi-ethnic Rojava with democratic ambitions, that is a threat for IS and equally for the conservative Islamic government in...
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Nuclear disarmament? Not yet
The world would be a much safer place without nuclear weapons but nuclear-armed states’ belief in the efficacy of “deterrence” continues to stymie progress at the UN.Speak softly and carry a big stick:...
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