A drought across... Currently Saudi... After France, Belgium is the second European country to introduce a general prohibition on face-covering... A retreat from the present unsatisfactory half-way house to a Gaullist ‘Europe des Patries’... In the wake of the Arab spring, European countries are forced to rethink their foreign... Read more »•
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Increasingly, the idea of being a modern Russian means to be detached from Russia itself. The problem has long, Soviet roots, and the ruling tandem acknowledges there is a problem. But are they capable of reversing the trend, wonders Wayne...More Recent Articles
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Israel and the anti-boycott law: the wider implications of popular indifference, Antony Lerman
The motivation for the law is not primarily to give voice to the sentiments of the Israeli-Jewish majority, although it relies on the existence of those sentiments to achieve its goal - and that is something altogether more far-reaching....
Who's afraid of the boycott , Miri Weingarten
In Europe, a marked reticence among diplomats, lawmakers and bureaucrats has been recorded whenever this particular bill is mentioned. But Israel's boycott law may for the first time enable an open and honest discussion of the...
A world in hunger: east Africa and beyond , Paul Rogers
The severe drought across much of east Africa is a human emergency that requires urgent attention. It also signals a global crisis: the convergence of inequality, food insecurity and climate change.
Boko Haram: militant political network or criminal calling card?, Murray Last
A wave of attacks in northern and central Nigeria have been attributed to the Islamist organisation Boko Haram. But the true extent of their capabilities and goals remain something of a mystery, explains Murray Last. This article was first...
Critical thoughts on critical thinking in Saudi Arabia, Bobby Thomas Cameron
Saudi Arabia's government is infusing billions of dollars into programmes and services, much of which is oriented towards education. There is a fundamental contradiction in this endeavour.
Is Italy on the brink of debacle?, Carlo Ungaro
The austerity measures will be felt primarily by a lower middle-class, already tested by the ever-growing divide between rich and poor in Italy. But a bleak political prospect goes well beyond the sense of panic caused by the economic and...
The green shoots of the Arab Spring, Tarek Osman
The Arab Spring is frequently portrayed as a series of uprisings against oppressive regimes. A more historically-oriented reading would see it as a rejection by young Arabs (the more than 185-million under the age of 30 years) of the...
Belgium bans 'burqa', Jogchum Vrielink and Eva Brems
Belgium’s law banning the face-veil and other forms of face covering is badly drafted, unnecessary, and counter-productive
The EU approaches a constitutional moment , David Marquand
A retreat from the present unsatisfactory half-way house to a Gaullist ‘Europe des Patries’ would be an act of reactionary vandalism.
The EU in the Arab spring, Hélène Pfeil
The EU has a choice to make: does it want to assert itself as a normative power, or does it want to stay an inconclusive and erratic political dwarf?
The crisis of Russian modernisation, Wayne Merry
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