Staying visible, not being drowned out by hostile agendas, or captured and then defused by lobbies of every ilk, is a challenge for those defending human rights on the internet.
Corporate actors play no small part in setting this agenda as well, in kind rather than by international treaty, through the proprietary rights of commercial enterprise.
Arguments about why indeed human rights matter for our online lives, and who is responsible for taking action - the individual, the government, or the service provider? - rage over most people’s heads.
Hans Blix ponders his long career in international politics and diplomacy, the state of the Middle East, and why he is an advocate for nuclear power. Interview.
Are our rights online under threat by our own governments? What real and imagined dangers face citizens at the online-offline nexus? Watch the wide-ranging panel discussion which launched openDemocracy's new 2016 partnership, 'Human rights and the internet'.
How can the international community respond effectively and promptly to this growing threat, not just to the Middle East region, but to the world?
How do uprisings and national discourses in Egypt shape the international relations of the country? How are we to understand the current state of Egyptian nationalism and its relationship with the Arab world post-2011?
Instead of focusing on this humanitarian crisis, governments in Europe, the United States and Canada are only concerned with the number of migrants they can take in.
An excerpt from a NOREF report on the background to the current situation in the Middle East, focusing on the aftermath of the 'Arab Spring'. Part one: North Africa, Egypt and the Gulf.
What can explain the myopia of US policy towards Sudan, when it knows Sudan has been facilitating ISIS in Libya, Syria and Iraq, and other terror groups?
Steps need to be taken to promote consensus, in order to consolidate the nation to which Libyans aspire. This NOREF report explores whether there can there be dialogue in the context currently prevailing in Libya.
It is time for Arab Gulf countries to stop being on the defensive and to accept their responsibility for what is happening in the region.
