The pathway to Tunisia’s constitutional future

The language of constitutional revision and civic values based on human rights has become the baseline of political discourse, but only by submerging crucial ideological differences.

By Open democracy

/ 31 Jul 2012

Big Brother, little drones – protestors beware

Russia’s police are starting to use unmanned drones much more often for monitoring street protest rallies, Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov report. This sinister development has the complete support of President Putin.

By Open democracy

/ 23 Jul 2012

The struggle for security and against terrorism in Yemen: in whose interests?

People perceive that cash and support are available for military and security costs but not for development or humanitarian needs which affect the vast majority of the population on a daily basis.

By Helen Lackner

/ 20 Jul 2012

UK arms exports: getting it right at home

As UK delegates head into the final weeks of negotiations at the UN Diplomatic Conference on an Arms Trade Treaty, the Committees on Arms Export Controls Scrutiny of Arms Exports (2012) highlights the effects of domestic export decisions on the wider world and the importance of first getting it ri

By Open democracy

/ 20 Jul 2012

The re-militarisation of South Africa’s borders

Heightened border security has been enforced during international summits and sporting tournaments. This idea of permanent, non-conventional threat provides a legitimation for an extensive increase of defence spending and resources, eagerly cheerled by the private sector.

By Open democracy

/ 20 Jul 2012

Is the army invading British civil society?

UK schoolchildren could soon be trained in army 'values', the London Olympics will take place under military occupation, the armed forces are set for further integration with the police. As Britain's foreign policy shifts, the meaning of militarisation within our own borders is undergoing a quiet

By Vron Ware

/ 17 Jul 2012

G4S Olympic fiasco: British soldiers are the ‘people pipeline’ now

Multimillionaire government ministers, close to G4S chief executive Nick Buckles, are a world away from weary soldiers drafted in to rescue the Olympics.

By Clare Sambrook

/ 17 Jul 2012

The UK Border Agency's long, punitive campaign against children (helped by G4S and Serco)

The appalling Rochdale sexual abuse scandal prompted long-overdue scrutiny of our children’s homes. Another national disgrace ripe for exposure is the UK Border Agency’s serial and repugnant oppression and abuse of vulnerable children over more than a decade. Today OurKingdom publishes Clare Sambr

By Clare Sambrook

/ 16 Jul 2012

G4S's Buckles is no bungler. Analysis of an interview

Nick Buckles, CEO of G4S, was not the speech-and-thought-challenged buffoon he appeared to be on his mea-not-so-culpa interview on the BBC's flagship Today program. Indeed, the story seems much more interesting than that

By Tony Curzon Price

/ 14 Jul 2012

Does the government need new internet surveillance powers?

The UK faces a range of cyber threats to its security – including terrorist cells, child pornography and cyber-crime. Are they enough to justify extending the government’s powers of online surveillance?

By Gilbert Ramsay

/ 21 Jun 2012

Like it or not, G4S is securing your world

OurKingdom broke the story that UK police personnel were wearing uniforms with the logo of a private security company. But G4S isn't just securing the Olympics: the company has global reach. openSecurity joins Clare Sambrook in asking how G4S is securing your world.

By Clare Sambrook

/ 8 Jun 2012

NATO’s role in the southern Mediterranean: learning lessons from the EU

Keeping a safe distance might actually help the NATO Alliance to rebuild its credibility in the region. As the EU recently learnt, breaking down 'democratization' into concrete bits and treating Islamist parties as legitimate interlocutors is the way forward.

By Open democracy

/ 7 Jun 2012

Security sector reform - a global challenge