Partners in democracy, partners in security: NATO and the Arab Spring

Sponsored by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, the US Mission to Germany, and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Atlantic-community.org’s "Your Ideas, Your NATO" policy workshop competition challenged students and young professionals to make recommendations on how NATO should support the long-ter

By Open democracy

/ 20 Apr 2012

The slow creep of complacency and the soul of English justice

The government’s Justice and Security Green Paper and its plans to allow English courts to hold secret hearings is a threat to the basic principle of justice: the right to a fair and open trial. Tim Otty QC sets out his observations on the proposals, showing their potential to cause profound damag

By Open democracy

/ 20 Apr 2012

Greece and the new pan-European value - profit

The fact that the Union’s upper echelons do not want to dig deeper for Greece in the name of accountability, name names and sever all ties with those that are personally politically responsible should make a lot of people suspicious about the Union’s motives.

By Open democracy

/ 19 Apr 2012

Taking the next step: Security Sector Reform in Libya

Can the experience of the western Balkans help Libya in its transition? Some best practice could be adapted to the local context.

By Open democracy

/ 27 Mar 2012

The Mexican penitentiary system: how prisons became tools for the cartels

Far from being an instrument aimed at fighting crime and reintegrating former inmates in society, Mexican prisons act as a recruiting ground for the cartels. The lack of government response to this challenge illustrates its powerlessness in the war on drugs.

By Open democracy

/ 27 Mar 2012

The seductions of violence in Iraq

Violence in Iraq is not a throw-back to some more ‘primitive’ past, driven by dark passions dredged up from history. On the contrary, it has a logic and a constitutive power of its own fully in line with the contemporary experiences that Iraqis have undergone both before and after 2003. Moreover,

By Open democracy

/ 23 Mar 2012

Making sense of Egypt: Part One, in defence of conspiracy as a method

Without evidence, one can never prove that there is a conspiracy concocted by human beings. However, the apparent absence of evidence indicting a criminal does not at all mean that the crime was not committed. It is naïve to think otherwise. Consider what happened in the 'football violence' in Por

By Open democracy

/ 22 Mar 2012

Making sense of Egypt: Part Two, a partial anatomy of insecurity

The Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is accused of fomenting instability in the country. But the objectives of SCAF are best met if Egyptians feel secure, even numb, not the other way around. So if SCAF is not the culprit, who is? Read Part One here.

By Open democracy

/ 22 Mar 2012

'The resistible rise of Nuri al-Maliki'

When faced with a rising tide of violence, largely caused by their own policy mistakes, the US occupation embarked on the reconstitution of an Iraqi military. The resultant Iraqi security forces, under the control of Nuri al-Maliki, are today on their way to occupying the same role as the armed fo

By Open democracy

/ 22 Mar 2012

Football and the game of politics in Egypt

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' call for an official inquiry into football violence, following the deaths of 74 al-Ahly team supporters in February this year, has been rejected by most clubs as a sham designed to obscure the blame that belongs to the Mubarak regime’s structures which orch

By Leila Zaki Chakravarti

/ 20 Mar 2012

Security Sector Reform needs inclusive politics and jobs for the poor

Security sector reform has gained prominence in recent years as the international community seeks solutions to seemingly intractable conflicts. However, in order to achieve sustainable peace, security sector reform needs to be grounded in inclusive government and growth strategies that deliver job

By Open democracy

/ 19 Mar 2012

Limited military intervention in Syria: how to rescue the Responsibility to Protect doctrine from permanent demise

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 As the violence within Syria continues, causing massive civilian suffering and threatening stability in the region, the international community must get involved. A 'R2P intervention' presents a reasonable chance of success,

By Open democracy

/ 16 Mar 2012

Security sector reform - a global challenge