We begin the week with a fresh look at why the Syrian army is winning which, like divide-and-rule in Iraq, fills some gaps in our grasp of a Middle East now plunged into regional war or what could be called the new great regional game. Others argue that a new map is needed, while just keeping up w
Former members of Pussy Riot tell of their difficulties in setting up an NGO for prisoners’ rights, while Meredith Tax joins the debate on human rights and religion. An NGO worker gives testimony of her journey towards humility. In Egypt, the Al Jazeera arrests reveal the desperate state of press
ISIS is on the march in Iraq. We publish a dispatch from Baghdad and ask why the call to arms from Ayatollah Sayid Ali Al-Sistaniis a game changer. Paul Rogers argues that US intervention would only play into their hands, while in the Kurdistan region life appears untroubled, for now… amazingly so
The week opens alongside the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London, with an exhortation to listen to women on the frontline. 50.50 listens to Syrian women refugeesfleeing rape; reports uproar in India at gang rape; calls for an end to the violence of detention of asylum seeker
Our euro-elections coverage closes with the last thoughts of the young Euro-bloggers in two parts, ongoing interest in Renzi’s triumph and Podemos in the vacuum left by Spain’s monarch,populism in the media (podcast), Europe’s Roma, and a recognised comeback for left-right politics as well as raci
The European elections may be a return to right-left politics. UKIP’s racism isn’t all we have to worry about, and how does it relate to Scottish politics? Right wing populists make gains in France and Sweden, while Italy bucked the trend by opting for Renzi and the centre ground. Syriza may provi
This week’s coverage on openDemocracy was dominated by perhaps the most significant European elections since they began in 1979. Etienne Balibar asks whether European elections are useless, drawing responses from Teresa Pullano and Anya Topolski, while Ulrike Guerot and Robert Menasse wonder wheth
This week on openDemocracy, Can Europe Make It? launches its series Joining the dots on state surveillance in Europe, with five national case-studies and the introduction to a major EU study, as well as debate on this secret oversight, from vanguard countries caught red-handed, like the UK, to the
An unofficial referendum on Veneto breaking away from Italy gains widespread support, while Spain struggles to appease Catalonia. The European elections will influence the Scottish referendum, as will the promise of a new direction in foreign policy. Meanwhile OurKingdom has launched an appeal to
We have tributes to two anniversaries this week: one to an event which surely saved lives, the other to an event which cost more than a thousand. Mandela's iconic speech from the dock, “it is a cause for which I am prepared to die” perhaps saved his life, and contributed, eventually, to the transf
The Ukrainian conflict is under this week's spotlight. Oleksander Andreyev and Andrew Wilson ask whether the political turmoil is new, while Polina Sinovets looks at language as a barrier. Anton Shekhovtsov takes on extremism in south-eastern Ukraine.Paul Lewis examines the European context, as Yo
This week openDemocracy marked International Workers' Day by joining the queue outside the jobcentre. The global effects of crisis on the labour market are clear, calling for a more secure 'equality economy'. The European Progressive Economists Network asks if another road for Europe is possible,
