Authoritarianism

United Nations calls for Protection of Climate Activists’ Civil Disobedience after German Crackdown on ‘Last Generation’ as ‘Criminal’

By Sören Amelang | – dpa / Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The UN has highlighted the importance of climate activists and their right to hold demonstrations following a crackdown on a street-blocking group in Germany. “Climate activists – led by the moral voice of young people – have continued to pursue their goals even in the […]

Authoritarianism

Turkey’s presidential Election – how Erdoğan defied the Polls to head into Runoff as Favorite

The Conversation

By Salih Yasun, Indiana University | – Turkey is heading toward a presidential runoff election on May 28, 2023, after no candidate won more than half the votes in the first round – the barrier needed to be declared an outright winner. Incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has ruled the country for two decades, defied […]

Authoritarianism

President Erdogan has Wrecked Turkey’s Economy – So What Next?

The Conversation

By Gulcin Ozkan, King’s College London | – (The Conversation) – Turkey’s 2023 election is one of the most significant in its hundred-year history. After years of currency crashes, vanishing foreign currency reserves and surging inflation, rethinking economic policy will be a top priority for whoever is sworn in after the vote on May 14. […]

Authoritarianism

Tunisia: Move to Dismantle Country’s Largest Opposition Party

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch ) – (Tunis) – Tunisian authorities have intensified their attack on opponents of President Kais Saied’s 2021 power grab, moving to neutralize the country’s largest political party, Ennahda, Human Rights Watch said today. Since December 2022, the Tunisian government has arrested at least 17 current or former members of the party, […]

Africa

Trump joins ranks of Sexual Abusers-in-Chief like Gaddafi and Mussolini, but CNN thinks he Deserves a Townhall

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald John Trump was found liable by a jury on Tuesday for having sexually abused and then libeled writer E. Jean Carroll. The only reason he wasn’t also found liable for rape was that the victim said he inserted something else into her– fingers or some instrument — against her […]

Authoritarianism

Tunisia Doubles Down on Democratic Rollback

Human Rights Watch

Published in: Foreign Policy Eric Goldstein Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Division goldsteinricky ( Human Rights Watch ) – Some coups and power grabs start with the arrest of the leader of the political opposition. In Tunisia, it took almost two years for President Kais Saied to jail Rached Ghannouchi, the longtime […]

Authoritarianism

Many Female Voters see Turkey’s May 14 Elections as Crucial to Future of Women’s Rights

Arzu Geybullayeva

Written byArzu Geybullayeva ( Globalvoices.org) – In a report that was published in 2007 by European Stability Initiative, a think tank, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was hailed for bringing about reforms to empower women since coming to power in 2002. “If this report had been written in 1999, the year Turkey […]

Authoritarianism

Neither Iran nor Israel Needs Dictatorship: The Bad Joke of Pretender to a non-Existent Throne Kowtowing to Netanyahu

Fariba Amini

Newark, Delaware (Feature — Special to Informed Comment) – The recent visit of Reza Pahlavi to Israel and his meeting with PM Netanyahu raise many questions. Why now and what is the meaning of this pilgrimage? What is it about water? Is water the main issue in Iran? This must be a joke. Reza Pahlavi […]

Authoritarianism

Heavy Fighting Breaks out in Sudanese Capital, Imperiling Revolution

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – Clashes erupted Saturday between the conventional Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), formerly known as the Janjaweed militias, in the capital Khartoum. The RSF had been deployed in 2019 by the military junta against the civilian revolutionary movement that overthrew dictator and war criminal Omar […]