Democracy

By Thalif Deen | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Democracy is on the retreat and authoritarianism is on the rise in more than 96 of the U.N.’s 193 member states, according to a new report released here. The two regions of “highest concern” for defenders of civic space are Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle […]

Arab Spring

Wikileaks Docs Reveal Saudi intrigues against Bahrain’s Arab Spring

contributors

By Faten Bushehri | (Global Voices) | – – The Saudi Cables, released by WikiLeaks, includes a treasure trove of information in secret exchanges between Saudi diplomats on restive Bahrain Saudi Arabia's meddling in Bahrain's internal affairs has been revealed in top secret documents released by whistle blowing site WikiLeaks from June 20. WikiLeaks published […]

Democracy

Turkey: How Pres. Erdogan damaged the AKP Brand

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Justice and Development Party (AKP) decisively lost its majority on Sunday, falling to only about 40 percent of the vote. The other sixty percent were for the most party divided between the old secular Kemalist party, the Republican People’s Party; a Turkish nationalist-chauvinist party; and […]

Democracy

A Turkish Syriza? A radical democratic party and the new politics of the Mideast

contributors

By Omer Tekdemir | ( Your Middle East) Dr Omer Tekdemir analyzes a radical force in Turkish politics, which strives to protect democracy and represent all identities in society. Turkey’s forthcoming election (07 June 2015) carries huge expectations for the HDP (People’s Democracy Party) and its new radical politics that targets a wider, more colorful […]

Democracy

Surprise! Corporate Media declining to report on Big Money in Politics

contributors

By Deirdre Fulton, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) | – – “Now more than ever before Americans deserve to know about the need for campaign finance reform,’ advocacy groups declare” As the U.S. heads into the 2016 election cycle, where spending by candidates and outside groups is poised to approach $10 billion, groups dedicated to campaign […]

Democracy

Will the fight against ISIL Bankrupt the Iraqi Gov’t? Is it hemorrhaging hundreds of billions?

contributors

By Ibrahim Saleh | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) It’s hard to get an accurate figure on how much Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State group has cost. Local experts believe it’s in the hundreds of billions and that the country may never recover without foreign aid. The security crisis caused by the extremist group known as […]

Democracy

Will Turkey’s Election end hopes for Turkish-Kurdish Rapprochement?

contributors

By Mustafa Gurbuz | (Informed Comment) | – – Whatever the election outcome on Sunday, prospects for Kurdish Peace Process are grim. Yet, regardless whether largely Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) passes the 10 percent threshold that will allow it to be seated in parliament, it has already acquired a charismatic authority with the pro-Kurdish […]

censorship

On eve of Turkish Election, Leftist Women Turn backs on Pres. Erdogan in Twitter Campaign

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In Turkey, left of center and Kurdish women took to Twitter on Wednesday to post pictures of themselves turning their backs to President Tayyip Erdogan. The campaign came after Kurdish women supporting the HDP (People’s Democratic Party) turned their back to the president at a rally […]