Politics
Politics
Fair Observer's analysis of political issues, events and trends and their national, regional and international consequences.
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360° Analysis / China / Diaoyu / Diaoyu Protection Societies / Fire-control radar / Japan / military / Nationalism / Noda Yoshihiko / Pinnacled Pavilions / Politics / Senkaku / Sino-Japanese / Xi Jinping / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaBy Wilson ChewOfficial belligerence conceals the varied sources of militant Chinese nationalism over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands The Japanese name for the Diaoyu Islands is Senkaku, or "Pinnacled Pavilions," which sounds far more fitting for a sitcom setting than for an international flashpoint. Yet flashpoints they are – a cluster of uninhabited islets and rocks jutting from the East China Sea, over which China and Japan are once again drifting towards war. This latest round of confrontations, which began in 2012 and has since become a steady stream of saber rattling on both sides, poses potentially disastrous consequences for the region. With Chinese and Japanese military assets...
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Is a free press a crucial restraint on power, or is it an irresponsible power in its own right? Professor Julian Petley discusses the UK’s Fourth Estate. ‘Democracies require an unlovable press. They need journalists who get in the face of power’. So says Michael Schudson, one of America’s foremost media scholars, in a recent collection of essays, and most journalists would wholeheartedly agree. Such sentiments were much in evidence in the pre-emptive nuclear strike mounted by the press in the run-up to the publication in November 2012 of Lord Justice Leveson’s report into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press. The Freedom to Dig Dirt For...
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360° Analysis / Arab Spring / Egypt / Islamism / Libya / Politics / Tunisia / Middle EastRajai Masri explains the complex reality of the Arab world amidst the potential for real change. One is coming to the conclusion that the “objective circumstances,”Al-Zorouf Al-Mawdouieh, are not ripe. The lack of political maturity among Arabs cannot lead to a constructive and orderly transformation or a change in the socio-political structure of the Arab world, at this particular juncture in history. The Arabs’ bid for change, under the rubric of the Arab Spring, is spiraling out of control, becoming chaotic, enduring, and is ultimately prone to hijacking by the better organized Islamic factions under a theocratic dictatorship. Now the Arab Spring, once seen as the...
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360° Analysis / Arab Spring / constitution / Egypt / Mohammed Morsi / Muslim Brotherhood / National Salvation Front / Politics / Middle East / AfricaThe Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is being heavily criticized. However, the complicated situation in Egypt urges the observer to take a closer look. Stephan Roll scrutinizes the five most important points of criticism. First: Morsi Placed Himself Above the Law Last November, Mohammed Morsi placed himself above the law via a decree, and thereby stopped a foreseeable interference by the judiciary into the process of drafting the constitution. This procedure has been sharply criticized by the Egyptian opposition as well as foreign countries. The president was accused of having violated the basic principles of democracy by rescinding the separation of powers. However, this...
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360° Analysis / Politics / United States / Europe / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Africa / AsiaBy Hannah StormEach week, at least two journalists die doing their job somewhere in the world. Hannah Storm, of the International News Safety Institute, discusses the dangers of the profession. In the first 20 days of this year, at least 10 journalists and media workers were killed doing their jobs. These 10 people weren’t household names, famous journalists whose deaths – like those of Marie Colvin and Tim Hetherington – generated column inches and inspired a collective call for better safety standards for media around the world. And yet, every one of these 10 deaths tells the story of a life unjustly cut short as one person tried to shine a light into the darkest corners of...
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Politics / United States / Europe / 360° Context / Arts & Culture / Middle East / Americas / Africa / AsiaAs more and more journalists are being targeted for their professional activity, the concepts of media freedom and journalist safety deserve a closer look — from the relative comfort of Europe to the killing fields of Syria and beyond. Background When Judge Gurfein ruled in favour of the New York Times for its right to publish the Pentagon Papers, he concluded that “a cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the even greater values of freedom of expression and the right of the people to know”. Indeed, the notion of uninhibited media is so engrained in our perception of democracy, that it carries...
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Much has been discussed regarding the Turkish system of governance as a model of ‘Post-Islamism’ for countries emerging out of the ‘Arab Spring’. However, before such claims can be made, it is important to understand the model. The following is an executive summary of Mustafa Akyol's essay from the Arches Quarterly. Introduction Turkey began 2008 in the shadow of a very heated debate over whether female students could cover their hair with a headscarf — a practice banned in Turkey since 1989. In February 2008, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), a “conservative” party led by devout Muslims, with the support of two other parties, passed an...
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360° Analysis / Arab Spring / Egypt / Islamism / Islamist / Morocco / Politics / Tunisia / Middle East / AfricaBy George JofféThe following is an extract from George Joffé’s essay, “The Arab Intifada in Perspective,” as he discusses the role of Islamist parties in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. To appreciate what has actually happened in the Arab world as a result of what in the West is called the “Arab Spring” but is referred to as the “Arab Intifada” in the Middle East and North Africa, and what is likely to take place there, we should perhaps note that the actual outcomes of the events of 2011 have much to do with their specific causes, both in regional and national terms. The events of 2011 have made it quite clear that, whether a paradigm shift or not, the...
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Daniel arap Moi / Elections / Forum for the Restoration of Democracy / Kanu / Kenya / Politics / 360° Context / AfricaFor the first time after the violence that followed 2007 elections, Kenyans are about to cast their vote again. Background Kenya, officially named the Republic of Kenya, is a country on the East Coast of Africa that is roughly twice the size of the United Kingdom.. Kenya has a long colonial history beginning in 1885 when Germany took possession of the coastal lands. However, it handed over its Kenyan holdings to the United Kingdom in 1890. Kenya remained a British colony until December 12, 1963. The Kenyan African National Union (Kanu) took control of the country and on December 12, 1964, exactly a year later, the Kanu formed the Republic of Kenya and Jomo Kenyatta became the first...
