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 / Alessandro Sallusti / Il Giornale / Italy / Media Freedom / Ossigeno per l’Informazione / Politics / Silvio Berlusconi / Steven Ellis / Europe / Arts & CultureBy Steven EllisAmong other threats to press freedom, journalists in Italy continue to face potential prison time for defamation, a situation which is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. When Italy’s highest tribunal upheld a 14-month prison sentence last fall for criminal libel against Alessandro Sallusti, editor of the newspaper Il Giornale, the move not only drew international condemnation, but raised hopes that it might prompt long-overdue reforms to Italian defamation law. Like many European countries, Italy allows those aggrieved by the publication or broadcast of allegedly defamatory statements to pursue remedies through a civil action or to file a criminal...
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Best of the Month / Egypt / European Union / Glenn Carle / India / North Korea / Politics / Sarah Eltantawi / United States / Europe / Focus Article / BRIC / Middle East / Americas / Africa / AsiaFair Observer's five best articles of April. It is already the end of April and 2013 is speeding up fast. Boston has suffered the tragedy of a bombing, Italy finally has a government, New Zealand and France have legalized gay marriage, Syria continues to implode, and the North Korean drama seems to be simmering down. Obama's budget continues to upset many people and the battle for gun control rages on in the US. Margaret Thatcher, an iconic British leader, died at the age of 87. The Economist called her a freedom fighter because she championed free markets when her Big Bang unleashed the City of London to emerge as a rival to Wall Street. Yet, the August 1843 publication...
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Alexei Navalny / Amnesty International / Foreign Agents / Friedrich Ebert Foundation / Hans-Henning Schröder / Judiciary / Konrad Adenauer Foundation / Memorial / NGO / Patriotism / Politics / Putin / Europe / Focus ArticleBy Hans-Henning Schröder Actions against Russian non-governmental organizations and other opposition figures are the result of a shift in national policy towards promoting patriotism. However, this path, chosen to stabilise the regime, has become more and more of a problem for the leadership itself, argues Hans-Henning Schröder. Since the beginning of February, prosecutors, the ministry of justice, and the tax authority have paid visits to Russian non-governmental organisations, demanding comprehensive access to financial documents, personnel files, and program documents. All over Russia, reportedly close to a hundred of these revisions have taken place. During the second...
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360° Analysis / Chris Ogbondah / Nigeria Media Freedom / Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) / Politics / ThisDay / Arts & Culture / AfricaAlthough Nigeria’s civilian government has adopted many methods of suppressing the free media from its military predecessors, Chris Ogbondah argues that the crushing brutality of the dictatorship years has subsided – albeit with disturbing exceptions. This is the last of a two part series. Read part one here. Physical attacks on media houses, as well as the assault and killing of journalists, highlight the recurring violence against Nigerian journalists and partly explains why the Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), listed Nigerian police as one of the worst 40 press predators in the world in 2010. For example, on August 30, 2003, security officers of...
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360° Analysis / Cuba / Diplomacy / European Union / IAEA / Inflation / Iran / Negotiations / Nuclear Program / Politics / Sanctions / Steve H. Hanke / trade / United States / United States of America / Finance & Economics / Middle EastIranians have become adept at circumventing economic sanctions which, even if perfectly implemented, would be unlikely to stop Iran’s nuclear aspirations. Diplomacy is the only viable solution. In light of Senator Chuck Hagel’s appointment as US Secretary of Defense, the issue of Iran — and the economic sanctions, in particular — promises to stay in play. Hagel has been lambasted by the neo-conservatives and some hard-line supporters of Israel for daring to question (in the past) that sanctions are the best way to confront Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Well, as it turns out, the sanctions have failed to force Tehran to abandon its nuclear program. Indeed, sanctions...
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360° Analysis / Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi / Al Islah / Ali Abdullah Saleh / Arab Spring / Gulf Cooperation Council / Houthi rebellion / Political Transition / Politics / Southern secession / Yemen / Middle East / Global SecurityPolicies from abroad currently ignore pre-2011 political conflicts while exacerbating the political divide emerging from the intra-regime Yemeni conflict of 2011. A myopic approach during the transition process further expands the space for militants to operate under new growing alliances. This is the final part. Read part one here. Around the country, observers see a wide gap between the media’s illusion of a military ‘transformation’ and the reality of a one-sided ‘purge’ that neither unites Yemen’s armed forces nor contributes to a safer environment. Consensus among Yemenis in the north and south is that while presidential decrees provide glimpses of...
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360° Analysis / Arab Spring / Bassem Youssef / economy / Egypt / Freedom of Conscience / Mohammed Morsi / Muslim Brotherhood / Political Oppression / Politics / Sarah Eltantawi / Supreme Constitutional Court / Middle East / AfricaThe performance of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in government has at best been mediocre. The Muslim Brothers have used the chance they have been given to entrench their own rule, argues Sarah Eltantawi. As I write this, a Coptic cathedral in Cairo's Qalioubiyya has been attacked by masked gunmen during a funeral for victims of an earlier sectarian clash. If you had told me one year ago that I would be writing such a sentence about Egypt, I would probably not have believed you. It is not that there hasn't been a long and worsening problem with sectarian attacks in Egypt – we only need to remember the horrific attack on the church in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve, 2010-...
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360° Analysis / Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi / Al Islah / Ali Abdullah Saleh / Arab Spring / Gulf Cooperation Council / Houthi rebellion / Political Transition / Politics / Southern secession / Yemen / Middle East / Global SecurityPolicies from abroad currently ignore pre-2011 political conflicts while exacerbating the political divide emerging from the intra-regime Yemeni conflict of 2011. A myopic approach during the transition process further expands the space for militants to operate under new growing alliances. This is the first of a two part series. On April 10, 2013, Yemen’s transitional President, Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi, issued Presidential Decree No. 104/2013, making the most significant changes to date under the existing agreement to restructure the armed forces. Hadi’s decree was well received by people around the country and Yemenis abroad via social media networks. In particular, people were...
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This is the final article in the three part series: Pakistan Beyond Bomb and Burqas. It examines the Loom Workers’ Strike in Faisalabad, and how it challenges hegemonic discourses on Pakistan dictated by the War on Terror. Read part one of the series here. Faisalabad and its adjoining district Jhang are the hub of hardline Islamist movements Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Sipah-e-Sahaba (SS) which repeatedly target and direct popular agitations towards members of the Shia sect. The Faisalabad Loom workers’ strike, however, questions the potency and legitimacy of these sectarian divisions in everyday life. During this time, ordinary workers began to question such divisions...