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 / 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...
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Anti-Semitism / Cairo / Egypt / El-Khamissy / Israel / Jacob Goldberg / Morsi / Palestine / Politics / President Muhammad Morsi / Semitic People / Tel Aviv / Focus Article / Middle EastAnti-Semitism is still the greatest threat to the Jewish people, but the threat comes from within the Jewish state, argues Jacob Goldberg. I was dismayed to read the news a few weeks ago about the new Egyptian government’s cancellation of a screening of a documentary film called “Jews of Egypt.” The film, produced by Haytham El-Khamissy, highlights the life of what was until the 1950s a sizeable and vibrant Jewish community in Egypt. When the screening was cancelled by Egyptian security authorities the day before it was due to take place, El-Khamissy reported on Facebook that no reason for the cancellation was given. In the aftermath of what seems to be a...
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By Glenn CarleDespite the financial crisis, a diminishing birth rates and seemingly unsustainable welfare states, Glenn Carle believes German leadership might offer a solution for structural reform in Europe. It is easy to say that Europeans should have more sex. Demography is destiny, after all, or so it has seemed for millennia, and what could be better than sleeping your way to world power? Existential Crisis Over the next 40 years the European Union faces an existential crisis of epic proportions; its fertility rate -1.58 in 2012 - will remain below replacement levels and its already strained ratio of four workers to every pensioner will deteriorate to an unsustainable two to one by the...
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360° Analysis / Education / India / Manmohan Singh / Politics / BRIC / Global Change / AsiaIndependence to India, amongst other things, gave a boost to the education system in terms of the number of institutes that came up. But the concern over the quality of education catered in these institutions still troubles the policy makers. Nelson Mandela’s words describing the power of education as a weapon that can change the world finds truth in any society. In India, education system has been given its due share over the past decades. The number of institutions that have been established after 1990 has been unprecedented. This expansion on the other hand has concealed within itself several key issues ranging from quality to the access of such education. School Education Ever...