Is the world recovery really strengthening?
The global economy seems to be on the mend. IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard provides a quick overview of the likely developments.
France’s European spleen
As is now common in France, the biggest shock in the Euro elections will come from the far-right Front National, emboldened by a change in perception towards the party from many French voters. However, it may turn out that abstention becomes the largest ‘party’ in France.
Thailand’s Deep Divide
Thailand’s anti-corruption protesters appear to have lost faith in the key tenet of representative democracy: rule by people or parties elected by the majority of citizens. For many on both sides, it is no longer a question of if but when this deep-seated civil conflict descends into outright civil war.
Goodbye Childhood
A review of “Adiós Niño: The Gangs of Guatemala City and the Politics of Death”, by Deborah T. Levenson. “Guatemala has long been a country where social and political problems are resolved by death in one way or another and the morbid killing in the country’s 1960-1996 internal conflict has produced a youth shell-shocked by the bloodletting, and now inclined toward it”.
Clouds over Honduras
Honduras’ new president, Juan Orlando Hernández, takes office amid rising tensions between developers on one side and indigenous and campesino communities on the other. But there are still unanswered questions about the legitimacy of his victory in November.
An Interview with Ai Weiwei
Still denied his passport after nearly three years, Ai Weiwei exists in a strange purgatory. In this exclusive openDemocracy interview, the artist explains that China’s exploitative processes of development demand great responsibility from the nation’s intellectual and artistic currents.
The Dangers of a South Sudanese Civil War
The turmoil that erupted in Juba last month threatens to ignite a full scale ethnic civil war. If peace talks fail, a potential genocide may even result.
U.S and Morocco: good intentions do not help
It is time for the US to re-evaluate its current strategy in helping resolve the Western Sahara. Frustration is building within the Territory and the refugee camps in Algeria.
A BRIC in Search of a Growth Model
An incisive look at how Brazil is managing its growth story with an economy propelled in recent years by rising export demand and rapidly increased domestic credit, partly funded by borrowing from abroad. But are the country’s growth rates sustainable?
Caruso the Pop Idol
When he died in 1921 the singer Enrico Caruso left behind him approximately 290 commercially released recordings, and a significant mark upon the opera world including more than 800 appearances at the New York Met. John Potter, singer and author of Tenor: History of a Voice, explores Caruso’s popular appeal and how he straddled the divide between ‘pop’ and ‘classical’.