Kim Jong-un: Too Young for Coronation?
Any serious blunder of inexperience by the new leader in connection with redirecting the country’s economic and diplomatic affairs could lead to irreversible challenges by the competing elite groups in North Korea, divided largely into the military brass and the technocrats.
Three lessons from the Arab Spring
Local leaders, activists, and regional and international organisations have a responsibility to make sure that these revolutions do not just result in a different brand of self-serving rulers.
To What Extent has the ‘War on Terror’ Affected the PRC Government’s Handling of the Northwest Uighur Muslim Population and its Campaign for an Independent State of East Turkestan?
The events of September 11th 2001 (hereafter 9/11) and the ensuing ‘War on Terror’ had profound ramifications for governments worldwide, influencing both international and domestic policy and engendering a reinvigorating and defining phase in global geopolitics. Within this framework, it is proposed that 9/11 impacted palpably upon the PRC (People’s Republic of China) government’s policy toward ‘its’ restive Uighur Turkic Muslim minority in the northwestern border province of Xinjiang.
Arab Uprisings, Iranian Influence, and the Middle East’s Future
Events like the fall of Mubarak and the rise of the Islamic Renaissance Movement in Tunisian politics have led some observers to conclude that fundamentalism’s shadow will be cast over the Middle East. Simultaneously, as Tehran’s leaders trumpet their growing relationships with Islamist groups, it is feared that Iran will come out ahead in the region.
Political Apathy: A Curable Malady for Ukraine?
The Ukrainian power elite have one point in common: the lack of public confidence in their leadership. If voters continue to be left disenfranchised, viewing the efforts of power elites as suspicious and self-motivated, then it stands to reason that more destructive expressions of political conflict will eventually manifest.
Avoiding a Zero-Sum Water-Energy End Game: Bring It to Rio+20
It seems that there is an inverse relationship between water and energy security, but is this scenario real or imagined? Although it is only one step, the incorporation of the water-energy nexus into the Rio+20 agenda would help to improve our understanding of sustainability.
Egypt’s Recent Achievements in Conflict Mediation
Even while the prospects of reconciling Hamas and Fatah’s conflicting visions for the future are dim, Egypt has emerged as the only Middle East mediator trusted by both sides.These achievements represent the efforts of the transitional military regime to lift Egypt’s regional status out of the slump of the Mubarak era.
Political Transformation and Inequality: Afghanistan and South Africa
The comparative use of both Afghanistan and South Africa allows the identification and assessment of the common themes relevant to the perennial nature of inequality and the difficulties of political transformation in alleviating it.
China’s Rise and American Hegemony: Towards a Peaceful Co-Existence?
This essay is primarily concerned with the effect of China’s inevitable rise on Sino-American relations. Most importantly, it discusses whether China will rise peacefully or if its growing power will result in aggression and confrontation towards the United States. The essay fundamentally argues that continued American anxiety over the ‘China threat’ is increasingly unnecessary as America’s overwhelming power dissuades challengers, including China, from attempting to modify the status quo.
Territory, Knowledge and Power: Understanding Israeli Sovereignty
Eyal Weizman’s comprehensive account of the techniques of expansion and oppression deployed by the Israeli forces in the Occupied Territories provides a thorough and graphic exposé of a whole range of colonizing methods. In this essay I attempt to highlight a selection of Weizman’s observations and relate them to the arguments of Yiftachel and an updated understanding of Foucauldian population geography by Legg.
