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October 2014
November 2014
...the Kurds divided; Yemen, Houthis'
surprise assault; US special: Republican gerrymandering,
corporate spying; vulture funds unchecked; India eyes
Afghanistan; Burma's ever-present generals; Yeltsin's
Russia still matters; Brazil, rise and rise of the
evangelicals ; Dakar, easy money; long haul for global
warming... and more...
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The left's unsung success story - Serge Halimi
In times of crisis, a head of state who gets re-elected in the first round, having already served two terms, is a rarity indeed. One such is Evo Morales, whose win, with 61% of the vote, should have received more attention than it did. All the more so since he pulled off this electoral feat in Bolivia - which had five different presidents between 2001 and 2005. His victory follows a 25% reduction in poverty, an 87% real-terms increase in the minimum wage, a lowering of the retirement age (...)Translated by George Miller -
US wants to control, and own, the world online
We've got our eye on you - Dan Schiller
Edward Snowden not only told the world about US state surveillance of national and personal secrets, he reminded us that almost all the companies surveying us for commercial gain are American.Original text in English -
Snowden's success - Dan Schiller
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Web of surveillance - Pierre Rimbert
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Republicans fix polls in US elections
Democracy rezoned* - Brentin Mock
Karl Rove boasted for the Republicans that whoever controlled the voting districts of the nation - because they'd drawn the district boundaries - controlled the government. He was right.Original text in English -
The judge who took an economy hostage
Beat off the vulture's swoop* - Mark Weisbrot
Emerging economies need to issue their state bonds in financial centres where the law blocks vulture funds from profiting from financial woes. New York is off the list.Original text in English -
Last line of defence against is jihadists
The Kurds' changing alliances* - Allan Kaval
The defence of Kobane has become a symbol of the struggle against IS. But Kurdistan remains deeply fragmented, and its divisions have grown wider even though there is now a common enemy.Translated by Charles Goulden -
Secular or jihadist?* - Allan Kaval
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Who's who in Kurdistan*
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A turn towards the shia arc of influence
Yemen's new player - Laurent Bonnefoy
The sudden fall of Sanaa to the avowedly Shia Houthi rebellion in September has changed the balance of forces in Yemen, transforming the political equilibrium that emerged after the uprising begun in 2011.Translated by George Miller -
India renews its old influence in Afghanistan
My neighbour's neighbour* - Jean-Luc Racine
India and Afghanistan's historical links were affected by the creation of Pakistan in 1947 in the territory that lay between them. Now India is working hard to expand its influence with Kabul.Translated by George Miller -
Military still key to economics and administration
Burma's generals won't stand down* - André Boucaud and Louis Boucaud
An apparent victory for democracy at the 2015 presidential election in Burma could mean the end of hope for the country's ethnic minorities, in armed dispute with the government's forces.Translated by Charles Goulden -
How did we get from perestroika to Putin?
Russia's other October revolution* - Jean-Marie Chauvier
Boris Yeltsin's storming of the Russian parliament in 1993 - ostensibly in the name of democracy but in fact to enforce his insistence on a neoliberal economy that enriched a few but impoverished millions - brought the world Russia as it now is.Translated by George Miller -
To democratisation and back*
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New churches shape Latin American politics
Evangelicals conquer Brazil* - Lamia Oualalou
Brazil is still the most Catholic nation in the world, but the new evangelical churches, with their conservative worldview, working-class congregations and offers of social help, are a powerful electoral force.Translated by Charles Goulden -
'Skyscrapers paid for with suitcases of cash'
Dakar, boom city - Sabine Cessou
In 50 years the capital of Senegal has grown from 300,000 to 3 million people, and will reach 5 million within a decade. It has all the problems of urban West Africa, and also drug money.Translated by Stephanie Irvine -
A continent of city dwellers* - Sabine Cessou
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Museums better than media at stimulating debate
Climate change show and tell - Miyase Christensen, Nina Möllers and Libby Robin
The media cover individual, preferably spectacular, events but ignore long-term issues like global warming, which most threaten us.
