Stories Archive | Page 73 of 84

Analyses

The history of the Islamic Republic of Iran—established in 1979 following the revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi—is marked by a dense sequence of developments that have progressively altered its political and institutional configuration. These changes, however, have only sporadically been recognized by Western analyses, which have instead tended to perpetuate a more functional and instrumental stereotype based on the image of a monolithic, highly verticalized religious autocracy. While such a characterization was broadly accurate during the first decade of the Islamic Republic, it has undergone a profound transformation since 1989.

Political Theory
Why the Iranian Elections Are a Turning Point
Ramin Jahanbegloo 7 March 2016

Unlike what many may think, elections in an illiberal country like Iran are not only a political show. Their outcome serves as a test of strength among Iran’s competing power centers. Over the weekend, the Iranian people went massively to the polls to elect members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the parliament, and the 88 members of the Assembly of Experts, which is in charge of selecting the next supreme leader to replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This was the first time that the two political bodies were elected simultaneously.
Political Theory
Iran’s 2016 elections: candidates and power clashes. What is at stake?
Marina Forti 24 February 2016

In Iran the time has come to call voters to the polls. “Even an influential minority will make the difference in the next parliament,” said reformist candidate Mohammad-Reza Aref only a few days ago addressing a crowded assembly of young supporters of the National Determination Party (as reported by the Financial Times’ correspondent). Similar appeals have been made by President Hassan Rouhani.
Political Theory
Egypt: too long the trail of blood.
Revolution is only a memory
Gianni Del Panta 8 February 2016

Just a couple of weeks ago, writing for Reset, Azzurra Meringolo wrote about how it is becoming increasingly difficult to celebrate the date of January 25th, in Egypt. The symbolic anniversary of the beginning of the revolution that five years ago led to the fall of Hosni Mubarak, following 18 days of unprecedented protests, has increasingly become the symbol of the new regime’s repressive brutality and the weakness of opposition movements. It is also an anniversary that, in recent years, has left a long trail of bloodshed: a balance worsened in the last days by the news of the death and terrible abuse suffered by young Italian national PhD researcher Giulio Regeni.
Political Theory
Shifting the language borders. The case of contemporary Poland
Karolina Wigura 18 January 2016

Poland is a country with a traditionally confrontational public debate. As a result, many messages are formulated in a particularly expressive way, especially when compared with the relatively peaceful political process. But in the last 18 months one could observe a process of radicalization of Polish public debate, as well as shifting the borders of what is permissible in public pronouncements.
Human Rights
Precarious Gaza: Instability and Aid Dependence in the Strip
Hazem Balousha 18 November 2015

Vendors in the vicinity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) supplement the distribution center in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, displaying the same goods Palestinian refugees receive from the UNRWA distribution centers. Many Palestinians receiving aid from UNRWA and other NGOs sell some or all of the aid in exchange for cash. These people have enough food but need money for daily expenses not covered by the aid provided to them. Recent United Nations report says Gaza could be “uninhabitable” in less than five years if current economic trends continue.
International Affairs
Russia, How to Re-Mythologize Greatpowerness
Marlene Laruelle 9 November 2015
International Affairs
It’s Time to Update Old Categories
Karel Schwarzenberg 9 November 2015
Dialogues
Optimism as a Moral Duty:
Overcoming Mutual Suspicion in Europe
Mohammed Hashas, Luiss University 24 October 2015

Whether “European Islam” is possible or not appears to be one of the controversial questions of our recent times. “Institutionalized ignorance” – in the words of Mohammed Arkoun – feeds mistrust, which in turn feeds fear. Fear becomes a prejudice, which in turn becomes a generalization; and generalizations are wrong. Thus, [institutionalized] ignorance is wrong. European arrogance seems to have forgotten the legacy of its earlier Enlightenment. Muslims’ moral order and Golden Age, long time passed, seems hijacked by terrorists. Wise moderates from both sides are needed more than any other times, and there are plenty of them. Bloody events in the name of politicized Allah, especially since the 1970s until the current horrendous massacres committed by the “Intolerant State” of ISIS nurture the stories that demagogues use to uphold their antagonistic views about each other.
Political Theory
The Nobel Peace Prize: A Reward for Tunisia’s Struggle for Pluralism
Mohamed Haddad 12 October 2015

I can still remember that Saturday, October 12th 2013. We were preparing to open our workshop on “Civil Society’s Role in the Success of National Dialogue” when, all of a sudden, a group of police officers came into the room and searched it thoroughly. We learned later that they had been warned about the presence of a suspicious object. Having started later than scheduled, the workshop was still in the middle of its opening session when a militia group invaded the conference hall to disrupt our work, incessantly chanting slogans against dialogue. We had invited the representatives of all the most important political parties, but the Nida Tounes (Call for Tunisia) representative had been prevented from entering.
Migrations
Central Europe says ‘no’ to the Refugees
Who is rejecting quotas and why?
Matteo Tacconi 11 September 2015

Europe will welcome 160,000 refugees in 2015. Each member state will be called upon to receive a quota in proportion to their economic and demographic size. This is the proposal put forward by the EU Commission’s President Jean-Claude Junker in his ‘State of the Union’ speech on Wednesday. Germany has been promoting this plan and has been putting it into action for some time, giving the the states, the Länder, responsibility for sharing the burden of managing asylum seekers. They are allocated on the basis of the so-called “Königsteiner key”, a system created in the ‘50s and originally aimed at spreading over what was then West Germany the funds destined for research.