Stories Archive | Page 77 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
Presidential Elections in Iran. All Set to Choose Ahmadinejad’s Successor
Antonella Vicini 14 June 2013

After the final frantic hours of election campaigning, Tehran and the rest of the country now await voting results. Since 8 a.m. over 50 million people have been called upon to choose between six candidates, Said Jalili, Baqer Qalibaf, Ali Akbar Velayati, Hassan Rouhani, Mohsen Rezaei and Mohammad Gharazi. Of these, according to Interior Ministry data published on Sunday, 1.5 million will be voting for the very first time, meaning they turned eighteen after June 2009. There are 60,000 polling station and in Tehran, which has 14 million inhabitants in its constituency, there are 6,000 polling stations set up in mosques, schools, banks and even mobile ones with 12,000 booths.
Political Theory
Safe to speak? The challenges of democracy and press freedom in Turkey
Emanuela Pergolizzi 5 June 2013

On March 18 a symbolic funeral march was staged in front of Turkey’s historic left-wing newspaper, the Milliyet, for the silent “death” of one of its most honorable authors. Hasan Cemal, 69 years, “dies” as a provocative columnist after having defended the disclosure of the minutes from a meeting between the representatives of the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and PKK’s leader Abdullah Öcalan. The leaked record helped the nationalist front to criticize the government’s negotiation with the Kurdish leader. “If this is journalism, down with it!” cried Prime Minister Erdoğan, and the writer was suddenly suspended.
Human Rights
Orientalism in Africa? The ICC and the case of Laurent Gbagbo
Nicoletta Fagiolo 30 May 2013

Let us imagine for a moment that at the November 1945 Nuremburg trials, which were held so as to condemn those responsible for instigating World War II and the Holocaust, a Prosecutor decided, by distorting the historical account of the wars’ events, to press charges for crimes against humanity during WWII against Franklin Delano Roosevelt[1]. There were surely crimes committed by American soldiers fighting the Nazi regime, yet would this make Roosevelt a just target for crimes committed during World War II? A similar historical and thus juridical incoherence is currently being played out at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague in the case the Prosecutor vs Laurent Gbagbo.
Political Theory
The Global Great Game and Dialogue through Nongovernmental Actors
Raffaele Marchetti, Luiss University 22 May 2013

In the world there are four and only four great powers. They are China, the EU, Russia, and the USA. Beyond the traditional economic and military capabilities, what makes an important power a great power is, arguably, its ability to project a world vision. A precondition for this is the ability to formulate a master frame of world order. I claim that, as of today, only four great powers have developed a fairly sophisticated model of world order and have attempted, with a certain degree of success, to spread its content worldwide so to make their national normative projection global.
Philosophy
Migration and Identities in the Globalized World
Zygmunt Bauman 13 May 2013

Claiming that reason and our normative concepts change together with the human practices and the challenges that the human condition and social reality are positing, Zygmunt Bauman maintains that politics today has to accommodate the fact of multiculturalism brought about by globalization. Given the changing patterns of global migration, diasporas and communities nowadays extend over many sovereign territories and bring to the political agenda the issue of ‘art of living with a difference’. The challenge we are facing is to balance the yearning for individual freedom of self-creation with its in-built inconclusiveness, uncertainty, hesitation and contradictions under the liquid-modern conditions with the equally strong desire of security that only communities can offer. The answer to this challenge is the creation of a truly global public space, in which we can renegotiate our multiple identities and restructure networks on the basis of global interdependencies and interactions.
Philosophy
Translating Truth
Maeve Cooke, University College Dublin 9 April 2013

The article considers the role of translation in encounters between religious citizens and secular citizens. It follows Habermas in holding that translations re-articulate religious contents in a way that facilitates learning. Since he underplays the complexities of translation, it takes some steps beyond Habermas towards developing a more adequate account. Its main thesis is that the required account of translation must keep sight of the question of truth. Focusing on inspirational stories of exemplary figures and acts, it contends that a successful translation makes truth appear anew; further, that it is the central role of truth in translation that enables the prospect of learning from the inspirational messages of religion. By highlighting truth as the point of continuity between intercultural learning and learning from religion, it provides support for the thesis that encounters between religious and secular citizens are a subset of intercultural encounters and, as such, contexts of possible mutual learning.
Political Theory
Egypt, A Chronicle from Port Said
Giuseppe Acconcia 18 March 2013

Shortly after the celebrations of the Egyptian popular uprisings’ second anniversary, the announcement of the verdict of the death penalty for 21 thugs and Green Eagles, supporters of the al-Masry football club, led to harsh reactions in Port Said. They were charged for armed murders, robbery, intimidation and of having planned the 2012 massacre of the al-Ahly supporters. Tens of people were killed, clashes broke out between relatives of the people sentenced and the police and the Port Said prison was besieged. However, among the people sentenced there were no police officers. Henceforth the Egyptian Courts have been very indulgent with policemen, including the six officials from the Interior Ministry, accused of having ordered to shut out demonstrators during the 2011 upheaval.
Political Theory
UN latest report on Syria urges war crimes be referred to International Criminal Court
Ilaria Romano 22 February 2013

It will be necessary to wait until March to know the names of those accountable for the atrocities committed in Syria over the past two years, but information already published by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry for Syria is very clear. War crimes, torture, individual and mass murder, the involvement of minors in the conflict, should all result in the Security Council deferring Damascus to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Gender
When Women Fear to Tread: Sexual Violence and the Egyptian Revolution
Roger Friedland and Janet Afary 19 February 2013

The body politic is at risk in Egypt. On the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution — Jan. 25 — in a demonstration in Tahrir Square, a woman protester was violently set upon by a mob of men who grabbed at her private parts, pulling and pushing her from person to person until she was finally and with great difficulty rescued by teams of anti-harassment male activists. The roiling crowd circling around its prey was captured on video. She was not the only victim that night: Eighteen other incidents were also reported. And this was not the first time women protesters — and reporters — have been attacked by crowds of men in such demonstrations, their clothing ripped off, men’s fingers reaching inside their underwear.
Political Theory
Presidential election 2013, reformists cornered in Tehran
Giuseppe Acconcia 12 February 2013

Iran, 14 June’s next Presidential elections are upon us. And, in Tehran there is a confrontation between conservatives close to the Supreme Leader and hardliners backed by the outgoing President-in-office, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The space is too small for other fronts. Iranian reformists remain excluded from political life with two of their leaders, Moussavi and Karroubi, key players of the anti-regime protests in 2009, still blocked under house arrest. Yet, this time above all tensions could be caused by the severe monetary crisis that is hitting the country and causing an increase in prices without precedent. However, on the eve of the elections Iranian authorities are still counting on anti-American propaganda and repressive actions against the reformist press.