When the 2011 Libyan civil war erupted, Twitter became a major instrument to air the rebels’ account of the conflict and present themselves internationally as a viable alternative to Moammar Gadhafi.
Read More »Why Violence is Flaring at Europe’s Border Crossings
Although Spain is under international scrutiny for the increasing police violence, the government has proposed a controversial amendment to its immigration law that would apply exclusively at Ceuta and Melilla. The proposal aims to legitimize automatic returns of people trying to access the two cities irregularly and without the right documentation.
Read More »Why Elections in Egypt, Syria And Algeria Are Undemocratic
The repression in Egypt, the war in Syria and the political suffocation in Algeria make conditions for an election impossible, with even nominal campaigning by challengers inconceivable. Besides, the scale of the victory comes with a whiff of the ridiculous. The point was not to secure a victory in these elections — which was inevitable — but to secure a mandate with a high turnout.
Read More »Military Spending Falls in West, Rises Elsewhere
World military expenditure totaled $1.75 trillion in 2013, a fall of 1.9 per cent in real terms since 2012, according to figures released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The fall in the global total comes from decreases in Western countries, led by the United States, and despite increases in all other regions. In fact, military spending in …
Read More »Morocco, Algeria and the Cold War
The recent tension between Algeria and Morocco is nothing unusual and not the first of its kind. For more than three decades the Sahara issue, which dates back to 1975, has been a serious problem, a source of tension and deep political sensitivity between the two countries that are central to the Maghreb region. However, the problem with this …
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