A controversial report claims that Mexico is more violent than Afghanistan and Yemen. It’s wrong on the details but right that Mexico is, in effect, a war zone.
A woman votes in Zambia. Beyond multi-party systems and regular elections, many countries resemble very little of true democracies.
GovernmentZA/Flickr
Democracy is in a parlous state in many countries in southern Africa. Autocrats hold onto power, while electorates have little to choose from at the polls.
A Muslim bride waits to take vows that could be instantly broken via SMS.
Danish Siddiqui /Reuters
India’s Supreme Court could soon rule to abolish “triple talaq”, a practice that allows Muslim men to divorce their wives instantaneously and discriminates against women.
Protests over housing at, an informal settlement near Johannesburg.
EPA/Cornell Tukiri
Recent events suggest that South Africa’s government may be resorting to short-term measures to pacify anger over lack of housing. But what’s needed is a major overhaul of the housing policy.
Will US President Trump and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman ride together to rule in the Middle East?
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Game theory applies to conflict and cooperation within competitive situations.
Lebanon’s political situation is already a delicate balance. Poverty, distress and increasing numbers of refugees could exacerbate existing tensions and lead to collapse.
Ali Hashisho/Reuters
For a military battle whose outcome is still hotly contested 30 years later, the impact was so remarkably clear – independence for Namibia, peace for Angola and the death knell for apartheid.
Police line up to defend Congress from protesters in the nation’s capital Brasilia, while the Temer government struggles.
Paulo Whitaker/Reuters
As we celebrate Africa Day and reflect on how far the continent has come since the Organisation of African Unity was founded in 1963, it’s a good time to assess whether democracy is working.
The impact of peace education or human rights courses ultimately depends on how teachers – who may not be neutral – implement them.
The Palm Sunday bombings of Coptic churches in Egypt last month once again put Islamic terrorism in the spotlight and left officials wondering what can be done to prevent it.
Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Religious state institutions wanting to address the rhetoric of violence in the name of religion must begin by reforming their relationship with the state.
A woman leaves a polling station after casting her vote during the 2013 Kenyan elections.
Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Kenya’s progressive 2010 Constitution brought improved women’s representation in Parliament and public life. But historical prejudices remain, always more intensely apparent during elections.
We may think of current reactionary politics as radical and new, but unchecked mercantilism has always elicited a fierce backlash from both left and right. Here’s what history tells us about today.
Iranians want their country to remain open to economic and social opportunities, including by looking to the West.
Stella Morgana