The loyalty of Venezuela’s soldiers is getting shaky. History shows from the Arab Spring to Latin American coups, when the military withdraws support for a leader, a fall from power is imminent.
Shared economic and security interests have kept Saudi Arabia and the US close over the decades despite dramatic differences in the way the two countries are governed.
Syrian Christians and Muslims offer prayers for nuns held by rebels, at the Greek Orthodox Mariamiya Church in Damascus, Syria, in 2013.
AP Photo
For many centuries, Syrian society has included people of many faiths – Sunni and Shi'i Muslims, Christians and Druze. This past is important to know to understand the present.
The Arab Spring has given way to conservative values.
Shutterstock
Despite a wave of hope sparked by the Arab Spring, women have found themselves marginalised once again by regimes with little interest in rights and equality
Radical political change is not something Putin wants to celebrate.
Protesters post a hashtag to social media together to make it trend as they denounce policies of President Donald Trump at the Not My President’s Day Rally in Los Angeles, California February 20, 2017.
David McNew/Reuters
The Muslim Brotherhood exists in the form of many local organizations and well as an international organization. Research shows there isn't a coherent Muslim Brotherhood ideology.
Gambia’s new President Adama Barrow arriving home.
EPA
Although Ecowas and the AU made sure that Yahya Jammeh stepped down after losing the elections in The Gambia, caution is warranted in assuming this heralds a trend against African dictatorships.
Mass protests in Burkina Faso forced Blaise Compaoré to step down after 27 years in power.
Reuters/Joe Penney
The world is steadily transitioning to a multipolar systemic balance of power. The UN Security Council needs to reflect and be a truer representative of the emerging voices of a contemporary “UN”.
Rally for electoral reform in Malaysia 2015.
Bersih 2.0
Social media can be an effective tool in mobilising people for social change, as demonstrated by the Bersih movement in Malaysia.
Others might be more inspired by American democracy if the US were widely seen to be a just and tolerant society and its leading politicians were not loudmouthed xenophobes.
Justin Lane/EPA
The value of democracy needs to be restated and defended, rather than presumed. In doing so, there is value in adopting a more tempered stance, one that understands its worth but also its flaws.
Supporters of Zimbabwean Pastor Evan Mawarire outside the Harare Magistrates’ Court during his trial.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
The new forms of protest in Zimbabwe raise the possibility that the country's long-simmering crisis may have reached boiling point. The time could indeed be ripe for a unique form of politics.
Youth in Tunisia where protests broke out in January.
REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Five years ago, young people in the Middle East and North Africa led a major uprising with hopes for a better life. A University of Texas labor market expert explains why little has changed.
Grassroots protesters are questioning the logic of export-led ‘growth’ and renewed fiscal austerity pushed through the ‘Africa rising’ narrative. They want policies that meet their basic needs.
