Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Robert Stefanicki WARSAW, Jan 24, 2012 (IPS) – "I had to fight to be treated like a human, not animal," dissident Nikolai Avtukhovich wrote from prison. Last month Avtukhovich, Belarusian political activist and entrepreneur, convicted to five years in the penal colony for illegal storage of five [...]
Cracks Widen in Syrian Economy
January 24, 2012 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Mona Alami BEIRUT, Jan 24, 2012 (IPS) – As the Syrian uprising enters its tenth month, the country’s economy is suffering. Since last March, the Syrian government has been cracking down on pro-democracy protests, and the once peaceful uprising has morphed into a full-blown armed rebellion in [...]
HIZBUT-TAHRIR ( HT) STEPS UP ATTEMPTS TO SUBVERT BD ARMY
January 22, 2012 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN It is learnt from reliable sources that the Bangladesh authorities suspect that the Hizbut-Tahrir (HT), Party of Liberation, banned in October 2009 had links with 16 middle-level officers of the Bangladesh Army involved in the plot to stage a coup against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which was discovered in [...]
EUROPE: Unrest Spread Eastwards
January 21, 2012 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Analysis by Zoltan Dujisin BUDAPEST, Jan 20, 2012 (IPS) – Protests in Hungary and Romania are the first signs of anti-systemic mobilisation in the Eastern half of the continent. While protests in both countries indicate dissatisfaction with their governments’ authoritarian turn, their origins differ, as does the European [...]
Nigeria Turning to a Powder Keg
January 21, 2012 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis A wind of disgruntlement is blowing across Nigeria. There are fears that, unless President Jonathan steadies the ship of state, divisions within the polity and the rising discontent could be hijacked by political opportunists to cause something more catastrophic. ABUJA (IDN) – Unless something urgent happens, [...]
RUSSIA: ‘Repression May Lead to Revolt’
January 21, 2012 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS PRAGUE, Jan 21, 2012 (IPS) – The Russian opposition movement which has risen to prominence since the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections has not said its last word, says 35-year-old Sergey Udaltsov, one of its most visible figures. Leader of the leftist political alliance Left Front and of the [...]
TURKEY: Filtering Out Internet Freedom
January 21, 2012 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS ANKARA, Jan 19, 2012 (IPS) – Fifteen respected academics from different Turkish universities signed a declaration in Ankara last week protesting recent state regulations restricting access to a variety of websites on ‘moral’ and ‘national integrity’ grounds. Simultaneously, thousands of angry netizens held street demonstrations in several major [...]
SPECULATION REGARDING ZARDARI
December 7, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN The “Dawn News” of Karachi has reported as follows: “President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday (December 6,2011) arrived in Dubai for a medical check-up. According to presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar, the President has traveled to Dubai along with his team of doctors for an extensive medical examination. He added [...]
Egypt Continues March to Democracy
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN Woman casting her vote By Ernest Corea* IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – As the January 23 deadline for the inauguration of Egypt’s first post-Mubarak People’s Assembly (parliament) approaches, the thoughts of politically conscious Egyptians must inevitably turn to the conundrums that lie beyond the recently concluded elections. [...]