Apathetic about Democracy: Engaging Young Voters
There is a worrying trend of growing apathy amongst young people towards politics. The United Kingdom’s Electoral Commission published a report in 2002 called ‘Making an Impact’, which found that voter turnout among young people was at an unprecedented low point at the 2001 general election.
Why We Need to Hear the Voiceless: Media Coverage of Civilians in War
It’s impossible to pick up the paper or turn on the TV these days without the headlines bleeding together: “Dozens Killed After Suicide Blast in Baghdad,” “7 Children Killed in Airstrike in Afghanistan” or “20 Die in Somalia Blast.” From the news, it seems civilians caught in combat on today’s battlefields hardly have a chance. Compared to their military counterparts, that may be true.
Democracy, Tribalism and Hunger: The View in Kenya
As in the other five slums in the city, people in Eastleigh are poor. They survive on far less than the average daily wage in Kenya, which is equal to about one and a half U.S. dollars. Lack of food is only one of their troubles. The political turmoil has exposed and exacerbated decades-worth of tribal tensions. While apparent to many Kenyans, for most of the international community, those tensions were hidden under the thin veneer of an emerging democracy with steady economic development and relative state stability.
Regeneration: The Iraq War and “British-Arab” Identity in a Historical Context
Charlotte Higgins, the arts correspondent for the Guardian newspaper reported in 2006 that a Roman document dated from around AD400 and called the Notitia Dignitatum, described how a unit of Iraqis were said to have once patrolled the English northern area of what is now called South Shields. Higgins also explained that “While British soldiers battle it out in Iraq, spare a thought for this: troops from Iraq once occupied Britain.”
The Future of the ANC in South Africa: Cross-Roads and Blind Corners
With high level corruption scandals, bitter leadership rivalries and battles for the very ideological soul of the party, the African National Congress (ANC) has not had a more turbulent 18 months since the party split in the late 1950’s. The party leadership’s response to this crisis will define both the future of the ANC and of South Africa itself.
Gender and the Politics of Europe: A Neglected Problem?
It is my intention in this brief article to raise several issues regarding the lack of female elected representatives in the political institutions of Europe, with a particular emphasis on the UK.
Conversion and Fundamentalism: A Challenge to Islam and the Liberal Order
There are many reasons people choose to convert. Some do so for love and marriage, others because they are looking for spiritual meaning. However, there are also those who convert to Islam as an alternative to the current liberal ideology. Especially after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, converts tend to lean more towards political choices rather than spiritualism and personal choice.
The University as Political Actor: A Bloody Business
“Our greatest investment is in our intellectual assets” working to address “challenges from the environment to medicine” proudly proclaims University College London (UCL) Provost, Malcolm Grant. UCL runs an MSc Systems Engineering course in partnership with BAE Systems, Britain’s largest arms company, responsible for producing artillery guns, munitions and missiles, even warships and nuclear submarines, and whose customers include the repressive Saudi Arabian secret services, the Israeli Defence Forces, the US army and the Indonesian forces responsible for violently extinguishing West Papua’s secession movement.
The War on Terror: Why Do We Fight?
The question can be posed as follows. The Unites States went to war in Iraq to destroy Weapons of Mass Destruction that did not exist, and we fight a War on Terror now despite virtually no evidence whatsoever that a serious terrorist threat to the American homeland exists. “Why,” then, “do we fight?”
UK International Development Policy: Addressing the Key Issues Progressively
Much of development has historically been directed by colonial powers and more recently by the neo-liberal consensus. This has led to a situation whereby developing countries have had little control over their own resources, policies, economies and futures.
