Dawud Ansari
De-orientalising the scholarship on the Arab Gulf states is crucial, argues Dawud Ansari. Commentaries and datasets generalise them as ‘monarchies’, erasing vital differences between these countries. New terms are a starting point for transforming research on the wider region – an urgent objective given new crises and freshened global interest Read more
Maria Gloria Polimeno
COP27 will be held in Egypt, where environmentalism is being turned into new ways to control nature and citizens' lives under al-Sisi. This risks legitimating bio-autocracies, and it exposes the cowardice of green capitalism and sustainable neoliberalism, writes Maria Gloria Polimeno Read more
Amit Singh
In India, fascism is reinventing itself. It has crept through Hindu nationalism – Hindutva – and now poses a serious threat to Indian democracy, writes Amit Singh Read more
Eduardo Burkle
Bolsonaro's first term saw a decline in democracy and human rights in Brazil. Recent attacks on the media and judiciary, arguing election fraud, show how a second term for the far-right populist would only enhance Brazilian autocratisation. Democracy is on the line as the run-off elections approach, writes Eduardo Burkle Read more
Reginald Oduor
Reginald M.J. Oduor encourages more political theorists to disentangle themselves from the idea that democracy and elections are inextricably bound. Through this he seeks to promote the pursuit of genuine citizen participation in post-colonial states in Africa and elsewhere Read more
Steffen Hurka
Why are laws often so hard to understand? Steffen Hurka argues that the complexity of laws increases when political conflict becomes more intense and when decision-making becomes more inclusive. Democracies aim for compromise and the balancing of interests, and complex laws are the inevitable consequence Read more
Arianna Giovannini
A right-wing coalition won the Italian general election in September, but not all the parties within it fared well. After a boom in votes in 2018–19, support for Salvini’s League has collapsed. This, argue Arianna Giovannini and Davide Vampa, is the price for selling the party’s soul Read more
Cindy Regnier
Renewed tensions between Russia and the West amid war in Ukraine have focused attention on the ‘Suwałki gap’. According to Cindy Regnier, this corridor along the Lithuanian-Polish border has been increasingly securitised. Still, any attempt to seize control over it would gain the Russians little Read more
