Courtesy: CentralMaine
Huge threats to human rights continue in Afghanistan. President Ghani has pledged to end official tolerance for torture, and his government must also protect the freedom of the media, ensure that more women participate in peace talks, and bring transparency to negotiations with the Taliban. These correctives are overdue
Courtesy: South Asia Media
Representative democracy has resulted in coalition governments, comprising parties with opposing agendas, gradually being formed across the world. The Afghan unity government and the BJP-PDP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir are two such coalitions that share numerous similarities, not least of which is the role of Pakistan.
The People's SAARC (PSAARC) declaration,which called for the governments to address a number of issues from food security to climate justice, established the network as advocates for a progressive humanitarian agenda
Rajni Bakshi, Senior Gandhi Fellow, Gateway House reports from People’s SAARC, a motley gathering of NGO workers and members of the village communities they work with. PSAARC will compile a memorandum – a wish-list of demands and aspirations – on November 24 and present it to the heads of SAARC nations
Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
The UN and the global finance industry are making gradual but concerted efforts to align business interests and ecological sustainability. A growing number of companies are combining profit-making with social responsibility. There is still a long way to go, but the UN system has created useful mechanisms of change
Courtesy: U.S. Staff Sergeant Aaron Allmon
Obama’s strategy to target the IS in Syria within the framework of a U.S.-led international coalition has met with a tepid response. There are reports that the U.S may offer India a non-NATO ally status during Modi’s upcoming visit in a bid to seek greater support – a gesture that India will do well to disregard.
Courtesy: wikimedia\commons
An Afghan electoral official recently announced that the UN-supervised vote auditing in Afghanistan’s presidential election has been finished. In an election marred by fraud, can a power sharing agreement enabling the formation of a government be reached?
Courtesy: wikimedia\commons
Textbooks in India and Pakistan offer vastly differing views of events related to the freedom struggle. The History Project is an attempts to introduce students from both sides to an alternative and more balanced account of a shared past
Courtesy: arabia.msn.com
The right to be heard and to dissent is crucial in a democracy but they come with responsibilities. The current anti-government protests are being mobilised by partisan-players with a political stake and could jeopardise Pakistan’s hard-won democracy
Courtesy: Synthesio.com
Many Arab Republics are mired in political discord after the departure of the old tyrannical regimes opened up spaces for new struggles. In Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan, attempts to address the turmoil through constitutional reform are facing challenges. Will a democratic federalism be attained when the battles are done?