Lèse-majesté in Jordan: Authoritarian hangover or the glue of The Kingdom? Joe Ward discusses the laws regarding the Jordanian Monarchy’s protection from criticism. What is the real-world impact of these laws and what do other countries do? Sentenced for criticising the King. Sounds like a headline from the days of medieval monarchies, but these headlines […]
Authoritarianism
Hard Times Create Strongmen: Power in the Age of Coronavirus
Hungary, Israel, India – are we all going to end up a people of QR-code scanning, ultra-monitored insects under the thumb of the most powerful? Will corruption have to become the norm as ’emergency measures’ remain in place after decades of resolution, as with the post-terrorism measures still in place in the USA? Isaac Bettridge evaluates the situation that the world is facing but looking past, as the focus rests on the pandemic.
Where’s Waldo: Russia Edition
Russia has a precedent – as with the Chernobyl emergency, they are not speaking up. There is a rouse in place, that of a national holiday from work, to mask the very real lockdown occurring in Russia, too. This shows that Russia, like everyone else, is faced with a pandemic-shaped threat, which they are actually reacting to. But why stay quiet about it, and why not help the rest of the world, which is what is expected of a superpower?
This Month’s Top Pick: How Democracies Die, by Stephen Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Joe Newell introduces a novel that enlightens us on authoritarianism in modern democracies and its instigators While I’m only halfway through, it’s obvious that this is an important book. How Democracies Die turns the spotlight on the spectre of authoritarianism in modern democracies and those that hold the door for it. Harvard professors Stephen Levitsky […]
Turkey’s wannabe coup: democratic or dangerous?
A t 10:30pm on 15 July, armed soldiers swarmed upon Istanbul’s Bosphorus bridge, blocking its access and declaring to drivers: “There is curfew, everybody go home.” Their motives appeared disconcertingly ambiguous. “Both bridges in Istanbul have been blocked by Turkish military. Reason unknown,” tweeted one bemused observer. “Military doing a show of force, low-flying jets […]