German politicians are struggling to find a way to respond to the Pegida movement in Eastern Germany. The question that presents itself to the German political elite now is whether or not to engage in dialogue with the organizers of the movement. Some argue it will give the movement, explicitly defined by several as racist, merit. I argue that it might be more politically costly not to open the doors to dialogue.
Read MoreWho are the people?: Why Pegida is as much about Germany’s self-image as about Muslim immigration.
In recent weeks, Germany has been rattled by a grass-roots, anti-immigration social movement called Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the Occident (Pegida). For months, this movement has organized street marches every Monday evening in cities throughout Germany, most successfully so in the East German city of Dresden
Read More2014 in Review
Before we bid adieu to 2014 and open our hearts to the mystery of the New Year, however, we would like to take a moment to reflect on what has been and gone. As such, in what follows, the brightest and best of IANS staff contemplate what made the past year great, what it made it awful and, above all, what made it memorable.
Read MoreNo Bob Geldof, I Won’t Give You My F***ing Money
This week saw the latest incarnation of the Bob Geldof charity juggernaut that is Band Aid, with the 1984 single ’Do They Know It’s Christmas’ being updated and re-recorded by a new generation of musicians and pop stars. And Bono.
Read MoreThere Are No Bystanders in Ukraine's Search for Self
When, on 17 July flight MH17, a passenger liner was shot down over Ukraine, the search was on for those responsible. Or was it? Within twenty-four hours the western media had reached its verdict: Putin’s puppeteering was to blame for the 298 lives lost.
Read MoreTheorising Violence: What Made Elliot Rodger Kill?
It is always shocking when an individual maliciously intends to, and succeeds in, ending the life of another: if nothing else it reminds us of our own frightening fragility. But there is something particularly disturbing about the kind of wanton spree killings witnessed in California on Friday 23rd May 2014.
Read MoreReflections on a Russian Election
I wrote this post on 7th March 2012, just after going to the Russian embassy in London to vote in the Russian presidential elections. At the time I was studying for my Master’s at the University of Bristol. As a reminder: these were the elections in which Putin was elected, after being Prime Minister under Dmitriy Medvedev’s presidency.
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