Showing 1 - 10 of 81
The case of the disappearing senior generals
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 10/02/2026
» Armies can be used against both against foreigners abroad and against citizens at home, but the two roles require quite different equipment and tactics. The same applies to their commanders: you need a different kind of general if you think that the primary task of their troops will be controlling dissent at home.
Myanmar poll branded a sham
News, Poramet Tangsathaporn, Published on 21/01/2026
» Four years after Myanmar's 2021 military coup, the junta's long‑promised general election has arrived not as a democratic renewal but as a source of anger, fear and rejection among many citizens, including those living abroad.
Somaliland: Mixed motivations
News, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 03/01/2026
» Last week Israel was the first country in the world to establish diplomatic relations with Somaliland. Not Somalia, a wreck of a country on the East African coast that has been mired in civil war for the past thirty-five years, but Somaliland, a different country just north of there that has been peaceful, relatively prosperous and even democratic for all those years.
Myanmar junta readies for sham poll
News, Nay Phone Latt, Published on 11/10/2025
» Myanmar's military leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who currently serves as both the army's commander in chief and the country's head of state, has reshuffled the government's administrative structure in preparation for planned elections later this year.
Introducing the new cybercrime treaty
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 27/09/2025
» Next month, a key Asean nation will host a raft of countries for the signing ceremony for a new cybercrime treaty. Its full (and rather wordy) title is: the "United Nations Convention against Cybercrime; Strengthening International Cooperation for Combating Certain Crimes Committed by Means of Information and Communications Technology Systems and for the Sharing of Evidence in Electronic Form of Serious Crimes".
Time to let Afghan women lead
News, Palwasha Hassan & Shafiqa Khpalwak, Published on 10/03/2025
» This year's International Women's Day is marked by a sense of foreboding, even despair. Progress on women's rights and representation is stalling: the number of women in parliaments grew last year at the lowest rate in a generation, and the global financing gap for gender initiatives remains wide. At a time of widespread democratic backsliding -- and with US President Donald Trump freezing foreign aid, including for gender initiatives -- the prospects for improvement appear bleak.
Burma on the brink of ousting the military?
News, Published on 27/02/2025
» If the Burmese drive General Min Aung Hlaing and his brutal military regime from power, as they seem about to do, the first thing they should do afterwards is take a leaf from Costa Rica's book and abolish the army. Don't reform it or downsize it; just get rid of it forever.
Anti-torture push needs serious review
News, Vitit Muntarbhorn, Published on 06/01/2025
» Back in 2007, the government agreed to be a party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, otherwise known as the "CAT".
Bridging the needs of communities
News, Regan Pairojmahakij, Published on 30/10/2024
» The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Conference of Parties (COP) in Cali, Colombia, COP16, provides an opportunity to move closer to achieving the world's biodiversity conservation goals. From Oct 21 to this Friday, this year's CBD COP follows both the UN Climate Change and Desertification COPs as the last in a triad of "super" COP events taking place in close succession. It follows from the watershed CBD COP15, where the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted.
Bangladesh's youth uprising has Arab Spring echoes
News, Niaz Asadullah, Published on 27/07/2024
» In recent weeks, the Bangladeshi government has cracked down violently on students demanding equitable access to coveted government jobs amid an unemployment crisis. To contain the protests, authorities have shut down all educational institutions, imposed a strict curfew, and cut off internet access. Thousands of police officers and paramilitaries have been patrolling the streets, and more than 170 people have died.