Politics
For press releases regarding the Liberal Democrats, please click here.
NORTH AFRICA
Somewhere inside, a young man with explosives strapped around his midriff
sat listening. He could hear the wails of sirens, the jeers of the
crowd, the thudding of a police battering ram on the door below. He had heard
the gunfire that morning, and the two claps of thunder when his friends left
him. Now he had a choice to make. [more]
Morocco – a virtual democratisation by Aboubakr Jamaï 
The Moroccan regime of Mohammed VI has fully exploited the Bush administration’s
desire to magnify and advertise the faintest sign of liberalisation
in the Arab world. [subscribe]
WEST AFRICA
Letter from Ghana by Nana Akua Anyidoho 
Ghana celebrated 50 years of independence on March 6th. As a gift to
the nation, the state electricity company promised an outage-free anniversary.
Immediately after the fireworks, the country was returned to rationed
darkness. [subscribe]
SOUTH AFRICA
Visions of a Liberal Future by Helen Suzman 
Although three of the key components of liberalism – a vigilant opposition
in parliament, a pro-active civil society and a watchful press – are
evident in South Africa, Professor Milton Shain’s concern that “a
liberal consitution does not in itself ensure a democratic future”,
appears to be justified. [subscribe]
COLUMNS
This year’s civil war in Somalia has killed thousands of people
and created over half a million refugees. Somalia is a failed state
that has failed its people. In contrast, the north-west breakaway region
of the Republic of Somaliland is an oasis of peace, stability and progress
in the Horn of Africa. [more]
Islamism does not, at first glance, seem a fertile ground for irony.
Its literalist doctrine and joyless demeanour identify it as an creed
of severe sincereity. And with Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri,
effectively churning out bi-weekly broadcasts for our edification,
the movement is more than ever defined by his monotone earnestness. [more]

Why have almost no African countries managed to achieve the sustained
economic development which has lifted billions of people out of extreme
poverty in east Asia? There are three inter-connected explanations:
war, corruption, and the curse of natural resources. [more]
LIBERAL INTERVENTIONALISM
What’s Left to
do for Darfur? by Stephen Twigg 
The way forward is an oil trust fund. This would distribute oil revenues
for the provision of education, health and development projects,
and to the Government of South Sudan. [subscribe]
THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
Selective Rememberance by James Walston 
This year, the abolition of the slave trade has for the most part been
commemorated in what seems to be a rather grudging way. It is naturally
right and proper that Liverpool. Bristol and London should recognise
their role in the industry, and that children and adults alike should
learn more about their city’s involvement; but this anniversary is
above all one of the few occasions when 'the good guys’ won. [subscribe]
Salvation in the
Sahara by John Thorne 
In the year that the American navy broke the back of Barbary slave trade
and brought low the potentates of Tunis and Algiers, a shipwreck occurred
on the coast of the Sahara desert that would contribute to the end of slavery
in America. [subscribe]
THE MIDDLE EAST
Israel at Middle Age by Benny Morris 
The problem, of course, is that while Israel as a society
may have entered middle age, the situation (Jewish) Israelis live
in, and, even more so, most likely face, is antediluvian, revolutionary
and possibly apocalyptic. [subscribe]
AMERICAN POLITICS
Nothing typifies
the Iowa primaries more than an ambitious politician discussing
the intricacies of the Central American Free Trade Agreement while munhcing
on a deep-fried twinky. [more]
THE FUTURE OF FEMINISM DEBATE
Notes on Being a Black Feminist in Englewood, New Jersey by Michele Wallace 
I am not friends with all the black
people I see. We don't have much in common based upon skin colour. I’ve
learned that whatever community I may have once felt with other black
people, or even black women, isn't particularly sustainable on anything
other than a purely social or cultural level. [subscribe]