With the outbreak of uncivil wars on a regional scale, in central Africa, the Arab-speaking world and eastern Europe, readers shocked and sickened by their terrible violence may find of interest my short foreword to the just-published Chinese edition of...
Read MoreDuring several decades of contact with writers trapped in stressed and strained political circumstances, I can’t ever recall meeting a literary figure who was brave and principled enough to offer herself up for arrest and imprisonment by the authorities. That’s...
Read MoreLa statue du président irakien Saddam Hussein a été déboulonnée par l'armée américaine le 9 avril 2003, jour de la prise de Bagdad. «Le modèle américain de démocratisation par les armes a conduit à un désastre en Irak et en...
Read MoreUn insider du Parti offre un aperçu rare sur le sens des réformes chinoises, par John KEANE John Keane est Professeur de Sciences Politiques à l'Université de Sidney et au Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB). Il dirige le Sydney Democracy Network (SDN) nouvellement...
Read MoreXi Jinping’s ‘China Dream’ is couched in the opaque language of the Communist Party, leaving China watchers guessing at exactly what it all means. EPA/Diego Azubel “If you want to know the future of the world,” Yu Keping says, pouring green tea into...
Read MorePublic rally in support of Edward Snowden, Garden Road, Hong Kong, June 2013 flickr/See-ming Lee Along with contributions by Ulrich Beck, Julia Kristeva and others, the following short statement was published in Politiken, the largest-circulation daily newspaper in Denmark: With a political noose...
Read MoreWith talk of democracy in crisis plentiful, especially in Europe, a smart assessment of how well democracies have fared during past crises is badly needed. This is what David Runciman’s The Confidence Trap offers – with decidedly mixed results. Runciman...
Read MoreDemocracy in action? A supporter signs a mural backing WikiLeaks leaker Private Bradley Manning. Photo: Reuters POLITICS THE CONFIDENCE TRAP: A HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS FROM WORLD WAR I TO THE PRESENT By David Runciman Princeton University Press, $52.95 With talk of democracy...
Read MoreVibrant democracies need sharp-angled and unceremonious characters like Lou Reed who can rail against imperiousness and conformity, writes John Keane. [caption id="attachment_9170" align="alignnone" width="741"] PHOTO: Lou Reed embodied detached cool and passionate anger. (Tracey Nearmy: AAP)[/caption] It's said often that democracy requires...
Read MoreThe following words on the subject of secrets and politics were spoken at a recent Sydney public symposium, organised by my colleague Benedetta Brevini, Beyond Wikileaks (8th October 2013). There are three sensitive secrets I’d like to reveal about the topical subject of...
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