China is in a good position today, without question. Domestically, standards of living have been increasing and the economic growth of around 7% persists, and on a global scale, weak and isolationist United States leave more and more room for Chinese “soft power” – investments of various sorts – to give Beijing increasing leverage,…
Category: Oppression
Peru has been rocked by demonstrations for the past several days, as the country is moving closer to a political power struggle between the clan of former authoritarian president Alberto Fujimori, and ruling president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK). The protestors on the street call for PPK to resign following his highly controversial pardon of…
It has been 60 years since the Cuban revolution, and much like ever before, the country continues to polarize. One of the highest literacy rates in the world, free education and healthcare are seen as exemplary by many. On the other hand, though, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations are reiterating their calls…
When thinking about repressive regimes where people “disappear”, that work their own people to death and have some seemingly absurd policies, North Korea usually comes to mind first. Much less known is its close runner-up and African counterpart: Eritrea. Eritrea is a relatively small and very poor nation located at the eastern coast of…
With all the headlines of a Catalan independence referendum lately, it is easy to forget that another European nation may be a whole lot closer to independence. Greenland is on the right track for complete independence, so much so that it has become a prime candidate for the position of “next country to become…
Title Image: A protester holds up a copy of the Polish constitution. Image: @DukaKofi via Twitter. Over the last months, Poland’s nationalist ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) has tightened its grip on power through a series of authoritarian laws, placing the country’s media and highest constitutional court under its control. Human Rights organizations, the…
The early 21st century has seen a resurgence in dictatorships and authoritarian governments throughout the world, including regions like Europe previously thought to now be stable democracies. However, models like the Soviet-inspired communist state or “traditional” dictatorships are outdated and will not survive through the 21st century. Instead, a new form of authoritarian regime is…
The European Union can now cut ‘hate-inducing’ live broadcasts and delete sections from their online archive. The Guardian, the 9-million reader newspaper that published Snowden’s revelations on global surveillance, published an article titled ‘is it ethical to punch a Nazi?’ Anti-Trump protesters in Berkeley turned a peaceful demonstration into a riot, burning things and smashing…
Vancouver, in western Canada, was the stage for a showdown between two opposing demonstrations – one against Maduro’s authoritarian rule in Venezuela and one supporting the country’s president. Though the demonstrations stayed peaceful, the two opposing sides did have shouting matches and the supporters of Maduro also brought along revolutionary music which they blasted from speakers….
“This is where they smashed my skull”, he says, making me feel the back of his head. You can clearly feel the injury. Then he shows me one of his arms, pointing out a long scar. The man sitting opposite of me is Abdul Hamid, who was ‘disappeared’ and tortured by the Syrian government for…