International affairs columnist Jonathan Manthorpe examines the mess that Turkey’s Prime Minister made for himself, and which now threatens his political survival. Excerpt: Turkey’s bullish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is locked in a struggle for political survival with a United States-based Muslim
JONATHAN MANTHORPEDecember 27, 2013 Turkey’s bullish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is locked in a struggle for political survival with a United States-based Muslim cleric, whose followers he helped infiltrate the country’s police, courts, the military, and even his own Justice and Development
With a nod to our own house of glass, I’m laughing out loud at the list of best and worst media errors and corrections of 2013, by Craig Silverman at the Poynter Institute. The outrageous ones will give you a giggle: the
New work on Facts and Opinions – and selected reading and viewing from elsewhere in the week past: Natural Security columnist Chris Wood asks a shocking question in his new column today: Will trade deals let energy companies shake us down for
F&O has updated our listing of our original writing, and selected videos and readings, following Nelson Mandela’s death on December 5. Behind Houghton Walls, a poem reflecting on Mandela’s last days by Iain T. Benson, a professor in South Africa, is published
JONATHAN MANTHORPEDecember 11, 2013 Nelson Mandela has been praised to the rafters for promoting peace and reconciliation in post-apartheid South Africa, but on the ground there is precious little evidence his message has been heard or followed. The dawning of South Africa
Journalist and television writer David Simon delivered a speech to the Festival of Dangerous Ideas that was every bit as scorching as his incendiary television series The Wire. “I come from a country that is utterly schizophrenic, he said of the United
A snapshot this week from the surveillance beat: Writers of the world call for end to mass online surveillance Five Nobel literature laureates are among 560 international writers who today have put their names to an appeal, “A stand for democracy in
Nelson Mandela was too good for his or South Africa’s own good, writes international affairs columnist Jonathan Manthorpe. Excerpt: Those qualities of tolerance, forgiveness, respect for the others’ views, and uncritical loyalty to friends, comrades and family that made him one of
