By Benoit Lannoo* ANTWERP (Belgium) | 02 September 2025 (IDN) — For two years, at least twenty-three Artsakhis are jailed in Baku. Their crime: wanting to be what they are, namely Artsakhis. And what does the European Union do? Nothing! Today, it is Independence Day in Artsakh. But there is nothing to celebrate, since the […]
Pashinyan Apologies For Insulting The Armenian Apostolic Church
By Benoit Lannoo* YEREVAN, Armenia | ANTWERP, Belgium | 21 August 2025 (IDN) — There is little chance that the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will congratulate the Armenian Apostolic Catholicos on his birthday today. This is a U-turn from five or six years ago, when a praising press release was issued every year by […]
Karapetyan’s Case Crucial for Armenia’s future
By Benoit Lannoo* YEREVAN, Armenia | 14 August 2025 (IDN) — Today at 5:30 PM local time, an Armenian anti-corruption Court in Yerevan will decide on a petition of the General Prosecutor of the country to prolong the detention of Mr. Samvel Karapetyan. Last Monday, the Armenian Court of Criminal Appeals already decided that Mr. […]
Malawi’s Youth Urged to Shun Political Violence Ahead of September Elections
By Joseph Kayira LILONGWE, Malawi | 11 August 2025 (IDN) — With Malawi’s general elections set for 16 September 2025, the stakes are high. Political parties, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), and civic bodies are racing to maintain the electoral calendar, ensure voter participation, and safeguard democratic integrity. But amid rising political tension in this […]
The Enduring Influence of a Medieval Charter on Contemporary Democracy
By Ramesh Jaura This report was published on https://rjaura.substack.com BERLIN | 19 June 2025 (IDN) — The V-Dem Institute reports that the global outlook at the end of 2024 is less favourable compared to the past 25 years. The trend known as the “third wave of autocratization” is intensifying and expanding. This phenomenon is affecting […]
America: The End of Democracy and into the Abyss?
By Seevali Abeysekera* LONDON | 25 April 2025 (IDN) — Before the American presidential election in 2020, I published an article, ”America — the end is nigh”, whose last sentences were: ”A civil war and disintegration of America is thus a real possibility. History has shown us that great empires eventually collapse due to their […]
The End of Democracy?
By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS | 24 April 2025 (IDN) — The Trump administration is rapidly destroying American democracy. In previous contributions, based on the writings of Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, we have already warned about this. Recently, professors Jennifer McCoy (of Georgia State University), Rachel Beatty Riedl and Kenneth Roberts (of Cornell […]
This Hair on Fire Moment
By James E. Jennings* ATLANTA, Georgia | 29 June 2024 (IDN) — Patriot hero Paul Revere risked his life to warn American colonists in 1775 that British troops were coming to impose the monarchy and take away their liberties. A month earlier Patrick Henry roused patriots in the Virginia Assembly when he shouted, “Give me […]
India: Is the World’s Largest Democracy A “Mockery”?
By Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE | 28 December 2023 (IDN) — India’s national Parliament—known as Lok Sabha (Lower House of the People)—has become a “mockery of democracy,” says the main opposition party Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge following a splurge of expulsions of their members from the chambers before important criminal law reform bills were debated and […]
Outgoing President Weah Leaves an Unflawed Legacy
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA | 2 December 2023 (IDN) — Liberia and Sierra Leone have a common historical legacy and often tend to imitate each other in war and peace. But events in the last two weeks suggest that while Liberia may […]