Author: Imad Naddaf – لقد أمضيتُ زمنا طويلا من حياتي درستُ فيه تاريخ سورية جيداً وخضتُ نقاشات واسعة حول ماضيها وحاضرها ومستقبلها الوطني، وعانيت من آرائي السياسية التي كنت أحملها وقضيت في سجني تدمر وصيدنايا قرابة عشر سنوات إبان الحكم الديكتاتوري السابق ..
Author: Imad Naddaf – I have spent a long period of my life studying Syria’s history in depth and engaging in extensive debates about its national past, present and future, and I have paid a heavy price for the political views I hold, spending nearly ten years in Tadmur and Saydnaya prisons under the former dictatorial rule. On that basis, I consider it a duty to set out my own view, while passing over the well-known historical facts related to the colonial targeting of the region and earlier partition plans, most notably the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
Author: Jérôme Genest – Globalization can be understood as the amplification of human interactions and connectivity. It is the shrinking distance between people and places that can allow for better communication and coordination.
Author: Yasodhara Kapuge – When Sri Lanka was engulfed in one of the world’s longest civil wars (1983–2009), bombs and gunfire often drowned out everyday life. Yet, even as conflict tore communities apart, Sri Lanka quietly sustained one of the most successful childhood immunization programs in South Asia.
Author: Jella Ohnesorge – Digitalization policy is characterized by its dynamic development and cross-cutting qualities, as well as the fact that many countries are overwhelmed by it. During the COVID-19 pandemic it became very clear how important digital governance is and how beneficial effective digitalization policy can be for citizens and public administration alike.
Author: Jennifer Wallner – Another Ontario election has come and gone. And less than half the population noticed. In 2022, a sparse 4,701,959 people voted. With only 44.06% of eligible voters turning out, that election set the record for the lowest voter turnout ever in the province. This election, one where the province and Canada face real threats with devastating consequences from our closest ally, fared little better. Essentially, Ontarians issued a collective ‘meh’.
Author: Shaoni Chakraborty – Abortion is a deeply complex and contentious issue that involves questions of healthcare, morality, legality, and gender rights. The regulation of abortion laws is often influenced by a country’s legal, cultural, religious and political frameworks. Federalism, which divides governmental powers between national and constituent unit governments, can have profound effects on the accessibility and implementation of abortion laws, which in federal systems can often differ significantly between levels of government.
Author: Natalia Valero – Recent and past conflicts in Africa reflect the diverse and complex political, economic, cultural, and ethnic background of the continent. In countries such as South Africa, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, a federal system with multilevel governance has been presented as a model able to accommodate diversity. In a multilevel system, cooperation, partnership, and power distribution operate to varying degrees in order to deal with divisions along territorial, social, political, and cultural lines. In this way, federal governance systems may act as a peacebuilding tool.
Author: Shaoni Chakraborty – India’s governance system has traditionally been characterised by a specific form of federalism known as “centralised federalism.” In contrast to the classic conception of federal government, in which constituent units operate with significant autonomy with explicitly delineated independent spheres of authority, India’s system grants substantial powers to the Central government, allowing it to intervene in state affairs.
Author: Anthony Bou-chrouche – For almost 50 years, Lebanon has been plagued with problems of civil unrest due to a lack of social cohesion that stems from religious differences among the groups that comprise its population. The country is home to 18 different religious communities, each of which possess constitutionally enshrined levels of representation in Parliament. In the legislature, generally seats are divided equally between Christian and Muslim communities (with some exceptions like that of the representation of the Druze community).