Maatschappij

Interview

‘All democrats should stand up now, resorting to civil disobedience if necessary’

30 November 2016 -

The Bulgarian-German writer Ilija Trojanow worked his way through the archives of the autocratic regime in communist Bulgaria. He draws parallels with the growing autocracy in Europe, and not only with Donald Trump in the United States. A conversation about the illusion of security, the power of the state and the belief in resistance.

Report

Wealthy Arabs buy up Sarajevo

19 September 2016 -

Sarajevo is etched in the collective memory as a city of war. Twenty years after the peace agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the green hills around the city are changing into gated communities for Arab tourists. Public space is either neglected or privatised, then commercialised. But a new generation is sowing the seeds of change ...

News

From A No-Go Zone To A Shopping District; It’s Possible!

29 March 2016 -

Politicians are usually adamant when it comes to unreported employment. They consider the ‘informal’ economy a free zone for tax evaders, or worse, criminals. However, that is not necessarily the case. The South African port city of Durban went for a different approach altogether: they decided to give legal security to street traders (a ...

Opinion

Don't Drink Bombers' Deadly Cocktail

24 March 2016 -

In an editorial I wrote on Monday, after a week intense anti-terror activity in Brussels, I used an Uzbek proverb –‘One man builds a bridge, a thousand men cross it’- to advocate an active, two-way engagement between Brussels Muslim communities and the Belgian state.

Interview

‘Waging War, Eating Meat, Capitalism – Evidence Of A Harrowing Lack Of Imagination’

3 February 2016 -

Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist who loves science more than incense, believes the logic of cooperation will, by a process of natural selection, eventually come to replace the logic of neoliberalism. With the government currently displaying less compassion than ever for vulnerable citizens, it was high time for a conversation with the author of “A ...

Opinion

‘We need immigrants just as much as they need us’

18 December 2015 -

William Lacy Swing, director general of the International Organisation for Migration looks back at 2015 on the occassion of International Migrants Day. 'Now is the time for safe, secure and legal migration throughout the world.'

Opinion

‘Let's foster dialogues with our youngsters that respect privacy’

16 October 2015 -

‘Ever since people embraced the Internet, ever since we learned about the consequences of our new ways of interacting and communicating, the urgency to reflect upon – and maybe even rethink – the meaning of privacy grew stronger.’ Ben Caudron made the following speech ahead of the announcement of the jury's laureate of the B ...

Analysis

Is Kabila on his way out?

12 October 2015 -

President Kabila faces challenges on a number of fronts, from the opposition to the grassroots to members of his own inner circle. How much longer can he hold on?

Blog Post

Does the new Nepal constitution work for Nepali workers?

20 September 2015 -

After five years, six months and 26 days of work as well as two elections, two major earthquakes and close to 500 aftershocks, a new dawn rises on Nepal: the new Constitution is proclaimed today. But what kind of provisions does this new Constitution rese

Analysis

Putin's media takeover

3 August 2015 -

The Russian government does not only keep a close watch on television channels, radio broadcasters and printing press, it also tries to control the internet. This makes it even more difficult for Russians to obtain information that has not been screened by the Kremlin.

Analysis

Italian spyware and the demise of a Moroccan news site

1 April 2015 -

Western companies selling surveillance technology to law enforcement and intelligence services are on the rise. In 2012 the Moroccan news website Mamfakinch, founded to report on the Arab Spring protests, was targeted with spyware developed by an Italian company called Hacking Team. The attack proved to be the fatal blow to the site and its many co ...

Opinion

‘Basic Income is the answer to technological developments’

13 March 2015 -

Increasingly, intelligent computers are taking over more and more intellectual jobs hitherto considered “safe” from automation, author Tom Kenis argues. Where will it end? Kenis points to a basic guaranteed income as a way forward.