Tag Archives: Authoritarianism

The substance of the new bill will make it much more difficult for people like asylum seekers to claim their human rights in the UK. Sean Aiden Calderbank/Shutterstock Merris Amos, Queen Mary University of London The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force just over 20 years ago in October 2000, vastly improving protections for human rights in common law, …

Pipes for Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are loaded onto a ship at a German port, June 1, 2021. Stefan Sauer/picture alliance via Getty Images Lena Surzhko Harned, Penn State The recent U.S.-Russia summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin suggests that a controversial Russian natural gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, is a done deal. If completed as …

A poster of Ebrahim Raisi, the conservative head of the judiciary, who is frontrunner to be Iran’s next president. Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA Pooyan Tamimi Arab, Utrecht University and Ammar Maleki, Tilburg University The Islamic Republic of Iran has never organised free and fair elections since its establishment in 1979. By definition, the combination of modern totalitarianism and Iran’s Islamic theocracy, with …

Algerian protesters wave the national flag during a demonstration in the capital Algiers. Photo by Ryad Kramdi/AFP via Getty Images Yahia H. Zoubir, Kedge Business School There have been weekly peaceful protests in Algeria for the past year. Early last year protests demanding political transformation, led to the removal by the military of veteran leader, Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Elections were held, …

Balki Begumhan Bayhan, Coventry University Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian government led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has always made use of crises to consolidate its power. The coronavirus has been no exception. The regime has cracked down on opposition and attempted to undermine its effectiveness, while endeavouring to legitimise the rule of the long-serving president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Since …