The Rose Revolution

Culture warriors like Anders Behring Breivik style themselves as victims of an all-consuming political correctness administered by the "European elite". Norway's centre-right must confront its own role in the rise of this type of rhetoric, writes Jonas Bals. [more]

Tintin in Tana

The comic book "Tintin in the Congo" has been charged with racism in a Brussels court for its display of colonial attitudes from the 1930s. Morten Harper re-reads "countercultural" Norwegian comics and reveals how there, too, humour functions at the expense of minorities. [more]

MyBrain.net

The colonization of real-time and other trends in Web 2.0

The neurological turn in web criticism exploits the obsession with anything related to the mind and consciousness. Geert Lovink turns the discussion to the politics of network architecture, exploring connections between the colonization of real-time and the rise of the national web. [more]

Holocaust: The ignored reality

Auschwitz and the Gulag are generally taken to be adequate or even final symbols of the evil of mass slaughter. But they are only the beginning of knowledge, a hint of the true reckoning with the past still to come, writes Timothy Snyder. [more]

From Guantanamo to Tarnac

A reversal of the order of law

The arrest in 2008 of members of a collective in the French village of Tarnac exemplifies how definitions of terrorism are tailored to penalize ordinary social protest movements, writes Jean-Claude Paye. [more]

The new ecology of war

An interview with Mike Davis

"Global epidemics and global terrorism are two problems that principally emanated from the slums. When one talks about 'failed states' one often means 'failed cities' such as Gaza or Sadr City." Mike Davis talks in interview about the evolution of the neoliberal city. [more]

We need to broaden our political options

Interview with Michael Hardt

"We need alternatives to the thought that our only options are private or public ownership." Michael Hardt talks at the European Social Forum about his forthcoming collaboration with Antonio Negri, Common Wealth. [more]

Cyprus - Kypros or Kibris or both?

Greek and Turkish Cyprus are to re-open negotiations on 3 September. But in spite of their declared aim to agree a bi-zonal federation by spring 2009, the political crisis in Turkey may undermine their efforts to reunify their common homeland. [more]

What makes a biopolitical space?

A discussion with Toni Negri

"Soft" forms of activism that create urban collectivities on micro, neighbourhood levels only go so far, says Negri, who favours rupture and revolution over accumulation and gradual change. [more]

Headscarves, generals, and Turkish democracy

The Turkish government's move to lift the ban on headscarves in universities is part of an ongoing discussion on a new constitution that has the potential to decide the country's future. It could dramatically increase Turkey's chances of becoming a member of the EU. [more]

Cosmopolitan choices

As a wealthy oil nation, Norway is increasingly faced with choices at the crossroads of economic interests and ethical values. Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre argues that trade relations are more effective than economic sanctions as a way to achieve ethical and political goals. [more]

EU and the global hollywood

In a harsh critique of EU film policy, Hans Erik Næss claims that European funding programmes that focus on "European cultural identity and cultural heritage" are totally misguided. [more]

The legacy of the auteurs

Filmmakers like Bergman and Antonioni have taught us to think in pictures. "diplo" editor Truls Lie on the two recently deceased film greats. [more]

What makes a "film pledge" visionary?

Unimpeded by Norwegian language, culture, or social conditions, Norway should be capable of creating and expanding a visionary arena for critically independent, international documentary film. [more]

The art of disappearing

Jean Baudrillard, who died 6 March, gave us the tools to understand the media society and counteract the total assimilation into capitalist overproduction. Excerpts from a previously unpublished interview in which Baudrillard talks about his own death. [German version added] [more]

Palestinian self-determination

By ending its boycott of Hamas, Norway may have taken an important first step towards a working peace strategy. [more]

Another America?

George Bush's State of the Union address reflected the current mood in the US: muted, sombre, and resigned. Is this new attitude suggestive of a change in the way the US is starting to look at itself? [more]

How to stifle the opposition

Those who wield power choose to torture their opponents to the point where they are driven to strike back. Gotcha! [more]

More fascist than fascism

"Le Monde Diplomatique" (Norway) asks whether Slovenian band Laibach's aesthetic is an expression or a critique of neo-fascism. [more]

Philosophy and public life

Interview with Martha Nussbaum

Martha Nussbaum discusses philosophy's influence in public life, the future of political liberalism, and her critique of radical feminism. [more]

Machines and drugs

Do we really regard technology as an integral part of ourselves in the same way "machines" are composed of flesh and blood and social context? And doesn't the rapture of losing oneself satisfy a natural psychological need? The machines are the compelling drug. [more]

Surveillance: A sign of the times

A look at the new EU directive on telephone and Internet surveillance through the lens of Michel Foucault's theory of the Panopticon. [more]

From Microsoft to Macintosh

Some experiences with Microsoft help to explain why Bill Gates is stepping down. Le Monde diplomatique editor Truls Lie on his conversion from PC to Mac. [more]

Powerlessness and escalation

Israel's attacks in Lebanon and Gaza are breaking international law and producing a new generation of enemies. [more]

Our police order: What can be said, seen, and done

An interview with French philosopher Jacques Rancière about aesthetics, his distinction between "being political" and the "police order", the media as arena of liberation, and about those who cannot make their voices heard. [more]

Palestine: Hamas besieged

Israel’s incursion into Gaza, the arrest of Hamas ministers and legislators, and the financial embargo on the Palestinians show that Israel, with the United States, mean to provoke the collapse of the Hamas-led government. [more]

Cosmopolitics!

The cosmopolite's notion of justice does not cease to exist at the national border. She dreams of the world city, filled with opportunity and potential for change; the labyrinthine commotion of the marketplace and the pluralism of human existence. [more]

How Belarus elects Lukashenko

Everyone knew that the presidential elections would be manipulated. However, many Belarusians hope that the last dictatorship in Europe will end soon. [more]

The nation as side effect of opposition

Belarusian national idenitity and the language question

The Russophile Lukashenko regime could be an historical opportunity for Belarus to develop a national identity in opposition. [more]

Politics and cosmopolitics

If opinions cannot be freely expressed, the political space disintegrates. At the same time, being political involves seeing and listening to those who are "disregarded". [more]

The ongoing encounter

As immigration shapes modern European cities, we must open ourselves to encounters with people of other cultures, encounters that are real rather than virtual, concrete rather than notional. [more]

Islands in the Net

From non-places to reconquered anchorages of the avant-garde

With the spread of the Internet, utopia was given a location in cyberspace. It was just a question of exploring, surveying, and settling this new continent. [more]

Anarchistic aspirations

Marx said that in power's inner dynamic lie the seeds of its demise. Is media society loosening capitalism's grip on production? asks the editor of Le Monde diplomatique (Oslo). [more]

Manderlay: The moment of freedom

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

Lars von Trier's film Manderlay delivers a kind of politics that "leaves us angry, thoughtful, or questioning". [more]

Hacktivism

Street protests, politics, and mobility: A study of activist uses of syndication

On reappropriating the streets as a space of action and protest using cell phones, wireless internet connectivity, and other new media phenomena. [more]

Necessary lies

Fabricated identities have become a valuable commodity for asylum seekers for whom credibility is the bottom line. Meanwhile, the media adds to the climate of disinformation. [more]

United 93 -- "Let’s Roll!"

There are several reasons to believe that United Airlines flight 93 was shot down by an American fighter plane. Why are the American authorities being so secretive? [more]

Was the FBI investigation blocked?

FBI agents allegedly had advance knowledge of dates, targets, financial transactions, and the names of the perpetrators of the impending terrorist attacks on September 11th. But they claim that they were ignored or legally obstructed. [more]

Was 9/11 an inside job?

More than a conspiracy theory? Some people in the US are convinced that the American authorities are concealing their involvement in 9/11 -- and witnesses appear to concur. [more]