This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
24. May 2013
Of Lions and Men: Pakistani Elections and Feline Symbolism
Elections, InFocus, Pakistan, political parties, Symbolism
This spring six museums in Copenhagen exhibit collections of art and handicraft depicting flowers. As a visitor to the museum called Davids Samling – which houses the most exquisite collection of Islamic art in Denmark – one learns that in the Indian subcontinent prior to 1707 flowers were often depicted naturalistically. However, when in that […]
Read more29. Apr 2013
Japanese politics at the crossroads
government, InFocus, Japan, political parties, politics
At the time of writing, there is every sign that Japanese politics is at an historical crossroads. In December 2012 the Japanese electorate voted the conservative Liberal Democratic Party back to power after a three-year break from 2009. Before then, the LDP had governed the country almost uninterruptedly since the onset of the Cold War. […]
Read more16. Apr 2013
Who can meet the expectations of the majority?
Elections, government, InFocus, Malaysia, political parties, politics
Malaysia’s thirteenth general elections (GE13) will be a battle of the coalitions, pitting the world’s most successful ruling coalition – the 13 party Barisan Nasional (BN/National Front) against the 4 year old, three party Pakatan Rakyat (PR/People’s Pact/People’s Alliance). It is not easy to categorise the two opposing coalitions and its members as they […]
Read more12. Mar 2013
Another China – other inequalities
China, gender, Human rights, InFocus
By Mai Corlin, Ph.D. student, Aarhus University Gender inequality is not simply the unfair treatment of men and women. It is a complex issue tied to a whole range of disparities in society at large, argues Professor Min Dongchao, who has just been awarded a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship and will be a guest […]
Read more24. Jan 2013
The gunslinger state of Laos
development, economy, environment, Human rights, InFocus, Laos
On December 15, on his way back from work, the Laotian director, activist and award winner, Sombath Somphone, mysteriously disappeared. The last people to see him, according to leaked surveillance footage, were the Laotian authorities at a police control post, where he was pulled over, and then driven away in a different car. Despite that, […]
Read more16. Jan 2013
Iqbal’s Pakistan! – The Country Ahead?
culture, InFocus, Islam, nationalism, Pakistan
The term ‘Iqbal’s Pakistan’ is frequently used […]
Read more7. Jan 2013
A couple of under-reported observations on North Korea’s rocket launch
InFocus, International relations, Korea, nuclear weapons, security studies
North Korea’s successful rocket launch on December 12, 2012 predictably spurred worldwide condemnation and media attention. Many of the reports immediately following the launch were remarkably similar and contained few attempts at alternative interpretations of the launch itself and of its implications. In the following text a couple of rather under-reported observations on the North […]
Read more21. Dec 2012
Myanmar – a country opening up?
Burma, democracy, development, Field work, Human rights, InFocus, Myanmar, politics
After 50 years of isolation Myanmar, formerly named Burma, is finally opening up to the outside world. According to the media the country is now welcoming tourists, foreign investment and development aid. But exactly what does the picture of openness look like in reality? Photo taken in a small village in the Ayeyarwaddy Delta: […]
Read more20. Nov 2012
Pakistan: a consolidated democracy?
democracy, Elections, government, Human rights, InFocus, Islam, Pakistan, terrorism
Intervention at a conference arranged by South Asia Democratic Forum on the occasion of the UN Human Rights Council’s periodic review of “Pakistan”, Palais des Nations, Geneva, October 30, 2012. by Stig Toft Madsen Senior Research Fellow NIAS – Nordic Institute of Asian Studies This intervention will cover the period from the return of Benazir […]
Read more2. Nov 2012
Slaget om Kinas framtida ledarskap av Johan Lagerkvist
China, Elections, government, InFocus, politics
Med början den 8 november ska det kinesiska kommunistpartiet hålla sin 18:e nationella partikongress. En hel värld som har blivit samberoende med Kinas ekonomi kommer att påverkas av det förestående maktskiftet. Omgivningen svävar dock i ovisshet om den nya politbyråns sammansättning och framtida politik, i en atmosfär där datum för kongressen offentliggjordes först den 28 […]
Read more