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Thailand’s Political Conflict – A Jasmine Revolution? by Christian Stampe Jensen
The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and the political unrest that it has sparked in neighbouring countries throughout the Middle East has raised the question how these events influence popular uprisings and struggles for democracy in other parts of the world. In Thailand, political unrest and conflict between ‘Red Shirts’ and ‘Yellow Shirts’ have been […]
Read moreThe Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s Retirement from Politics
Today, the 10th
of March 2011, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama announced that he will transfer his
formal authority to the leader that the exile-Tibetans chose in the upcoming
elections for a Tibetan Prime Minister-in-Exile.
Read more
Are the “flower revolutions” in the Middle East and North Africa endangering stability in China? by Christian Göbel
These are fascinating
times, as the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East might well be the
beginning of a “Fourth Wave” of Democracy. The late political scientist Samuel
Huntington once likened clustered incidences of democratizations to “waves”. After
the apparent ebbing out of the “Third Wave”, which between 1974 and the early
1990s swept over Southern Europe, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe, the
time might have come for another democratic push. As a political scientist
studying stability and instability of authoritarian regimes, I am extremely
While vacationing in Thailand, we forgot to pay attention by Anya Palm
What just happened in Thailand? Was Thailand not supposed to
be a peaceful vacation paradise with perfect beaches and charming smiles?
Didn’t we just spend a couple of leisurely lazy days looking at stunning
temples and eating delicious street food from the stalls with not a care in the
world? (Yes, we did. In 2009, about 11 million foreigners visited Thailand.)
Thailand coining the definition of non-democracy by Anya Palm
Defining democracy is, if not an impossible, then an
immensely difficult task. However, defining what it is not is easy, very
easy: Amongst other things, it is NOT democracy
to gather a mass rally and declare that the sitting government must dissolve
within 24 hours, or else…
Nevertheless, this explicit threat is exactly what was
brought to the political table in Thailand’s
capital, Bangkok,
this week. Under a rally. For democracy.