02 December 2020
An Uphill Battle for a Constitutional Amendment in Thailand
Thousands of young activists are taking to the streets to protest the 2017 constitution of Thailand. However, the current government of Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former junta leader and present prime minister, afraid of losing control, has invoked all constitutional mechanisms to resist any change. The deadlock can easily escalate from a call for a charter amendment to toppling the entire regime. Continue reading >>
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29 February 2020
Context Matters
On February 9th, the Armenian parliament authorized a referendum that would allow the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, to remove seven of the current nine justices from the Constitutional Court. Pashinyan has called the decisions of the Court a “threat to democracy”. On its face, this seems like yet another example of a populist leader trying to use a referendum to increase his power. Examining the context of the situation in Armenia, however, paints a different picture. Continue reading >>06 November 2019
Revolution statt Revolte
Im Libanon protestieren Menschen seit fast drei Wochen gegen das politische Establishment. Nachdem in der Nacht zum 18. Oktober die Regierungspläne bekannt wurden, WhatsApp-Calls mit 0,20 $ pro Anruf zu besteuern, gingen landesweit binnen weniger Tage Hunderttausende auf die Straßen. Freilich war die von Premierminister Saad Hariri sogleich zurückgezogene Idee lediglich der berühmte Tropfen, der das Fass zum Überlaufen brachte und seinen Rücktritt am 29. Oktober unausweichlich machte. Die Frustration über die politischen Eliten wie den konfessionell verankerten Staatsaufbau ist in der libanesischen Bevölkerung über Jahre hinweg gewachsen und so enorm, dass nun vor allem ein Wort durch die Straßen des Landes hallt: Revolution. Continue reading >>
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05 December 2018
Lessons Learned? Fifth Anniversary of Euromaidan
On the fifth anniversary of the Euromaidan, during an escalation of Russia’s undeclared war, the first days of martial law in Ukraine, and on the threshold of Ukrainian presidential elections, this post seeks to analyze the main results and lessons of the Revolution of Dignity. Continue reading >>23 February 2011