Mathew Guest, Durham University This autumn’s Brazilian presidential election offers a glimpse of how 21st century populist leaders are using religion to enthuse their support base. The incumbent, right-wing firebrand Jair Bolsonaro, rose to power in 2018 with support from … Continue reading Brazil: how populist politicians use religion to help them win
The United States is both a democracy and a republic, but the terms are not mutually exclusive. So let us break it down whether the United States a democracy or a republic: The United States a Democracy? The United States is a democracy, because, the people, hold ultimate political power. It is not a “direct democracy,” but a “representative democracy.” Representative democracy means voting in elections to choose representatives – this makes it a representative democracy, but remember the United States Constitution does not use the term “democracy.” The United States a Republic? The United States is a republic because … Continue reading Is the United States of America a Democracy, a Republic or an Oligarchy?
Saba Sattar, The Institute of World Politics India’s position as a secular nation is under threat. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the country’s 200 million Muslim minority population has been increasingly targeted. Over the past … Continue reading How one atheist laid the foundation of contemporary Hindu nationalism
Colin Alexander, Nottingham Trent University The two missile tests conducted by North Korea in recent days have reopened discussions about the country, its leadership, its foreign policy, its perception around the world and the use (and usefulness) of nuclear weapons as an option within global politics. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency announced on September 12 that it had test-fired a new long-range cruise missile, believed by analysts to be the country’s first missile with the capacity to carry a nuclear warhead. Three days later the South Korean military said the North had launched “two unidentified ballistic missiles” into … Continue reading North Korea, nuclear proliferation and why the ‘madman theory’ is wrong about Kim Jong-un
Mohammed Abbasi 