The near-exclusive focus of international opinion and the media on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict conceals a far broader and more systemic reality: a forest of internal
Tag: State Repression
“It causes me great pain every time I see people of good faith — because I know they act in good faith — reducing Cuba’s
This month, China’s National People’s Congress held its annual meeting and passed a new law on ‘promoting ethnic unity and progress’. The legislation further codifies
A month ago, many articles appeared to remind the Western public of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This wave of articles
In the following analysis, Somayeh Rostampour shows how the repression that the Iranian government has carried out to crush protests, the monarchist attempt to co-opt
From New Lines Magazine Iran helped the Assad regime crush unarmed protests with staggering violence starting 2011. Now, it has turned those same tactics on
Is India’s role in Kashmir “settler colonial” or part of a shared legacy of internal colonialism across South Asia? India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit
From Boston Review Alex Shams: You have written extensively on sociopolitical transformations in the Middle East in recent decades, including the Arab Spring revolutions that
On Sunday, February 1, Costa Rica will hold elections amid the most tumultuous and uncertain political climate in decades. Conservative and right-wing political forces are
Recent discussions explain the visibility of pro-monarchy slogans through external forces such as Israel’s misinformation campaigns, satellite television, and foreign-funded media. By locating the explanation
A New Age of Protest in Iran. Interview with Chowra Makaremi and Amir Ahmadi Arian – 28 January 2026
The protests that began in Iran last month have been suppressed with a level of state violence not seen since the 1980s, when the Islamic
From Making Sense… What we are seeing in Minneapolis right now is horrendous, frightening, and heartbreaking. But it is not a surprise. Over the past
I have been reading left analyses of Iran recently and there is this pattern that keeps appearing in many. Religion disappears. The theocratic structure of
From Himal Southasian Ground reporting of the 2025-26 election reveals that voters only hope for a slight lifting of the military’s boot in a race
“Try me for treason. I betrayed your deranged state”, the Russian anti-war protester Andrei Trofimov told the Second Western District Military Court in May. In
Everyone in Tanzania, including the government, was caught off guard when protests broke out on election day – 29 October. The polls had long been
How have the deployment of peacekeepers in January 2022 and the subsequent outbreak of war in Ukraine reshaped Kazakhstan’s relationship with Russia? How is Kazakhstani
Civilians face repression for sharing Russian troop movements In September 2025, opposition media in Belarus estimated that one thousand civilians —many unknown to to human
From New Lines Magazine Emboldened by an ultraconservative state agenda and the war in Ukraine, radical nationalists are cautiously welcomed by the government In a
Tanzanian rights campaigner Maria Sarungi-Tsehai and Mary Kambo of the Kenya Human Rights Commission join New Lines’ Kwangu Liwewe on the podcast to discuss the
Manfred Elfstrom is a political scientist and professor at the University of British Columbia, whose research focuses on labour protests in China, the state’s authoritarian
Following the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, the Islamic Republic has initiated a new wave of widespread repression. Under the guise of “national security”
Life in Iran is not lived, it is performed. Every movement, every word, every breath is dictated by an invisible force, an unyielding presence that