Politics

If you live in a cave, or are not aware of a little thing called the internet, then you may be excused for not knowing that in America there is currently a peculiar circus travelling from state to state, attracting crowds of screaming millennials, frustrated gun owners, and expectant babies waiting to be signed or kissed by a messianic figure. ... Read More »

Early 2016 Netflix announced that it would add 130 new countries to its network over the year. Indonesia was one of these. However, within a week after the airing of Netflix in Indonesia, the Indonesia Film Censorship Board (LSF) gave it the red flag. Netflix isn’t the first Western media outlet that has been banned from Indonesian television. This raises the ... Read More »

Schengen keeps alive the idea of a Europe free of internal border control which facilitates a rapid and smooth flow of goods, services and persons, without any border check delays. However, the huge influx of migrants and the uncooperative EU member states have destabilized Schengen like never before. France imposed its border control as a direct consequence to the terrorist attacks that occured in ... Read More »

‘The Day Bowie Brought the Wall Down’-David Bowie’s political heritage- ‘Look up here, I’m in Heaven, I’ve got scars that can’t be seen, I’ve got drama that can’t be stolen, Everybody knows me now’, the first lines of David Bowie’s final single, Lazarus, could not have described the events that occurred on the 10th of January in a better way. ... Read More »

Political activism. What a beautiful phrase. It rolls off your tongue with heroic ease and fills your soul with lofty ideals. It invites connotations of emancipation, community and justice. We feel strong and truly human when we take part in political activism – doing our ‘bit’ in directing the course of human progress. Yet, when we think of political activism ... Read More »

Are you enjoying your Christmas holidays? If you are in the Netherlands you will probably have noticed by now: no white Christmas this year. In fact, this is the warmest December that has ever been recorded in the Netherlands. To you it might be nice to go outside in your autumn jacket without the risk of freezing your feet off. ... Read More »

-An article on Michel Houellebecq’s Soumission and a changing France- Paris, the night of the 6th of January 2015. Michel Houellebecq, enfant-terrible of the French literary world, is sitting in his hotel room in expectation of something big to happen. In the past months Houellebecq has locked himself up in his house on the Réunion Islands in order to work ... Read More »

Dr. Bob Reinalda studied Political Science and Social History at the University of Amsterdam. He holds a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands (1981). Now he is a Senior Researcher at the University of Nijmegen. This busy academic is holding positions at IR journals such as Journal of International Organizations Studies JIOS and the Journal of Political ... Read More »

“There has been a vicious terrorist attack in Ankara Train Station at 10:04 am on 10th of October. This attack is an atrocity against the Turkish Republic.”  Turkish President, Tayyip Erdoğan. “We saw flags and pieces of bodies flying into the air. People were injured and running around unconsciously (..) I will never forget the smell of burned human flesh” ... Read More »

What is going on in Turkey? I mean, what is actually going on? Our newspapers have been filled with stories of specific events: fragmented but somehow related. Yet, a holistic view of the situation in Turkey is somewhat lacking. This article seeks to create a holistic view, which may not be complete, or perfect, but will allow the readers to ... Read More »