Dear Friends and comrades,

This week, Ceasefire brings you yet another ambitious selection of columns, briefings and features, including articles on politics, ideas, the media, activism, music, chess and a very nice short story about ants. Not to mention all of our regular columnists and blogs.

As always, if you’d like to write to/for us, or just to say hello, get in touch!

Please forward this email to anyone who likes to read (and to those who don’t)

Happy reading, Vive la Revolución!

Hich

Editor, Ceasefire

CounterSpin

Quality Control: Why ‘great’ (media) minds think alike

From the “Muslim plot against the pope” that never was to “Red Ed” Miliband’s victory, Musab Younis shows, in this week’s CounterSpin column, how the media industry systemically enforces conformity within its ranks.

Indeed, a journalist’s route to success, Younis argues, is not merely a readiness to obey orders, but the hard-earned discipline not to need them at all.

Modern Times

WAR.com

You might not have realised it, but the world is at war. Not a war of tanks and guns, but one of espionage and government-sponsored, carefully buried paper trails.

From computer viruses targeting Iran’s nuclear sites, to cyber attacks against the banking systems of entire nations, Corin Faife examines, in this week’s Modern Times column, a crackling, effervescent yet invisible frontline.

Diary of a Domestic Extremist

Why I hate activism

What does it really mean to be an “activist”? Are activists deluding themselves about being agents of radical change?

In an impassioned polemic, that has already generated an equally impassioned debate amongst our readers, Mikhail Goldman argues that today’s activist movements, far from being the creative, truly revolutionary wave they purport to be, risk becoming, themselves, agents of bigotry, sexism, and elitism.

Chess Corner

The eccentric, ruthless despot who controls chess

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is the ruling dictator of a former Soviet republic, a multimillionaire businessman, and a self-declared alien-abductee. He is also the chess world’s biggest patron.

This week, after a fraught and bitterly contested campaign, he was re-elected as president of the World Chess Federation. Paul Lam examines the dark, surreal saga of Kirsan’s rule.

Special Report

N. Korea: The kid who would be king

A few days ago, an obscure 27-year old was announced as the soon-to-be leader of North Korea, the country with the fourth largest army in the world. A succession process shrouded in mystery and speculation has left many asking whether the regime will be able to survive.

In an exclusive special report, Peter Ward, Ceasefire‘s Korea correspondent, shows that however decried and derided the regime might be publicly, Western governments are tacitly hoping for its survival.

In Theory

Autonomism: The future of activism?

One of the major influences on contemporary activism has been European Autonomism, whose mark was present in the 2008 uprising in Greece, the Ungdomshuset revolt in Denmark, as well as the wave of summit protests around the world.

Political theorist Andrew Robinson traces its origins and development, and explains why it could be the future of activism.

World Briefing

Kashmir: the occupation the world forgot

When searching for items on Kashmir in her local library, Zainab Daniju got more results for a song by Led Zeppellin than for the region itself. Yet this country, under continuous brutal oppression since 1989, is virtually absent from mainstream media coverage.

In her piece, Daniju explores the roots of the conflict, as well as the reasons why the world should start caring.

Deserter’s Songs

The Shape of Utopia to Come

In this week’s Deserter’s Songs column, David Bell looks at the rich possibilities of free improvisation, and how it allows musicians ‘to be fully a part of the crowd and at the same time completely removed from it’.

At its best, Bell argues, improvisation can unleash stunning displays of creative power.

South of the Border

The view from Latin America

In the news this week in Latin America: Argentina vents its anger at the IMF, an internet super cable to link Cuba and Venezuela, ousted Honduran president Zelaya speaks out, Dilma a step away from the Brazilian presidency and much more.

Ceasefire correspondent Tom Kavanagh delivers his weekly round up of what’s been going on south of the border.

Le Blog

La colère des oubliés

For our many francophone (and francophile) readers, Ceasefire‘s new blog, entitled… well, ‘Le Blog’ is just the ticket. It will bring you Ceasefire‘s trademark sharp analysis and fresh wit but en Français!!

In this week’s instalment, Ceasefire‘s Canada correspondent Yassine Hamouni looks into the escalating stand-off between Western governments and their Labour movements.

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