A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

For much of the year, the war with Iran was treated in Washington as a foreign-policy problem: a question of military objectives, nuclear policy, deterrence, and negotiations. As the November 3 midterm elections approach, it is becoming something else as well. The war is now part of the domestic political argument over prices, congressional authority, and what Americans expect their government to do abroad. That shift matters because the midterms are not a referendum on foreign policy alone. All 435 House seats and roughly one-third of the Senate are on the ballot, and the result will determine how much room Congress has to challenge, fund, investigate, or otherwise shape the administration’s policy during the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term. The Iran war is already reaching voters through issues that rarely stay confined to foreign affairs. Gasoline prices have risen sharply as the conflict has disrupted energy flows through the Middle East. An AP-KFF survey of more than 2,000 rural registered voters found that 42 percent considered it extremely important for midterm candidates to discuss the conflict with Iran. Among rural Democratic voters, that figure was 57 percent. Cost of living ranked even higher overall, with 69 percent...

The Assad family ruled Syria for 53 years, overseeing decades of repression, a crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011, and 14 years of brutal armed conflict. Following nearly two years of transition after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Maram Haddad – a Syrian expert who serves as PHR’s Deputy Director of Capacity Development and Evidence-Based Practice – takes stock of Syria’s progress and opportunities to advance human rights. Q: You just returned from a mission to Syria, one of several visits you’ve made since December 2024. After 14 years of not being able to return to your home country, what did you see there and how was it to be back? For 14 long years, I was prohibited from returning to my homeland. For 14 years I was unable to have coffee with my mother at the kitchen table, walk through the old streets of Damascus, or visit the graves of those who died while I was away. Words fail to describe what I felt when I finally landed at Damascus airport for my first visit in February 2025, after all this time and all this heartbreak for Syria. It was mixed emotions of disbelief, joy,...

A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

‘Rushing’ to elections could fuel conflict, says Commission Hundreds of ceasefire violations confirmed Peace deal still largely unimplemented Inclusive politics ‘abandoned’ With the country on the cusp of its first national elections since independence, the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan stressed that “multiple risk factors for atrocity crimes are converging…The window to prevent a return to the scale of atrocities and displacement South Sudan endured between 2013–2018 is closing, but it has not yet completely shut.” The warning comes amid the resumption of armed conflict in several parts of the country, in Upper Nile, Jonglei and Unity states, with clashes and civilian deaths also recorded in Western and Central Equatoria states. A total of 407 ceasefire violations were recorded from August 2025 to January 2026. Crossroads moment “Fifteen years after independence, South Sudan is at one of its most dangerous points,” the Commission said, noting that “rushing to elections” without essential safeguards risks deepening existing conflicts and increasing the risk of the atrocity crimes genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing. In 2018, the country’s warring parties committed to a revitalized peace deal (the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan...

Structured decision making can integrate science and public values to reduce conflict over wildlife.

In the face of increasing political and societal fragmentation, the Global State of Democracy 2026 explains the patterns that define the direction of democratization around the world. Drawing on the l...

via US news | The Guardian — Installing tech billionaires Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to Pentagon defense board raises conflict of interest concerns By installing tech billionaires Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to advisory roles in a Pentagon project about the future of warfare, defense secretary Pete Hegseth bestowed extraordinary influence on two of Magas most significant campaign donors – and both men own companies that benefit from federal defense contracting. The new project, which Hegseth dubbed “Project Meridian” in an

A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

Over the last two decades, collaborative approaches to forest governance have become commonplace, valued for their potential to reduce conflict and increase equity and democracy. Despite growing appl....

A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

Democracies have always sparked conflict, disagreement, and deep ideological divisions. Polarized politics are hardly rare in democratic life. So under what conditions does polarization turn violent…

A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.

In the face of increasing political and societal fragmentation, the Global State of Democracy 2026 explains the patterns that define the direction of democratization around the world. Drawing on the l...