Paulo Guerra sent us this commentary from the protests in Brazil.

This article, written during the author's internship with the Malaysian Human Rights Commission, presents an analysis of the Malaysian "Special Measures" Act (2012), which compromises the civil liberties of individuals, through such powers as identifying anonymous authors on the Internet and intercepting personal communications, in an effort to ensure the

Leon Mach shares his reflections after a study tour of the Narmada River Valley with Medha Patkar, a community organizer and tireless advocate of "people oriented development", illustrated by the beautiful photography of Kelsea Schumacher. Tags: Medha Patkar, Narma River, conservation, development, community, justice, livelihoods, ecosystem services, Sardar Sarovar Dam, globalization.

Are US/NATO efforts to empower women and equalize Afghan society undercut by the segregation policies of their own camps and insensitivity to local staff? Jade Wu reports from Kabul and Kunduz.

Scotland's narrowly lost campaign for independence has emboldened similar struggles for self-determination across Europe, in places like Catalonia, Flanders, and Transnistria. Thomas Wagner-Nagy asks what this trend could mean for Europe, where a complex history of disputed cultural and territorial borders continues to unfold.

Separation of the Sudan into the Republic of Sudan (North) and the Republic of Southern Sudan (South) was globally extolled as the long-lasting solution to one of the longest civil wars in post-Colonial Africa. However, recent developments in Sudan: continued clashes between north and south, crises in the contested areas

Dr Jephias Mapuva and Loveness Muyengwa-Mapuva discuss the potential of Zimbabwe's 2013 constitutional reform to decentralize governmental powers and bolster democratic participation in local governance while also recognizing the many challenges to its implementation.

Social and political challenges continue to affect Aceh as the region struggles to achieve peace, justice, and reconciliation, both within itself and with the Indonesian government. Michael Cornish reports on the status of Aceh's democratic transition and the complicated political forces that have arisen in the fragile peace of the

The "Ezulwini Consensus" has endorsed the Responsibility to protect (R2P) that recognizes the "right to intervene when a State is unwilling or unable to protect its populations" from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. In such situations, the Ezulwini Consensus emphasizes that regional organizations in areas of