Photo source: The Nation By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront It has been an eventful election in Italy in March 2018. A hung parliament means that cutting deals to form a coalition government, has become pivotal, to end the political stalemate. However, since March 4, 2018 a month has passed, but still, there have been a series of failed negotiations between the centre-right political parties. The Five Star Movement – M5S has emerged as the single largest party, having a populist message, whereas the League has gained ‘historic strides’ in the vote share this time around. After the Italian election, many things have become clearer. The election reflects that a large number of Italians favour a Euroskeptic, and a strongly nationalist political base. Like the Brits and the Greeks, the Italians don’t have positive opinions of the European Union. This is a stark difference between them and the Germans and the French now, who loathe about the benefits of staying in the Eurozone. H...

Photo Source: Miabonyunk.hu By Naveed Qazi Budapest hasn’t seen hundred thousand people marching together in front of the national parliament for years. This massive crowd had huddled together, demanding cancellation of Viktor Orban’s reelection in April 2018.  Protestors were seen wearing EU and Hungarian flags, which reflected their unease against the recent election win. Viktor Orban won a  Presidential term, as his anti-immigrant message resonated strongly. His right-wing Fidesz party took two-thirds of the overall parliament seats. During the election rallies, he talked of crushing the refugee wave on the borders and a crackdown on civil society groups. Many common Hungarians think that his re-election will jeopardise democratic freedom in the country. It is amazing to see Orban’s transformation if one looks at his political career. In 1989, in a public speech at Budapest’s Hero Square, he won the hearts of 250,000 listeners by calling for free el...

Photo Source: The Gryphon By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront When the Good Friday Agreement was signed in April 1998, it rekindled something that had long seemed unattainable in Northern Ireland: faith in political dialogue. For decades, the region had been trapped in a cycle of violence so entrenched that many ordinary people believed resolution was impossible. Yet, against expectations shaped by years of bloodshed, a negotiated settlement emerged. It did not erase the past, but it transformed the future by replacing armed conflict with constitutional politics and by drawing deeply divided communities into a shared, if uneasy, framework. Northern Ireland’s conflict is often narrated as a struggle between Catholics and Protestants, but this simplification obscures a more layered reality. While sectarian identities played a central role, there has always existed a significant section of society that resisted being reduced to religious or political binaries. Even today, many ...

Photo Source: Middle East Monitor By Naveed Qazi, Editor, Globe Upfront Ever since the Saudi led coalition entered the war in Yemen in 2015 through Operation Desert Storm, at least 5000 children have been killed mercilessly. More than 19000 air raids have ravaged Arab world's poorest country. It is believed that counterinsurgency operations, part of America’s global domination plans, proved pivotal in political instability inside Yemen. The public has often burned the American flag on the streets. Currently, the United States does not approve of the Yemeni army, with which it coordinated before, during the USS Cole bombing, due to government illegitimacy and chaos spreading in the national senate. According to inputs by offices of the United Nations, many children have been recruited as child soldiers. After more than three years of fighting, around 60,000 people have been killed. As per the Yemen Data Project, more than two-thirds coalition's air raids have struck non-...