The problem with plebiscites
The unanticipated and widely debated results in Colombia and Great Britain – indeed, the very decision to use the mechanism of popular consultation to identify the citizenry’s will – obliges… Read more »
Category: Colombia
Why Colombia voted ‘No’ on peace referendum
A Colombian peace deal that the president and the country’s largest rebel group had signed just days before was defeated in a referendum on Sunday, leaving the fate of a… Read more »
Could intervention have tilted the balance in Syria?
Today, five years later, it’s easy to forget that Syria’s revolution started off amid the optimism of the Arab Spring. The first protests against Assad’s dictatorship were peaceful: Demonstrators were… Read more »
Colombia peace deal ‘will become model for resolving armed conflicts’
Rejecting criticism that his peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas will grant amnesty to war criminals, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos said in an interview with The Miami Herald that… Read more »
Colombia trading democracy for peace?
On a hot rainy day in August 2013, a group of young Colombians were celebrating the completion of a playground project in the village of Villarrica, Tolima. The project was… Read more »
Non-state actors aggravate government crackdowns on civil society
Armed non-state actors, criminal elements and violent extremists—not just governments—are responsible for the increasing crackdown on civil society, notes Shannon N. Green, director and senior fellow of the Human Rights… Read more »
Colombia’s post-conflict transition: five challenges
The Colombian case breaks all previous patterns and will surely become a model for overcoming non-international armed conflicts, argues Jean Carlo Mejía, a university professor and independent advisor and consultant… Read more »
Down the Rabbit Hole: the UNHRC’s Universal Review Process
As part of a National Endowment for Democracy project addressing the voting records and activities of the United Nations Human Right Council (UNHRC), Chris Sabatini and Amy Williams examine the recommendations… Read more »
Colombia labor advocates seek aid
Marino Cordoba was a leader in his town in Colombia the first time armed paramilitary fighters came gunning for him in 1996. This month he will be on Capitol Hill… Read more »