Nigeria’s Humanitarian Crisis

By Asad Ismi On February 27, Nigerian voters re-elected President Muhammadu Buhari, leader of the All Progressives Congress party (APC), in a poll marred by large-scale violence, accusations of vote-rigging, last-minute delays and military intervention. When Buhari was first elected in 2015, turnout among registered voters was 44%. In this election it hit an all-time […]

Pakistan’s Government in Military Hands–Again

By Asad Ismi Imran Khan, Pakistan’s leading ex-cricketer, became the country’s prime minister in August after his political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), or the Pakistan Justice Movement, won an election marred by shocking violence—including two suicide bomb attacks in Balochistan province that killed or injured more than 180 people—and allegations of massive rigging and military […]

Brazil’s Non-Elections: A Crisis of Trust, a Failure of Democracy

By Asad Ismi Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva was still, at publishing time, the Workers Party (PT) candidate and frontrunner in Brazilian elections scheduled for October 7. This was despite him being sentenced in July to 12 years in prison for what his allies and vast supporter base (June polls put Lula […]

Bangladeshis Victims of Corporate Exploitation: Western companies responsible for deaths of garment workers

By Asad Ismi In April 2013, the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,129 garment workers and injuring more than 2,500. The building contained four garment factories. This was the worst industrial disaster in Bangladesh’s history, and the worst in the garment sector’s history. As of late January, workers and their families were […]