Haaretz: The Dangerous Game of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince

Mohammed bin Salman won praise worldwide when he declared that he intended to allow women to drive, and at the same time reduced the powers of the Saudi religious police, one of whose jobs was to enforce the dress code in the public space, especially for women. These were unquestionably positive steps, as were his declarations that he intended to lead Saudi Arabia to practice a less fanatic and more tolerant interpretation of Islam, in terms of its attitude towards Christians and Jews, among other things. [...]

But this is a campaign that is being waged without any relation to the law or to civil rights – for one because Saudi Arabia lacks any orderly system of laws, and the arrests are not subject to any organized judicial system. The claim that this is the way to restore to the state treasury billions of dollars that were illegally looted is of course popular, but the practical meaning of these steps is the concentration of tremendous economic power in the hands of the crown prince himself, effectively turning him into a sole and autocratic ruler, which was never the case in the kingdom. [...]

Saudi Arabia’s massive intervention in the complex civil war in Yemen has proven to be a dismal failure, causing the death of thousands and triggering a humanitarian disaster, which has exposed millions of Yemenites to the danger of starvation. The Saudi boycott and the siege imposed on Qatar – a small but wealthy emirate that is unwilling to accept Saudi dictates – were unsuccessful, and even boomeranged. Meanwhile, the brutal attempt to oust Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri, with methods that are reminiscent of Cesare Borgia, ended with a resounding farce.

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openDemocracy: Vladimir Putin and the rural roots of authoritarian populism in Russia

The Russian regime, however, is somewhat different to what we commonly understand as authoritarian populism. Putin’s governance is not characterised by a genuine anti-establishment and anti-corruption agenda. Moreover, while populist leaders in other countries aim to mobilise and politicise their supporters, Putin’s regime is based on the demobilisation and depoliticisation of the Russian population. [...]

Putin’s authoritarian populism has a strong rural basis in Russia. According to a recent public opinion poll by the Levada-Centre, 70% of Russian villagers express an outright positive attitude towards  Putin (62.5% of urban dwellers are of the same opinion). Rural Russians are the major supporters of key features of authoritarian populism: strongman leadership, authoritarian governance, populist unity between the leader and the ordinary people, nostalgia for past glories and confrontation with the ‘Others’ (in the Russian case – the ‘Others’ abroad). For example, 45% of villagers believe that Russia needs strongman leadership, and 61% regret the collapse of the Soviet Union (in urban areas, these figures are 35% and 56%, respectively). [...]

Rural Russians are, certainly, more traditional and less exposed to alternative political ideas, but it would be wrong to link their support for Putin with propaganda only. Propaganda does play an important role, but if propaganda messages do not fit national archetypes, they become rather inefficient and are most likely rejected. [...]

Certainly, contemporary rural Russians are not traditional peasants; however, they share some common features with peasant society – namely, conservatism, traditionalism, a subordinate position, and anti-elite and anti-capitalist sentiments. This may explain why authoritarian populism finds strong support among villagers, who are more conservative and traditional than urban dwellers.

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Jakub Marian: Most studied foreign languages in lower secondary education in Europe

The map shows a few surprising facts. Spanish is more popular among pupils in Sweden and Norway than German (which is the third most commonly studied language there). Studying Danish (or, rarely, another Scandinavian language) is mandatory for Icelandic pupils. In Finland, both Finnish and Swedish are compulsory subjects in school, with the exception of children who speak neither of the two languages as their mother tongue. Learning a second foreign language seems to be rare in Austria, where less than 9% of pupils in lower secondary education study any language other than English.

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Bloomberg: World War Still Haunts Putin as Population Decline Taxes Economy

The Soviet death toll was so devastating—almost 27 million by official count, 60 times more than America or Britain—it triggered what demographers call a “wave” of population troughs and crests that will continue to undulate for generations, amplified by the upheavals that followed the collapse of communism in 1991. [...]

After hovering near 144 million for a decade, Russia’s population is once again shrinking, threatening Putin’s economic goals for the next six years. Even the recent addition of 2.3 million Crimeans won’t be enough to offset an expected 28 percent plunge in the number of women of prime childbearing age by 2032.  [...]

While fertility rates are falling worldwide and several former communist states in Europe are facing larger population declines, no major country shares Russia’s vast discrepancy in the size of its age groups. Census data show there are about 70 percent more Russians in the oldest bracket of workers, 55 to 59, for example, than in the youngest, 15 to 19. By comparison, the gap is about 30 percent in Japan and less than 10 percent in both the U.S and the U.K. [...]

Without bold initiatives, the country may go from being one of the least indebted major economies to one of just six where age-related expenses push net debt past 250 percent of gross domestic product over the next three decades, according to S&P Global Ratings. The new monthly stipend for first-time parents may encourage procreation, but little can alter the current contraction in the workforce.

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Deutsche Welle: Going naked against homophobia

Holding hands with your partner as gay men in the streets of Warsaw, Budapest or Bucharest is likely to attract at least a few disapproving looks. In some European countries, living openly as a homosexual requires a lot of courage. About half of the population of Poland (52 percent), Romania (54 percent), Hungary (44 percent) and more than one-third of Bulgaria (36 percent) would not grant equal rights to LGBT people, according to a 2015 Eurobarometer survey on discrimination in Europe.

The Romanian photographer and LGBT activist Tiberiu Capudean believes that hatred and fear are fueled by ignorance. His new project "Naked" is meant to give more visibility to the LGBT community. The artist has taken black and white pictures of more than 200 nude gay and bisexual men from different countries around the world and from a wide range of professions: medical doctors, biochemists, shop attendants, lawyers, tailors, students and engineers. "I want to help those who are not part of the LGBT community understand us, I want to give a face to those whom the homophobes hate without even knowing them", Capudean tells DW. [...]

There is also a connection between religion and homophobia in central and southeastern Europe. In Romania, the "Coalition for the Family," a group strongly backed by the Orthodox Church, has gathered 3 million signatures seeking to change the definition of family in the country's constitution through a referendum. Romania's Civil Code bans same-sex marriages and civil partnerships, but currently the constitution defines marriage as "the union between spouses," which leaves room for interpretation. The goal of this initiative is that the constitution should define family as "the union between a man and a woman."

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