To many, the Arab world is just a place of conflict and lack of democracy. But what is really at play are ever – changing, tacit alliances between three unequal forces: Islamists, secular intellectuals and the regimes themselves

Omar Khadr, 15 years old when he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 and imprisoned first in Bagram, then in Guantánamo, will at last face trial this month on charges never before brought in the history of war

Nepal is waiting for a constitution and a proper democratic election. But the country´s squabbling political parties have been blocking progress, allowing human rights abuses to continue