Flames of protest

With the Olympic torch attracting protests around the globe Giles Mohan asks what an Olympic boycott would achieve.

Crying all the way to the White House?

Society blogger Engin F Isin asks if Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire win was helped by showing some emotion?

Inconspicuous consumption

How can you persuade people to consume in an equitable way when they're not acting as consumers? It's politics in an ethical register.

An account in credit?

It's spent a lot of money, but has it done so wisely? Has the World Bank made a difference?

Discovering Uganda

Winston Churchill called Uganda "the Pearl of Africa". Discover more about this diverse country, its people, history, government and economy in Uganda: Biography of a nation.

Free to choose?

Do local experiments in democracy suggest a changes behind the "Bamboo curtain"? How much choice do the people of China have?

China's century?

With an expanding market at home, and a more welcoming attitude to foreign investment, is this China's century?

An unequal power?

They have the world's largest economy, and they're the only superpower left. How important is America?

Should Africa be left alone?

Aid and development money - helping beat poverty or lining pockets? Is the West helping, or meddling? Should Africa be left alone?

Why are so many Americans so patriotic?

Oaths of allegiance, flags outside suburban homes: Why are Americans so patriotic?

A perpetual spiral

The transition from dictatorship to democracy is not proving an easy journey. In Iraq, is history repeating itself?