It's hard to credit that Saudi Arabia has proportionately as many atheists as the United States, but it's a question that quickly runs into terminological problems.
Category: Ideas
Who counts as a fascist?
Hungary's neo-fascist party wins a seat from the government at a by-election, once more posing questions about how to deal with (or even describe) the far right.
Discrimination, yet again
The controversy over religious freedom in Indiana shows the ground shifting under the cultural warriors with remarkable speed.
Why not the Greens?
Malcolm Fraser's plan for a new political party runs into a fairly obvious objection: don't we already have a party representing the same positions?
Culture, capitalism and destruction
Is it reasonable to compare the destruction wrought by Islamic State with some of the faults of modern capitalism?
OK, let’s talk about free speech
It's human rights commissioners at twenty paces, as Australia argues about the meaning of free speech and the local implications of the massacre in Paris.
Some thoughts about “terrorism”
Terrorism everywhere, it seems: Ukraine, Iraq, Gaza. Or are we using the label as a substitute for serious thought?
Indexing democracy
The Economist publishes its latest Democracy Index, raising some interesting questions about just what it's trying to measure.
Update on religion and discrimination
Religious fundamentalists don't like being caught by anti-discrimination laws, but they're happy to use the same laws for their own benefit.
Liberalism, Thatcherism and coalition
Britain's history of coalition politics is a fascinating one. It also helps to understand where the Liberal Democrats are coming from.
The World is Not Enough 