Self-Determination

Which Movements Get Negotiated With, and Which Become Security Threats in Pakistan?

Jan Baloch
A comparative examination of judicial records, anti-terrorism filings, court proceedings, and state responses across Pakistan reveals a striking disparity in how different forms of civil dissent are handled. Mainstream political parties, right-wing factions, and far-right religious organizations have repeatedly been brought into negotiations or permitted to return to political life after major confrontations with the state. Grassroots movements on the political periphery have faced a markedly different trajectory, including restrictions, criminal cases, and national-security prosecutions...
August 2026EnglishPoliticsSelf-DeterminationSocial Movements23 min read

“Writing is the Last Line of Defense”: An Interview with Palestinian Poet Yahya Al Hamarna

Angelina Guo
Yahya Al Hamarna is a Palestinian writer, researcher, and refugee from the Gaza Strip. He studied Political Science, International Relations, and Diplomacy at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. His writing focuses on human rights, justice, international law, and global politics, while his poetry explores memory, exile, love, and survival in times of war. His work carves deeply into the living memory of Palestine, preserving the voices, places, and everyday moments that violence seeks to erase. His poignant debut poetry collection, My Voice Cannot Be Bombed, was published by Iskra Books in 2025. Through social media, excerpts have travelled around the world, and a full French translation by Elissa Kayal and Nada Sattouf has most recently been published by Éditions de la Rue Dorion in Quebec and Burn∼Août in France....
Arts and CultureEnglishLiterature and PoetrySelf-DeterminationSocial MovementsYouth Movements17 min read

Tibetan Activist Who Self-Immolated Outside UN Headquarters Memorialized at Liberty Plaza

Brian Hioe
A mourning ceremony was held in Liberty Plaza on Wednesday night, to memorialize the self-immolation of Tibetan activist Lobga Rangzen. Rangzen self-immolated outside of the United Nations headquarters earlier this month. It is thought that Rangzen’s self-immolation was timed to take place one day before China’s new ethnic unity law went into effect, with Rangzen–a well-known Tibetan activist–calling friends by video call shortly before he set fire to himself...
EnglishFeaturedJuly 2026Self-DeterminationSocial Movements4 min read

Tricontinental Institute Letter Claims that Taiwan is Part of China…Because of a Land Bridge During the Ice Age

Brian Hioe
A recent letter published in Vijay Prashad’s Tricontinental Institute written by Chen Meei-shia, a professor of public health at National Cheng Kung University, proves a bizarre exercise in cognitive dissonance. The letter begins by claiming Taiwan to be part of China…on the basis of that the two were connected by a land bridge during the Ice Age...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalJune 2026PoliticsSelf-DeterminationSocial Movements4 min read

Thousands Demonstrate Against KMT Cuts to Defense Spending

Brian Hioe
Thousands demonstrated on Sunday against the KMT’s cuts to defense spending, which reduced spending from 1.25 trillion NT to 780 billion NT. The main organizer of the demonstration was the Economic Democracy Union, the politically progressive social movement organization that played a key role in the 2014 Sunflower Movement and 2024 Bluebird Movement...
EnglishMay 2026PoliticsSelf-DeterminationSocial MovementsYouth Movements4 min read

Millet Ark Brings Taiwan Indigenous Practice to Global Peacebuilding Summit in New York

2026 Millet Ark Delegation
The Historic Second Global Summit on Indigenous Peacebuilding convened on April 25–26 at Thomas Berry Place in Jamaica Estates, New York, bringing together Indigenous leaders, policymakers, scholars, and activists from around the world. The Summit was organized under the theme “Indigenous Leadership for Protecting People, Peace, and Planet,” highlighting the role of Indigenous leadership in responding to global crises. ...
EnglishIndigenousMay 2026RaceSelf-DeterminationSocial Movements12 min read

Grief From 1,600 Kilometers Away: Mourning the 19 Massacred in Negros Island and Its Connection To Taiwan

Girard Mariano Lopez
Nineteen people were killed in a massacre by the Philippine military after an alleged “encounter” began at four in the morning and did not end until three in the afternoon. The fighting reportedly ended at a fish pond where the bodies of RJ and a few other civilians were found—all of whom had bandoliers and guns planted on them right after (in an awkward position, by the way) to justify that they had all been combatants and therefore rightfully gunned down...
EnglishMay 2026Self-DeterminationSocial MovementsYouth Movements9 min read