Fair Observer

Pakistan on the Brink as Protestors Descend on Islamabad

In the corridors of power in Islamabad, a storm is brewing that threatens to upend the Pakistani state. This nuclear-armed nation of 250 million people is caught in a perilous struggle for supremacy ...
Fair Observer

How Do You Tell an Authoritarian From a Fascist These Days?

Recent developments in global politics, such as Donald Trump’s reelection campaign or the rise of illiberal democracies across Central and Eastern Europe, have arguably led to a misinterpretation of ...
Fair Observer

In an Electric Vehicle Shakeout, Who Will Actually Stay Profitable?

Wharton’s John Paul MacDuffie warns of an upcoming shakeout in the electric vehicle market. He says vertically integrated EV makers like Tesla and China’s BYD, as well as legacy automakers and ...
Fair Observer

Where Are the Female Assassins?

History offers very few examples of women attempting to assassinate political leaders, particularly presidents of the United States. In 1975, within the space of just 17 days, two women separately ...
Fair Observer

100 Years On: Can Hindutva’s Assertiveness Replace Hinduism’s Ahimsa?

100 years ago, Hindutva was coined as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In 2018, the RSS chief said that unity in diversity, sacrifice, ...
Fair Observer

FO Podcasts: Cockroach Chronicles — Making Sense of the CJP

The CJP emerged after remarks by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant appeared to compare unemployed young people with cockroaches. Kant later said his words had been misconstrued and were directed at ...
Fair Observer

Is the US Heading Toward a Hard Landing?

America is a plane, and it’s rapidly losing altitude. The pilot, US President Donald Trump, thinks gutting its democratic institutions and building its military, economic nationalism and MAGA ...
Fair Observer

How Iran Became a Great Power and Why It Hates America and Israel

Atul opens by confronting reductive Western stereotypes of Iran as a land of “bearded mullahs.” He insists that Iran stands among the world’s great civilizations, rooted in the legendary Persian ...
Fair Observer

The Missing Backbone: How Young Women Sustain Indonesia’s Agri-Food System

The Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) program in Indonesia faces criticism for poor quality, mismanagement, and possible fraud, with delayed regulation and harmful messaging worsening public backlash.
Fair Observer

My Memories of the Emergency: The Darkest Period in Independent India’s History

India’s 1975–1977 Emergency saw Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s government suppressing free speech and arresting dissenters. My father was one victim, taken from my family for writing against the ...
Fair Observer

Iran’s Fear of Kurdish Opposition and the Potential of an Internal Uprising

Iran’s intensified repression of Kurdish opposition groups reflects deep fears of a coordinated internal uprising that could unite marginalized ethnic communities and opposition forces. Tehran’s ...
Fair Observer

It’s Simplistic to Assume Trump’s Devoted Voters Are Irrational

The mainstream narrative about Donald Trump’s supporters, otherwise known as the MAGA nation, is that they are generally ignorant, racist, reactionary, utterly blind to Donald Trump’s faults and ...