Civil Society

The National Theatre of Albania was an essential part of the architectural landscape of Tirana. The Italian architect Giulo Berte, who had designed other prominent public buildings in Tirana, [...]

The origins of the Polish LGBT rights movement can be traced back to the 1980s, when activists met informally to produce and distribute self-published newsletters written in Polish, and to [...]

Just a week before the seriousness of the ongoing pandemic really hit, when it was still possible – though a bit complicated – to travel between countries, I found myself in a hotel [...]

Since 1990, Armenia has lost one quarter of its rural forests to deforestation and illegal logging. Today, the country of stones has less than 10% green coverage.  In Armenia and neighboring [...]

No one in Europe could have possibly missed out on the big news of the moment: the coronavirus is here. With the daily lives of 446 million EU inhabitants affected, the pandemic might constitute [...]

In 2013, Russia’s State Duma unanimously passed a bill criminalizing the  distribution of “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships.” The legislation effectively prohibited public [...]

Michael Cole on how hard-right figures have used cats to soften their image.

August 24, 2017. A friend and I arrive in Murghab, Tajikistan, after an eight hour-long drive full of tea-drinking pauses at random houses, helping broken cars on the extremely solitary Pamir [...]

November 11th marked the 101th anniversary of the restoration of Polish sovereignty from the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires. The most famous event of the day is the Independence [...]

“What is it all for?” the old lady grabs my hand and squeezes it desperately, waiting for some wise answer.  “Why?” she repeats, emphasizing her question with a gesture towards a square full of [...]