Jan Servaes

By Jan Servaes BRUSSELS | 8 July 2026 (IDN) — For the average global citizen, the level of democracy today has regressed to that of 1978. This means that all the democratic gains of the so-called ‘third wave of democratization’—which…

By Jan Servaes MIAMI | 12 June 2026 (IDN) — It is well known that American democracy is in crisis. American society is more polarised than ever before. “We are being strategically driven apart by disinformation – the deliberate spreading…

During early general elections on Sunday, February 8, 2026, Thai voters elected a new 500-seat House of Representatives and voted in a national referendum on drafting a new constitution to replace the military-backed 2017 constitution. Approximately 60 political parties participated in these elections. Four hundred of the 500 seats are allocated according to the majority...

By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS | 2 February 2026 (IDN) — President Trump’s second term in office started with a crackdown on immigration, the introduction of sweeping tariffs and efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce. Hours after taking…

By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, Belgium | 18 December 2025 (IDN) — “We Americans have never been very good at managing empire. It is not one of our skill sets. But what is coming next may be a great deal worse…

Zoals voorspeld bevestigt het Sustainable Development Report 2025 dat minder dan 20 procent van de Duurzame Ontwikkelingsdoelen i (SDG’s) van de VN op de beoogde einddatum kunnen gerealiseerd zijn.

Uitpers Bad news! Meer dan 80% van de VN-Duurzame Ontwikkelingsdoelen kunnen NIET behaald worden

As we ourselves, together with others, predicted, the recently published Sustainable Development Report 2025 confirms that less than 20% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be achieved by the intended end date. As is the custom every year, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which has been operating under the auspices of the UN...

Before, during and since the 2024 US presidential election, approximately 15 percent of the total American voting age population, -- the so-called Latinos or Hispanics --, remain in the public eye. According to some, they played an important role in the election of Trump, despite his ‘vile remarks’ about Mexicans during the 2016 campaign and...

The March 28 earthquake, measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale, has hit Myanmar hard. It was the strongest since 1912, with its epicentre in Mandalay, the country’s second-most populous city, the United States Geological Survey reported. The official death toll continues to rise. By the end of April, 3,800 people had been killed, 5,100 injured...

By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS | 28 April 2025 (IDN) — The debate on migration has calmed down a bit in the news media. However, this does not mean that the issue has been ‘solved’. Quite the opposite. In most discussions…

By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS | 24 April 2025 (IDN) — The Trump administration is rapidly destroying American democracy. In previous contributions, based on the writings of Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, we have already warned about this. Recently,…

The Trump administration is rapidly destroying American democracy. In previous contributions, based on the writings of Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, we have already warned about this. Recently, professors Jennifer McCoy (of Georgia State University),  Rachel Beatty Riedl and Kenneth Roberts (of Cornell University) and Murat Somer (of Özyeğin University in Istanbul) also...

Although the names of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel or other (South African) ‘tech billionaires’ are not mentioned anywhere in Eric Louw's "Afrikaner Identity: From Anticolonial Struggle Through Hegemonic Nationalism to Disempowered Minority", this book offers an excellent introduction to understanding the ideology and some of the policies of Trump's US government. After all, in my...

By Jan Servaes BANGKOK, Thailand | 22 March 2025 (IDN) — UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Bangladesh from March 13 to 16. His visit came at a critical time as Bangladesh grapples with both internal and external challenges aimed at…

By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, Belgium | 12 March 2025  (IDN) — The digital revolution has undeniably transformed the way we communicate and interact. In just under 50 years, we have evolved from a system of basic linear communication to one…

By Jan Servaes* BANGKOK, Thailand | 14 February 2025 (IDN) — Since the abolition of the absolute monarchy in 1932, Thailand has alternated between periods of relatively democratic rule and military coups. Officially, there have been 13 successful coups, but the attempted coups, which have been extensively gossiped about in the media, are countless. The […]

Het lijkt er steeds meer op dat Trump zijn slag zal thuishalen terwijl de zgn. Amerikaanse democratie wankelt. Dat stellen Harvard-politicologen Levitsky en Ziblatt in 'Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point'.