by Helen Womack | 11 Nov 2021 | Europe, Human Rights, Politics
Thousands of refugees are in limbo in a forest straddling Poland and Belarus, caught in a humanitarian vice that is raising tensions in Europe. A wooden cross in Białowieża forest in eastern Poland in 2016 (Photo by Helen Womack) In the ancient Białowieża forest in...
by Helen Womack | 12 Oct 2021 | Europe, Government, Human Rights, Nationalism, Politics
Hungary opened the first cracks in Soviet Communism. Now, the world awaits its elections pitting a right-wing populist leader against a liberal opposition. A street performer in front of a statue commemorating the “Lads of Pest” — youngsters who took up...
by Helen Womack | 25 Jan 2021 | Europe, Human Rights, Politics
Vladimir Putin has ruled Russia with an iron fist for two decades. Now, dissident Alexei Navalny is testing the Kremlin leader’s enduring grip on power. Demonstrators clash with police during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in...
by Helen Womack | 29 Dec 2020 | Health and Wellness, Personal Reflections
For some, COVID-19 has meant grief, for others inconvenience. But the year has made us ask: Should we go back to “normal” when the future arrives? Protesters demanding more resources for public health and against social inequality, Madrid, Spain, 27 Septmber 2020 (AP...
by Helen Womack | 20 Oct 2020 | Nationalism, Politics
There were huge hopes for democracy at the end of the Cold War. But the West has squandered its leadership, leaving the world rudderless. A Muscovite woman leaves a food store with empty shelves in downtown Moscow, 28 October 1991. (AP Photo/Yuri Romanov) Below are...