If the Health and Social Care Bill is passed without major amendments it will forever be known as the “abolishing the NHS” Bill. Make no mistake, the NHS will be there but in name only: health services will be run on US lines by, and largely for, shareholders and profit, while denial of care will escalate.

We lead this week with news of the impending meeting between UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, and Russian President Medvedev. We hope that recent positive emphasis at the UNODC on harm reduction, substitution therapy and human rights translates here into meaningful dialogue based on an evidence led public health perspective; particularly pressing in view of Russia's dramatically unfolding intravenous drug user led HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Western countries should revise their model of citizenship by rendering it into an active model, allowing the impetus for integration to come from demonstrating the tremendous soft power of liberal societies.

The second wave of anti-WikiLeaks measures has recruited the private sector in a manner that calls for an urgent re-think of constitutional safeguards for civil liberties

Boris Yeltsin inherited many problems which he had to try and address while at the same time establishing the new Russian state. Many of these problems were, and continue to be, in the North Caucasus. Yeltsin’s presidency should be judged in the round, asserts Sergei Markedonov, rather than from the vantage point of Putin’s ‘vertical’ Russia.

Yale University Press have issued this sampler from recent books on the Egypt, Yemen and Algeria. All provide important background information on the histories, societies, politics and economies of nations now thrust into the media spotlight.

Sufism is under attack across the Muslim world. Ehsan Azari Stanizai traces the troubled but inspiring history of Islamic mysticism.

As the date of the AV referendum is confirmed, Anthony Barnett looks back to a speech he made, urging the Durham Union to vote for change.

Tehran’s ruling elite proclaims Iran’s revolutionary experience as the inspiration for the Arab insurrections, yet seeks to crush demonstrators at home. Iran’s citizens can see through the lies, says Nasrin Alavi.

If the Big Society is in the middle of everything, where are state, the people and England? David Martin asks in this Friday Essay whether Britain can claim to have a centre any longer.

The Commons vote to keep the ban on prisoners voting exposes an arrogant faith in the superiority of the "British way of doing things" and an ignorance of the principles of democracy and the rule of law.

An audio interview in which Nabila Ramdani describes the role of the social networks in the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions – to what extent are Morozov's and Gladwell's arguments proved wrong by events?

A filmed interview of Professor Eugene Rogan; the conversation ranges from the echoes of nineteenth century constitutionalism in the Tunisian and Egyptian movements today, to other moments of Egyptian empowerment – 1919, the years after 1952 – through the challenges ahead for Egypt and the credibility challenges that the West faces given a history of false promises in the region

Edward Said should have been alive on February 12, 2011

In October, two members of the Voina art collective were imprisoned for overturning police cars in provocative protest against corruption. As their criminal case continues, Danila Rozanov explains how their controversial methods have made it difficult to mobilise support.

Since the new year, almost every eight hours someone has been executed in Iran. The authoritarian backlash against the major uprising of 2009 has held Iranians in a climate of fear, but the protests this week mark a new chapter for the Green Movement.

How often have we been told in world-weary tones that Wikileaks has revealed nothing new - especially by those who want to appear to be in the know? Here is an aide-mémoire of a few of the highest profile revelations.

With their admirable courage and perseverance the Egyptian people have achieved a great success in toppling a corrupt dictator. But have they pushed their revolution far enough forward to prevent the US-backed army and dominant classes aborting the whole process?

How should the ferment in Tunisia, Egypt and across the Arab world affect al-Qaida's thinking? The movement requested advice from the reliable SWISH consultancy, whose report is here exclusively published.