The FCRA, or the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, is being widely discussed because, on the surface, it discusses regulation of foreign funding, but when examined in depth, it reveals the modern state’s relationship with organised civil society. It questions two ideas: one is stricter foreign funding controls as an essential tool for protecting national defence and increasing accountability, and the other is a strategy to silence and restrict civil society freedom. Ill

In World War II, the cracking of the Enigma code helped defeat divisions of the Nazis without firing a bullet, and reconnaissance intelligence helped prevent a nuclear catastrophe during the Cuban Missile Crisis. History has taught us one important lesson: the strongest in a nation’s arsenal isn’t a missile or a jet; it’s the intelligence that prevents them from ever being used. Illustration by The Geostrata Intelligence is such a tool that shapes the options on the table, fa