By Julia Taylor, University of the Witwatersrand and Imraan Valodia, University of the Witwatersrand | – (The Conversation) – Amitav Ghosh is an internationally celebrated author of 20 historical fiction and non-fiction books. The Indian thinker and writer has written extensively on the legacies of colonialism, violence and extractivism. His most famous works explore migration, […]
Lebanon has made Survival an Art Form, after decades of War and Unrest
By Ian Parmeter, Australian National University | – (The Conversation) – I first visited Lebanon in 1978, three years into the civil war and six years before Theodore Ell was born. I mention this because, despite the fact our experiences of this fascinating country were at different times, his impressions and judgements in his excellent […]
Afghanistan: The Taliban’s ‘Vice and Virtue’ Laws Reimpose the Harsh Repression of Women
By Kambaiz Rafi, Durham University | – (The Conversation) – Until the collapse of Afghanistan’s US-backed government in August 2021, few knew clearly what the Taliban wanted once they had returned to power. Some western officials and observers hoped for a big change from the regime, which had governed the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate in the […]
In a new era of Campus Upheaval, the 1970 Kent State Shootings show the Danger of deploying Troops to crush legal Protests
By Brian VanDeMark, United States Naval Academy | – (The Conversation) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has expressed his intention, if elected to a second term, to use the U.S. armed forces to suppress domestic protests. The New York Times reports that Trump’s allies are marshaling legal arguments to justify using National Guard or […]
Israel and Hezbollah step Back from War, but for how Long? All eyes are now on Iran’s next Move
By Ian Parmeter, Australian National University | – (The Conversation) – For weeks, Israel had been anticipating a major attack from Hezbollah in retaliation for its killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon at the end of July. In the early hours of Sunday, that attack finally came – and Israel was apparently ready. […]
Hope on the Horizon? What Bangladesh’s Regime Change could mean for Rohingya Refugees
By Sarah Nandi, McGill University | – Bangladesh is experiencing a seismic shift after 18 years of Awami League rule ended abruptly due to intensive student protests. This upheaval, and the crackdowns that resulted in the deaths of more than 300 protesters, forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country and ushered in an […]
US Politics and the Fate of Palestinians increasingly Bound up Together
By Jonathan Este, The Conversation | – It would be a brave – or foolhardy – analyst who presumes to predict the outcomes of the talks which continue in Doha. But the fate of Gaza and its 2 million inhabitants as well as the 109 remaining Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, will depend on […]
The overshoot Myth: you can’t keep burning Fossil Fuels and expect Scientists of the Future to get us back to 1.5°C
By James Dyke, University of Exeter; Robert Watson, University of East Anglia and Wolfgang Knorr, Lund University | – The Conversation – Record breaking fossil fuel production, all time high greenhouse gas emissions and extreme temperatures. Like the proverbial frog in the heating pan of water, we refuse to respond to the climate and ecological […]
Gaza is in Rubble now; But it was a great Intellectual Hub of the Roman Empire
By Christopher Mallan, The University of Western Australia | – (The Conversation) – The years 2023 and 2024 will certainly be remembered as some of the darkest in the long and often violent history of Gaza. The recent destruction of schools and universities in the Gaza strip has attracted the attention of the media and […]