By Adham Saouli | – The national uprising that has engulfed Lebanon since mid-October is historic and revolutionary. Protests have continued across Lebanon, even after Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned on October 29 saying he wanted to give the country a “positive shock”. The response of Hezobllah, the armed political movement that has been part […]
Why the California wildfires signal the arrival of a planetary fire age
By Stephen Pyne | – Another autumn, more fires, more refugees and incinerated homes. For California, flames have become the colors of fall. Free-burning fire is the proximate provocation for the havoc, since its ember storms are engulfing landscapes. But in the hands of humans, combustion is also the deeper cause. Modern societies are burning […]
How Lebanon’s Uprising Defies the Sectarian Narrative: Not Sunni, Shiite, Christian
By Mira Assaf Kafantaris | – Religion has shaped Lebanon since it gained independence from France in 1943. In this multicultural country of Muslims, Christians and Druze – a medieval faith derived from Islam – religion defines membership and belonging. It is woven into Lebanon’s economic, political and social fabric. The mass protests that began […]
After al-Baghdadi, What Future for far-right Mideast Radicalism?
By Natasha Lindstaedt | – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State (IS), is dead. After US special forces raided his safe house in Idlib province in north-west Syria, Baghdadi reportedly fled and detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and three of his children. Over the past several years, there have been constant reports […]
Is Trump’s Visa Policy a Muslim Ban? The Numbers tell the Story
By Vahid Niayesh | – Did President Donald Trump’s travel ban – in place now for more than 22 months – become, in practice, a Muslim ban? The third version of President Donald Trump’s travel ban went into full effect on Dec. 8, 2017. The list of countries whose citizens are banned from entering the […]
Volcanoes and Climate History: What they Explain & What they Don’t
By Michael Petterson | – Everyone is going on about reducing our carbon footprint, zero emissions, planting sustainable crops for biodiesel etc. Is it true what the internet posts say that a volcano eruption for a few weeks will make all our efforts null and void? The pretext to this question is understandable. The forces […]
Climate Crisis Stress is already Killing Us: this Chaos Map shows Where
By Aled Jones, Davide Natalini,Anglia Ruskin, and Imelda Phadtare | – Over 12 days at the start of October 2019 eight people were killed, more than 1,300 injured and nearly 1,200 arrested after demonstrations became violent in Ecuador. The demonstrations focused on reversing the ending of fuel subsidies, which had been brought in as part […]
No, Erdogan can’t send most of Turkey’s 3.7 mn Syrian Refugees into Kurdish Regions
By Shelley Inglis | – Turkey’s recent military incursion into northern Syria is aimed at weakening Syrian Kurdish forces along its border. Turkey believes those forces are linked to the insurgent Kurdish militia inside Turkey, whom Turkey and the U.S. have labeled terrorists. But that’s not the only goal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s long-term […]
Given tensions with Erdogan, is it really Wise for the U.S. to Keep 50 Nuclear Bombs in Turkey?
By Miles A. Pomper | – As the Syrian crisis pits Turkish troops against former U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, Pentagon officials have been reviewing plans to remove 50 nuclear bombs stored at a U.S air base in Turkey. A congressional directive to the Pentagon to quickly assess alternative homes for U.S. “personnel and assets” currently stationed […]