By Shalom Goldman, Middlebury (The Conversation) – During confirmation hearings, Mike Huckabee, President Donald Trump’s nominee as ambassador to Israel, told senators that he would “respect and represent the President,” not his own views. But the Baptist minister’s views on the Middle East – and their religious roots – came through. “The spiritual connections between […]
How Trump’s Historically High Tariffs will Hurt the US Economy
ByBedassa Tadesse, University of Minnesota Duluth (The Conversation) – President Donald Trump unveiled a sweeping new tariff plan on April 2, 2025, to reshape U.S. trade and boost domestic industry. Framing the announcement as “Liberation Day,” he proposed a 10% tariff on essentially all imports, with steeper rates for major trade partners, including 34% on […]
In Israel, calls for Genocide have migrated from the Margins to the Mainstream
By Tamir Sorek, Penn State Thirty years ago in Israel, advocating for genocide could land you in prison. In April 1994, an Israeli rabbi named Ido Alba published an article that read, in part, “In war, as long as the war has not been decided, it is a commandment to kill every non-Jew from the […]
Global Heating of more than 3°C this Century may wipe 40% off the world’s Economy
By Timothy Neal, UNSW Sydney (The Conversation) – The damage climate change will inflict on the world’s economy is likely to have been massively underestimated, according to new research by my colleagues and I which accounts for the full global reach of extreme weather and its aftermath. To date, projections of how climate change will […]
The Battle for Khartoum: Tracking Sudan’s War over two Years
By Kagure Gacheche, The Conversation (The Conversation) – Sudan has been engulfed in brutal conflict since 15 April 2023, when tensions between the country’s two most powerful military factions erupted into civil war. The conflict stems from a long-standing power struggle over military control and integration. Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary […]
Syria after Assad: Why many Syrian Refugees aren’t returning Home
By Charlotte Al-Khalili, University of Sussex and Melissa Gatter, University of Sussex (The Conversation) – When news of Bashar al-Assad’s downfall broke on December 8 2024, 13 years after the beginning of the Syrian uprising, Syrians around the world rejoiced. We rejoiced along with them, having spent the last decade in conversation with Syrians displaced […]
Trouble at Tesla and Protests against Trump’s Tariffs suggest consumer Boycotts are starting to Bite
By Erin O’Brien, Griffith University and Justine Coneybeer, Griffith University (The Conversation) – When the United States starts a trade war with your country, how do you fight back? For individuals, one option is to wage a personal trade war and boycott products from the US. President Donald Trump has said no nation will be […]
Social Movements constrained Trump in his first Term – Much more than People Realize
By Kevin A. Young, UMass Amherst (The Conversation) – Donald Trump’s first term as president saw some of the largest mass protests seen in the U.S. in over 50 years, from the 2017 Women’s March to the 2020 protests after George Floyd’s murder. Things feel different this time around. Critics seem quieter. Some point to […]
Microplastics Hinder Plants’ Photosynthesis, threatening Massive Crop and Seafood Losses
By Jack Marley, The Conversation (The Conversation) – A graph I saw in high school appeared to show the Earth breathing. It was a graph that plotted carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the course of the 20th century and into the 21st. CO₂ had risen steadily, and then more rapidly, but it hadn’t gone […]