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The Conversation

Iraq
Iraq’s 2025 Elections reveal a Democracy without Belief

Iraq’s 2025 Elections reveal a Democracy without Belief

The Conversation

By Bamo Nouri, City St George’s, University of London The Conversation – Iraqis went to the polls on November 11 to vote in parliamentary elections. Preliminary results put the coalition of Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, in the lead. But no bloc has won anything close to a governing majority in the 329-seat parliament. […]

Climate Crisis
Iran’s Capital, Tehran, Faces Zero Day without Water: Climate Change and Bad Policy

Iran’s Capital, Tehran, Faces Zero Day without Water: Climate Change and Bad Policy

The Conversation

By Ali Mirchi, Oklahoma State University; Amir AghaKouchak, University of California, Irvine; Kaveh Madani, United Nations University, and Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; United Nations University (The Conversation) – Fall marks the start of Iran’s rainy season, but large parts of the country have barely seen a drop as the nation faces one of its […]

Turkey
How Turkiye Plans to use the Spotlight of hosting the next UN Climate Summit

How Turkiye Plans to use the Spotlight of hosting the next UN Climate Summit

The Conversation

By Ezgi Unsal, SOAS, University of London (The Conversation) – In a break from tradition, the next major UN climate summit will be hosted by Turkey but chaired by a different country, Australia. This is the first split arrangement in three decades of these summits, known as “Cops”. The unusual deal, devised to avoid diplomatic […]

Egypt
How Global Power Shifts are Playing out in the Red Sea Region of the Mideast

How Global Power Shifts are Playing out in the Red Sea Region of the Mideast

The Conversation

By Federico Donelli, University of Trieste (The Conversation) – The competition for global influence and control is shifting. One of the places where this dynamic is playing out is the Red Sea region, which encompasses Egypt, Eritrea, Djibouti, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Here, international rivalries, regional ambitions and local politics collide. Federico Donelli, who […]

Arab World
Why Palestinian Statehood is a Prerequisite for Arab-Israeli Peace and Expansion of Abraham Accords

Why Palestinian Statehood is a Prerequisite for Arab-Israeli Peace and Expansion of Abraham Accords

The Conversation

By Simon Mabon, Lancaster University (The Conversation) – Mohammed bin Salman wants to bring Saudi Arabia into the Abraham accords, the network of agreements to normalise relations between Israel with other countries in the Middle East and, increasingly, beyond. Donald Trump would have enjoyed hearing this when the Saudi crown prince visited the White House […]

Brazil
COP30: 5 Reasons the UN Climate Conference wasn’t the Promised “People’s Summit”

COP30: 5 Reasons the UN Climate Conference wasn’t the Promised “People’s Summit”

The Conversation

By Simon Chin-Yee, UCL; Mark Maslin, UCL, and Priti Parikh, UCL (The Conversation) – As the sun set on the Amazon, the promise of a “people’s Cop” faded with it. The latest UN climate summit – known as Cop30, hosted in the Brazilian city of Belém – came with the usual geopolitics and the added […]

Genocide
Why Israeli Soldiers and their Leaders are increasingly at Risk of Arrest Overseas

Why Israeli Soldiers and their Leaders are increasingly at Risk of Arrest Overseas

The Conversation

By Shannon Bosch, Edith Cowan University (The Conversation) – In late December 2008, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert authorised Operation Cast Lead in response to rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled territory in Gaza. The three-week military assault killed around 1,400 Palestinians, including more than 300 children. Thousands of homes were destroyed, and hospitals, UN shelters, power […]

Climate Crisis
Environment and health: a connection that remains unseen in the Climate Change Conferences

Environment and health: a connection that remains unseen in the Climate Change Conferences

The Conversation

By Sandra de Souza Hacon, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) (The Conversation) – In a conversation with Luciana Julião, environment editor at The Conversation Brasil, during COP30 in Belém, Fiocruz researcher and environmental health specialist Sandra Hacon explained why the integration of climate, environment and health has guided her research for two decades. Hacon has a […]

Climate Crisis
What Policies Can Help Solve Iran’s Climate-Driven Water Shortage?

What Policies Can Help Solve Iran’s Climate-Driven Water Shortage?

The Conversation

By Sanam Mahoozi, City St George’s, University of London and Nima Shokri, United Nations University (The Conversation) – Iran is facing its most severe water crisis in more than six decades. Major dams supplying drinking water to provinces with millions of residents are nearly empty, and groundwater reserves have been depleted. Many cities have endured […]

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