By Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University | – (The Conversation) – The fact that Saudi Arabia entered a rapprochement deal with Iran and chose China to broker it came as a surprise to many international observers. The agreement, officially called the Joint Trilateral Statement, was signed in Beijing on March 11 and begins the process […]
Israel’s military reservists are joining protests – potentially transforming a political crisis into a security crisis
By Dan Arbell, American University | – (The Conversation) –The judicial overhaul plan of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, introduced in January, has thrown the country into its most severe domestic crisis since 1973. That crisis intensified on March 26, when Netanyahu fired the country’s defense minister, who had – less than 24 hours […]
IPCC’s Conservative Nature masks true Scale of Action needed to avert Catastrophic Climate Change
By Kevin Anderson, University of Manchester | – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) synthesis report recently landed with an authoritative thump, giving voice to hundreds of scientists endeavouring to understand the unfolding calamity of global heating. What’s changed since the last one in 2014? Well, we’ve dumped an additional third of a trillion […]
IPCC report: We’re in Deep Trouble on Climate Emergency, and Don’t Have Much Time to Act
By Frank Jotzo, Australian National University and Mark Howden, Australian National University | – The world is in deep trouble on climate change, but if we really put our shoulder to the wheel we can turn things around. Loosely, that’s the essence of today’s report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC […]
Calls for a ‘Green’ Ramadan revive Islam’s long Tradition of Sustainability and Care for the Planet
By Noorzehra Zaidi, University of Maryland, Baltimore County | – For many Muslims breaking fast in mosques around the world this Ramadan, something will be missing: plastics. The communal experience of iftars – the after-sunset meal that brings people of the faith together during the holy month starting on March 22, 2023 – often necessitates […]
“Plasticosis:” Seabirds that swallow Plastic Waste have Diseased, Scarred Stomachs
By Matthew Savoca, Stanford University | – As a conservation biologist who studies plastic ingestion by marine wildlife, I can count on the same question whenever I present research: “How does plastic affect the animals that eat it?” This is one of the biggest questions in this field, and the verdict is still out. However, […]
Still “Not Free:” Bush’s Invasion of Iraq did not result in Democracy there or in the Arab World
By Brian Urlacher, University of North Dakota | – (The Conversation) – President George W. Bush and his administration put forward a variety of reasons to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In the months before the U.S. invasion, Bush said the looming conflict was about eradicating terrorism and seizing weapons of mass destruction – […]
International Law doesn’t protect People fleeing environmental Disaster – But it Should
By Morgiane Noel, Trinity College Dublin | – Researchers have tried for decades to find a relevant legal status for people forced to flee their homes as a result of floods, droughts and storms – calamities which climate change promises to make more severe and commonplace – as well as appropriate laws which might ensure […]
Not Just Rallies: Iranian Protesters are Drafting Charters and a Bill of Rights
By Mona Tajali, Agnes Scott College; and Homa Hoodfar, Concordia University | – (The Conversation) – It’s been six months since the latest spark ignited mass protests in Iran — the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa (Jina) Amini in morality police custody after she was arrested for allegedly failing to wear her hijab properly. The […]