History

Mario Saraceni | (The Conversation) | – – According to a series of newspapers, immigrants will apparently change the English language in Britain beyond repair over the next 50 years. The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express have all run alarming stories on this topic. Language will change “because there are so […]

Colonialism

Colonial Slow Genocide: Palestinian Leader Abbas asks Britain for “Balfour” Apology

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Mahmoud Abbas, president of Palestine, is asking Britain for an apology for its having in 1917 issued the infamous “Balfour Declaration.” He won’t get one. The difference between the North Atlantic countries and the rest of the world is that the former are still committed to […]

Archaeology

Inside ISIL’s looted antiquities trade

contributors

By Fiona Rose-Greenland | (The Conversation) | – – For excavators – archaeologists, but also looters like the [so-called] Islamic State, or ISIL – the opportunity for discovery in modern Iraq and Syria is dazzling. The countries lie within the Fertile Crescent, a broad swath of land stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to the Zagros […]

History

Top 3 sources of Immigration to US every Decade since 1820 (Animated Map)

contributors

Metrocosm | (Animated video) | – – “From 1920 to 2013, 79 million people obtained lawful permanent resident status in the United States. This map visualizes all of them based on their prior country of residence. The brightness of a country corresponds to its total migration to the U.S. at the given time. 1 dot […]

Colonialism

Architects of Failure: 100 years of Sykes-Picot

contributors

By Akil N. Awan | ( History Today) | – – How an agreement signed in 1916 became shorthand for western treachery, greed and the impact of colonial machinations on the lives of local peoples. One of the most striking observations, when comparing a map of Europe with one of the Middle East or North […]

Colonialism

Britain should stop trying to pretend that its empire was benevolent

contributors

By Alan Lester | (The Conversation) | – – The recent debacle of David Cameron’s filmed condemnation of Nigerian and Afghan corruption and the Queen’s remark on Chinese officials’ rudeness highlights the persistence of imperial thinking in Britain. There seems to be a continuing assumption within the British establishment that it sets an example for […]

Colonialism

100th Anniversary: What did the Sykes-Picot Agreement mean for the Middle East?

contributors

By Stephen Pascoe | (The Conversation) | – – To mark the 100th anniversary of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, we’ve got a package with an explanatory article about the secret accord (below) . . . The Sykes-Picot accord was conceived at a high point in Britain and France’s imperial power. Hammered out in the midst of […]

Europe

London’s Muslim Mayor is nothing New: 1300 yrs of Muslims who Ran Major European Cities

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | The press is declaring Sadiq Khan, victor in the electoral contest for mayor of London, the “first Muslim mayor of a major European city.” They mean of course, something like ‘the first Muslim mayor of a really big Western European city in the modern period (say the past […]

African-Americans

Top 7 ways Harriet Tubman is the most Badass Spy & Warrior ever to grace US Currency

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Despite US schools’ tendency to give students several years of American history, over and over again, most of us probably have only a foggy idea who Harriet Tubman, chosen to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, was. That she was an abolitionist and helped out […]