nationalism

( Tomdispatch.com ) – They were all buddy-buddy for the cameras, going for a joy ride in a deluxe limo and toasting each other at a gala dinner. In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was determined to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin in grand style on his first visit to Pyongyang in 24 years. […]

nationalism

My Malaysia Ordeal shows how Religion can Fuse with Nationalism to Silence Dissent

The Conversation

By Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University | – (The Conversation) – I hadn’t expected my book tour in Malaysia to end with a confrontation with men who identified themselves as police in a Kuala Lumpur airport. I arrived in the Muslim-majority country in early January 2024 to promote the Malay translation of my […]

Featured

The Battle for the Soul of Judaism: Tribalism, Amalek and the Axial Age Universalism of Isaiah

Brian Victoria

Kyoto (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Viewers of Tucker Carlson’s recent interview with Vladimir Putin may have been surprised by Putin’s lengthy reference to the historical founding of Russia. What does that have to do with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine one might ask. Yet, as any student of history, let alone a diplomat, […]

European Union

The Empire of Whiteness: Race in the European Perspective

Marc Martorell Junyent

Review of Hans Kundnani, Eurowhiteness: Culture, Empire and Race in the European Project. London: Hurst & Co., 2023. Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – What does it mean to be European? This is a complex but legitimate question. Still, one is unlikely to find an answer to the conundrum in the numerous billboards paid […]

Armenia

The Death of the Armenian Dream in Nagorno-Karabakh was Predictable but not Inevitable

Ronald Suny

By Ronald Suny, University of Michigan | – (The Conversation) – Thirty-five years ago, more than 100,000 Armenian protesters took to the streets to convince Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that Nagorno-Karabakh – an ethnically Armenian enclave stuck geographically in the neighboring republic of Soviet Azerbaijan – ought to be joined to Armenia. In recent days, […]

Democracy

How did Turkish President Erdoğan Survive the Strongest Challenge Yet?

Marc Martorell Junyent

Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won the elections in Türkiye. Again. In power for two decades, first as prime minister and then as president, Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) secured a relatively comfortable victory over Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in the runoff election held on May 28. Kılıçdaroğlu, the […]

Democracy

In a post-election Turkey, the country remains divided on political lines

Arzu Geybullayeva

Written byArzu Geybullayeva ( Globalvoices.org) -Showing up at a polling station, as one of the two presidential candidates, in a country-wide election with a pocket full of cash may not occur to leaders of democratic countries, but in Turkey, that is what the newly re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan did on May 28. The incumbent […]

nationalism

Strong Showing for Erdogan sets up Turkish Run-Off Election for May 28

Arzu Geybullayeva

Written byArzu Geybullayeva ( Globalvoices.org ) – The results from the May 14 general elections in Turkey were a surprise for some, a disappointment for others, and for those who rallied behind President Erdoğan and his coalition, a victory. These elections also showed how the main opposition coalition underestimated the societal split and the priorities […]

Islam

In centennial year, Turkish Voters will choose between Erdoğan’s Conservative path and the Founder’s Modernist Vision

The Conversation

By Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University | – Turkey has two historic events on the horizon. On May 14, 2023, voters will go to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections, and in October, the country will celebrate the centennial of the Republic. In 1923, military leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk led the foundation […]