By Katherine Kinzler, University of Chicago (The Conversation) – In the U.S. and elsewhere, nationality tends to be defined by a set of legal parameters. This may involve birthplace, parental citizenship or procedures for naturalization. Yet in many Americans’ minds these objective notions of citizenship are a little fuzzy, as social and developmental psychologists like […]
Ibn Battuta, a 14th-century Judge and Ambassador, travelled further than Marco Polo. The Rihla records his Adventures
By Ismail Albayrak, Australian Catholic University In our guides to the classics, experts explain key literary works. (The Conversation) – Ibn Battuta, was born in Tangier, Morocco, on February 24, 1304. From a statement in his celebrated travel book the Rihla (“legal affairs are my ancestral profession,”) he evidently came from an intellectually distinguished family. […]
Chaotic new Aid System means getting Food in Gaza has become a Matter of Life – and often Death
By Leonie Fleischmann, City St George’s, University of London (The Conversation) – With all eyes on the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, which came into effect 12 days after Israel launched a major attack on Iran’s nuclear and military structure, attention towards Gaza has waned. This is at a time when attempting to gain access […]
Earth is Trapping much more Heat than Climate Models Forecast – and the Rate has Doubled in 20 Years
By Steven Sherwood, UNSW Sydney; Benoit Meyssignac, Université de Toulouse, and Thorsten Mauritsen, Stockholm University (The Conversation) – How do you measure climate change? One way is by recording temperatures in different places over a long period of time. While this works well, natural variation can make it harder to see longer-term trends. But another […]
How Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City mayoral Primary could Ripple across the Country
By Lincoln Mitchell, Columbia University (The Conversation) – Top Republicans and Democrats alike are talking about the sudden rise of 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani, a state representative who won the Democratic mayoral primary in New York on June 24, 2025, in a surprising victory over more established politicians. While President Donald Trump quickly came out swinging […]
How Israel’s Domestic Crises and Netanyahu’s Power Projection are Reshaping the Middle East
By Spyros A. Sofos, Simon Fraser University (The Conversation) – Israel’s recent strikes on Iranian territory have been widely framed as an act of deterrence or yet another episode in a protracted regional rivalry. Such interpretations overlook the deeper motivations behind Israel’s actions. As a global humanities scholar who specializes in Middle Eastern politics, I […]
Who is Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?
By Sahar Maranlou, Royal Holloway University of London (The Conversation) – Ali Khamenei was born in Mashhad, Iran, in 1939, as the second son of a local religious leader, Javad Khamenei, and he grew up in relative poverty. He learned to read the Qur’an in early childhood before attending a theological seminary school in Mashhad. […]
US joins Israel in Attack on Iran, ushering in a New Era of Impunity
By Simon Mabon, Lancaster University (The Conversation) – When US B-2 bombers hit Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, Donald Trump declared the strikes a success and urged the Islamic Republic to make peace or face even more devastating strikes. The US president proclaimed the might of the US military, operating in full […]
Trump’s contravention of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal Led to Israel-Iran Escalation
By Christian Emery, UCL (The Conversation) – The US president, Donald Trump, is weighing up whether to join Israel in attacking Iran. The fact he is even contemplating such a move is, in my opinion, a direct consequence of his 2018 decision to tear up the agreement negotiated during Barack Obama’s presidency that limited Iran’s […]
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