By Clemens Hoffmann and Can Cemgil | – Stirling (The Conversation) – Turkey’s recently reelected president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is blaming the sudden and dramatic decline of the Turkish lira on an international conspiracy, variously railing against an “economic war” and a “currency plot”. On the surface, this looks like a reaction to US president […]
Saudi Women can Finally Drive, But are their Voices Being Heard?
By Nermin Allam | – Earlier this summer, Saudi Arabia lifted the decades-long ban on women’s driving. The move is part of a series of reforms that the country has been implementing. In April the kingdom loosened male guardianship laws – under which women need the permission of a male guardian to work, travel or […]
What Jared Kushner’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Would Mean for Palestinian Refugees
By Anne Irfan | – – Leaked emails from Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and appointed steward of the Israel-Palestine conflict, are shedding light on his planned “deal of the century” for peace in the Middle East. In extracts published by Foreign Policy magazine, Kushner proposes “disrupting” the work of the UN Relief and Works […]
How Trump’s Trade War Hurts Working-Class Americans
By Jeffrey Kucik | – President Donald Trump justifies tariffs on imports by arguing that “unfair trade policies” have harmed American workers. This has led to a trade war in which the U.S. and China have placed tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s products. Most recently, China said it’s ready to slap tariffs on US$60 billion […]
Why New US Sanctions on Iran, Russia, will Fail
By David Cortright | – Sanctions are much in demand these days as a tool of American foreign policy. Members of Congress want tough new sanctions against Russia for its interference in American elections. Sanctions will remain in place against North Korea, the White House says, until Pyongyang shows progress toward denuclearization. After tearing up […]
Trump and the Collapse of American Soft Power in the World
By Sara Greco | – Ottawa (The Conversation) – At the recent Helsinki summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the U.S. president used the threat of nuclear war to justify good relations with a bad regime, just as he did in Singapore. His rhetoric included overzealous articulations about how the United States and Russia […]
How Exactly the Russian GRU and Troll Disinformation Campaign Worked: By an Ethical Hacker
By Timothy Summers | – College Park, Md (The Conversation) – The Soviet Union and now Russia under Vladimir Putin have waged a political power struggle against the West for nearly a century. Spreading false and distorted information – called “dezinformatsiya” after the Russian word for “disinformation” – is an age-old strategy for coordinated and […]
As UK hits 50% Renewables some Days, will a Huge new Solar Farm Change Everything?
By Alastair Buckley | – Sheffield (The Conversation) – The largest solar power plant ever proposed in the UK will be reviewed by the secretary of state within the next six months. Cleve Hill solar farm will occupy the north coast of Kent and, if built, provide up to 350MW (megawatts) of generating capacity. The […]
Is NRA in Peril from Russian Criminal Conspiracy Charges?
The Justice Department accused a Russian advocate for firearms ownership of secretly infiltrating American electoral politics as a foreign agent