By Mieczysław P. Boduszyński | – In all the hand-wringing that critics and commentators have done since President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria, one of the common refrains emphasizes the breach of trust between Washington and its Kurdish militia partners. Some scholars of international relations put little stock in […]
Why are there so many Mass Protests in Today’s World but so Few real Revolutions?
By Peter McPhee | – We live in a world of violent challenges to the status quo, from Chile and Iraq to Hong Kong, Catalonia and the Extinction Rebellion. These protests are usually presented in the media simply as expressions of rage at “the system” and are eminently suitable for TV news coverage, where they […]
Danger of Climate Feedback Loops: Lakes now Emit 1/4 of Global Carbon, but heating Could Double It
Andrew J Tanentzap | – Lakes and ponds are the final resting place for many of the Earth’s plants. Rivers collect much of the planet’s dead organic matter, transporting it to rest in calmer waters. But on a microscopic scale, lakes are anything but calm. An invisible metropolis of microbes feeds on these logs and […]
Is our Civilization Causing the Sixth Great Mass Extinction in Earth’s History?
By Frédérik Saltré and Corey J. A. Bradshaw | – For more than 3.5 billion years, living organisms have thrived, multiplied and diversified to occupy every ecosystem on Earth. The flip side to this explosion of new species is that species extinctions have also always been part of the evolutionary life cycle. Humans are probably […]
How Saudi-Iranian oil rivalry has been shaped by American power
By Sukru Cildir | – The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran, both oil-rich states in the Middle East, has oscillated from co-operation to conflict throughout history. Alongside a range of factors that shape their rivalry including sectarianism and nationalism has been the politics of oil. Oil is a strategic international commodity, and its use […]
Did Ancient Iraq’s Huge Assyrian Empire Rise and Fall on Climate Change?
By Ashish Sinha and Gayatri Kathayat | – Ancient Mesopotamia, the fabled land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, was the command and control center of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. This ancient superpower was the largest empire of its time, lasting from 912 BC to 609 BC in what is now modern Iraq and Syria. […]
Since Trump Dumped the Paris Climate Agreement, is it Game Over?
By Henrik Selin | – Editor’s note: On Nov. 4, the Trump administration formally notified the United Nations that it planned to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change, which 196 countries adopted in 2015. The pact is designed to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial […]
Saudi Oil Giant Aramco’s $1.5 trillion IPO flies in the face of our Climate Crisis Reality
By Mark Shackleton | – The largest oil and gas producer, Saudi Aramco, is due to become the world’s most valuable publicly listed company. The Saudi government is planning to sell a small fraction of the firm’s shares on the Riyadh stock exchange before seeking a listing for 5% of the firm on an international […]
At a Time of Rising US Anti-Semitism, Remembering the Nazis’ Night of Broken Glass is More Important than Ever
By Wolf Gruner | – Every November, communities around the world hold remembrances on the anniversary of the Nazis’ brutal assault on the Jews during “Kristallnacht.” Also known as “the Night of Broken Glass,” it’s one of the most closely scrutinized events in the history of Nazi Germany. Dozens of books have been published about […]
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