By Colin Davis, University of Bristol | – Members of the protest group Just Stop Oil recently threw soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in the National Gallery in London. The action once again triggered debate about what kinds of protest are most effective. After a quick clean of the glass, the painting was back on […]
Ukraine war: Iranian ‘kamikaze’ drones can inflict serious damage but will not be a gamechanger
By Dominika Kunertova, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich | – Many Ukrainians are facing the prospect of a winter of power outages after about 30% of the country’s power stations were knocked out in just over a week. The deputy head of the president’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, has warned that the country needs to […]
Could Tensions between Greece and Turkey spiral into yet another European war?
By Yasar Bukan, Toronto Metropolitan University | – Tensions are flaring between Turkey and Greece over the militarization of the eastern Aegean islands and a host of other issues. Considering Russia’s military expansion across the region, it would be strategically wise for the two NATO members to de-escalate and improve relations based on mutual trust […]
Iranian drones used by Russia in Ukraine show that there’s already one Victor in that War: Iran
By Aaron Pilkington, University of Denver | – The war in Ukraine is helping one country achieve its foreign policy and national security objectives, but it’s neither Russia nor Ukraine. It’s Iran. That was starkly clear on the morning of Oct. 17, 2022, as Iranian-made drones attacked civilian targets in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Russia used […]
Solar Farms foster Wildlife and Biodiversity. *Not* a Blight on the Landscape
By Angie Turner, Keele University; Eleanor Harrison, Staffordshire University; and Zoe Robinson, Keele University | – Liz Truss, the new UK prime minister, isn’t a fan of solar farms. In 2014, when she was environment secretary, she described rows of panels arranged in a field to capture energy from the sun as a “blight on […]
Lonely MAGA Bros: Peter Thiel’s New Conservative Dating App Ghosted by, like, Women
By Lisa Portolan, Western Sydney University | – The Right Stuff is a new conservative dating app, recently launched in the US. Not yet available in Australia, the app was apparently created “for conservatives to connect in authentic and meaningful ways.” It offers to bring people together with shared values and similar passions, ensuring users […]
Not ‘powerless Victims’: how young Iranian Women have long led a quiet Revolution
By Nasim Salehi, Southern Cross University | – The “Women, Life, Freedom” movement that has taken hold in Iran in recent weeks is not new. Young Iranian women have been involved in small but consistent evolutionary actions during the entire 44 years of the Islamic Republic of Iran, particularly in the past two decades. The […]
This time, Iranian Women’s Demands are being Seen as the Nation’s Demands
By Homa Hoodfar, Concordia University and Mona Tajali, Agnes Scott College | – (The Conversation) – The world has been transfixed by images of Iranian women shouting “women, life, liberty,” leading protest rallies, dancing in the streets and burning their headscarves while facing armed soldiers. The displays of courage by Iranian women are not unlike […]
Women-led Protests in Iran gather Momentum – but will They be enough to bring about Change?
By Tony Walker, La Trobe University | – As protests in Iran drag on into their fourth week over the violent death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman, there are two central questions. The first is whether these protests involving women and girls across Iran are different from upheavals in the past, […]