By Vanessa Newby, Monash University and Chiara Ruffa, Sciences Po (The Conversation) – The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) is seen by many as an essential peacekeeping buffer between Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah. But Israeli pressure, US doubts over Unifil’s cost-effectiveness and the fragile state of Lebanon’s politics means there is a risk […]
Hossein Asgari’s Desolation speaks powerfully of the Destructiveness of War and the Hope that lies in Fiction
By Michelle Hamadache, Macquarie University (The Conversation) Hossein Asgari’s Desolation tells the story of Amin, an Iranian man whose life and family are shattered when the USS Vincennes shoots down an Iranian passenger plane in 1988. The plane was carrying 290 passengers as well as crew, all of whom were killed. Among the dead was […]
Israel’s killing of Journalists follows a Pattern of silencing Palestinian Media that stretches back to 1967
By Maha Nassar, University of Arizona (The Conversation) – Five journalists were among the 22 people killed on Aug. 25, 2025, in Israeli strikes on the Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Following global condemnation, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying Israel “values the work of journalists.” But the […]
‘Green Islam’: how Muslims are powering environmental Action across the World
By Eva F Nisa, Australian National University and Faried F Saenong, Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) (The Conversation) – As the world grapples with myriad environmental problems, a growing number of studies shows the role of religion is key. Religion influences people’s worldviews, including how we think about nature and our roles within it. This […]
Ancient Iran’s Paradise Pleasure Gardens: Unimaginable Beauty and Opulence
By Peter Edwell, Macquarie University (The Conversation) – Some of the most enduring ancient myths in the Persian world were centred around gardens of almost unimaginable beauty and opulence. The biblical Garden of Eden and the Epic of Gilgamesh’s Garden of the Gods are prominent examples. In these myths, paradise was an opulent garden of […]
Israel’s Plan for massive new West Bank Settlement would make a Palestinian State Impossible
By Leonie Fleischmann, City St George’s, University of London (The Conversation) – The Israeli government has approved a plan for construction of a massive new settlement bloc in the controversial E1 area in the occupied West Bank. In reviving a project first proposed in 1994, which will comprise about 3,500 new dwellings in a line […]
We’ll all Feel the Abrupt Changes Striking Antarctica Sea Ice and Ocean Currents
By Nerilie Abram, Australian National University; Ariaan Purich, Monash University; Felicity McCormack, Monash University; Jan Strugnell, James Cook University, and Matthew England, UNSW Sydney (The Conversation) – Antarctica has long been seen as a remote, unchanging environment. Not any more. The ice-covered continent and the surrounding Southern Ocean are undergoing abrupt and alarming changes. Sea […]
Four Ways the West can back up Palestine Recognition with Practical Pressure on Israel
By Amin Saikal, The University of Western Australia (The Conversation) – Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said recently the Israeli cabinet has “lost its reason and humanity” in Gaza, reflecting a widespread view around the world. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s staunch defiance over the Gaza war has led many Western states to recognise the […]
‘There’s no such Thing as someone else’s Children’ – Omar El Akkad bears witness to the Destruction of Gaza and the West’s quiet Assent
By Clare Corbould, Deakin University (The Conversation) – Omar El Akkad does not want you to look away. An award-winning journalist and novelist, El Akkad was born in Egypt, lived as a teenager in Qatar and Canada, and migrated as an adult to the US, where he now lives with his family in the Pacific […]








