By Amy Maguire, University of Newcastle | – (The Conversation) – Australia’s minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, has announced Australia will return to use of the term “occupied Palestinian territories”. The Australian government will use this phrase to describe the territories in the West Bank and Gaza that Israel occupied in 1967. Australian officials […]
US-Israel Relations hit Nadir after Settler Terrorists Murder 19-year-old Palestinian
By Paul Rogers, University of Bradford | – (The Conversation) – For most of Israel’s 75-year history, its closest ally has been the United States, prepared to use its UN security council veto and invariably willing to encourage military collaboration as well as providing plenty of direct aid. But that relationship is highly stressed at […]
The Taliban’s War on Women in Afghanistan must be formally recognized as Gender Apartheid
By Vrinda Narain, McGill University | – (The Conversation) – The second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is fast approaching. Since then, Afghan women have been denied the most basic human rights in what can only be described as gender apartheid. Only by labelling it as such and making clear the situation in […]
Deadly Wildfires burn across Maui – it’s a Reminder of the growing Risk to Communities that once seemed Safe
By Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University | – (The Conversation) – Thousands of people were evacuated along Maui’s popular west coast on Aug. 8 and 9, 2023, as wildfires spread through buildings and hillsides, whipped by strong winds from Hurricane Dora. Much of Lahaina, Hawaii, a tourist town of about 13,000 residents that was once […]
Headlines and Front Lines: How US News Coverage of Wars in Yemen and Ukraine reveals a Bias in Recording Civilian Harm
By Esther Brito Ruiz, American University School of International Service and Jeff Bachman, American University School of International Service | – (The Conversation) – War entails suffering. How and how often that suffering is reported on in the U.S., however, is not evenhanded. Take, for example, the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen in March 2015 and […]
Ukraine War: Talks in Saudi Arabia give Zelensky an Opportunity to Push his Plan to BRICs and the Global South
By Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham | – As the war in Ukraine escalated on and beyond the existing battlefields with intensified air, drone and ground operations, more than 40 countries met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, over the weekend of August 5-6 2023, to discuss peace. The talks in Jeddah were the latest effort to […]
No, the ‘Gulf Stream’ will not collapse in 2025: Why sound Climate Optimism must combat Doomism
By Andrew Weaver, University of Victoria | – Those following the latest developments in climate science would have been stunned by the jaw-dropping headlines last week proclaiming the “Gulf Stream could collapse as early as 2025, study suggests” — which responded to a recent publication in Nature Communications. “Be very worried: Gulf Stream collapse could […]
Dismantling the Myth that Ancient Slavery “Wasn’t that Bad”
By Chance Bonar, Tufts University | – As someone who researches slavery in the ancient Mediterranean world, especially in the Bible, I often hear remarks like, “Slavery was totally different back then, right?” “Well, it couldn’t have been that bad.” “Couldn’t slaves buy their freedom?” Most people in the United States or Europe in the […]
‘Knowledge of self’: How a key Phrase from Islam became a Pillar of Hip-Hop
By Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, University of Michigan | – (The Conversation) – I was 9 years old when Eric B. and Rakim’s “Paid in Full” dropped. I have vivid memories of the bass-laden track booming out of car stereos and hearing it on Black radio, like Kiss FM’s top eight at 8 p.m. countdown. On […]