Politics & Society

Former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 2019. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Peter Vale, University of Pretoria Henry Kissinger, who sexed up the art of diplomacy in the eight years between 1969 and 1977, will turn 100 in May this year. Given his age, and his long influence on global affairs, several “anticipatory obituaries” have been written. Some …

An abandoned house in the old town of Mosul, Iraq. (Ali Al-Baroodi, @ali_albaroodi), Author provided Mend Mariwany and Nehal El-Hadi, The Conversation On March 19, 2003, the United States led an unlawful invasion into Iraq — at the time, the reason given was the search for weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. occupation of Iraq lasted over eight years, until …

An Iraqi person walks down a road blocked by burning tires in Basra in August 2002. Hussein Faleh/AFP via Getty Images Brian Urlacher, University of North Dakota President George W. Bush and his administration put forward a variety of reasons to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In the months before the U.S. invasion, Bush said the looming conflict was …

Is a wildly popular social media app a threat to U.S. citizens? AP Photo/Michael Dwyer Doug Jacobson, Iowa State University On May 17, 2023, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed legislation banning TikTok in the state. The law imposes fines of US$10,000 per day on any app store that offers the popular Chinese-owned video social media app, and on the app …

Saudi Arabia, to the surprise of many, chose China to broker its deal with Iran in March 2023. Chinese Foreign Ministry/Anadolu Agency via Getty Image Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Rice University The fact that Saudi Arabia entered a rapprochement deal with Iran and chose China to broker it came as a surprise to many international observers. The agreement, officially called the …

US marines with a female engagement team in southern Helmand province, Afghanistan, in May 2012. Cpl. Meghan Gonzales/DVIDS Jennifer Greenburg, University of Sheffield A US Army handbook from 2011 opens one of its chapters with a line from Rudyard Kipling’s poem The Young British Soldier. Written in 1890 upon Kipling’s return to England from India, an experienced imperial soldier gives …

Vladmir Putin is very popular in Serbia. Sasa Dzambic Photography Andi Hoxhaj, UCL Putin is the world leader that Serbs admire the most and 95% of Serbs see Russia as a true ally, compared to only 11% who see the EU that way, despite the EU being Serbia’s major financial supporter, according to a recent poll. And 68% of Serbs …

The bombed ruins of buildings in Mariupol after Russian attacks. Shutterstock Robert M. Dover, University of Hull The Russian military – under instruction from Vladimir Putin – is rewriting the rules of siege warfare for the 21st century. The classic definition of a siege is: “The process of surrounding and attacking a fortified place in such a way as to …

Hajja Nuzha Al-Najjar in her cave-home in Masafer Yatta. In an oral history interview, she describes being shot in the leg by an Israeli settler in 2005. Mahmoud Makhamra, Author provided Aurélie Bröckerhoff, Coventry University and Mahmoud Soliman, Coventry University The people of Masafer Yatta are determined to hold on to their cave-dwelling lifestyle. “I was born in this cave …

Resistance leader: the NRF’s Ahmad Massoud. NRF/Twitter Kambaiz Rafi, SOAS, University of London It has become axiomatic that in Afghanistan, once an armed resistance group gains a foothold in an area it becomes hard to route out. This is more so if it musters a degree of local support and is in a geographically remote region. During the past year, …