In this article, Jeremy Pressman analyses the recent normalisation of relations agreements between Bahrain, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He places the deals within the wider history of Arab-Israeli relations in the Middle East and compares them to previous diplomatic breakthroughs in the region. Ultimately, he concludes that while the agreements are a modest diplomatic achievement, they […]
In the post-World War era, an increasing number of western democracies have sought to achieve legitimacy by acknowledging the violence tainting their historic pasts. These admissions have resulted in the creation of reconcilliation commissions, courts prosecuting war criminals, restitution to the victims of conflict, and the construction of memorials. Here, Akshita Mathur reviews Suhi Choi’s ‘Right to Mourn’ – […]
In this article Kasia Micklem explores the revival of musical traditions among Yezidi communities in refugee camps in Iraq and argues that through music the ostracised populace is able to preserve its history, identity and heritage despite systematic attacks by the so-called Islamic State to erase the non-Muslim ‘other’.
The Yezidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority that first emerged as […]
In this essay Arushi Vats reviews ‘Dalit: A Quest for Dignity’, published in 2018 by the Nepal Picture Library. The work is a unique collection of photographs that seek to capture the lives of the Dalit populace, an ostracised minority, over six decades in Nepal. Vats analyses the interaction between readers, photographers and the subjects of the compendium, musing […]
The shooting of George Floyd sent shockwaves across the world, as protests against police brutality, racism, and symbols of slavery and colonial oppression escalated rapidly, often resulting in physical violence. In this article, Marianna Griffini explores the repercussions of the Black Lives Matter movement on Italy’s vexed relationship with its colonial past.
In the wake of the killing of […]
In 2010 the Arab Spring and subsequent armed rebellions destabilised authoritarian regimes in the Middle-East and North Africa, causing the downfall of many long-standing dictators and oligarchs. Although Syria was engulfed by the movement and the Civil War that followed, unlike his counterparts, President Bashar al-Assad survived the onslaught and has since regained control of most of the nation. […]
In recent years, tensions in the South China Sea have dominated security concerns in the Pacific. In this piece, Tenny Kristiana discusses threats in the East China Sea that have slowly but surely been developing in the shadow of its southern counterpart. With close proximity to Mainland China, North and South Korea and Taiwan, Okinawa’s strategic importance has only […]
Colonialism manifested itself in all walks of lives of the subjugated populace. In this article Abinand Lagisetti muses on the legacy of football, a sport imported from Imperial Britain to the Raj in India, and retraces its journey from an exclusive recreational activity to an avenue of resistance for non-white communities in the Indian sub-continent.
Sport is largely considered to […]
The notion that Ukraine is not a country, but a historical part of Russia, appears to be deeply ingrained in the minds of Russian leadership. Competing interpretations of history have turned into a key ingredient of the deepening dispute between Russia and the West and a subject that Putin in particular appears to feel unusually passionate about. In this […]
In the international governance of disaster which has emerged since the early twentieth century, governments have been reluctant to invest in disaster preparedness. In this article, Dr Lukas Schemper discusses the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of the historical and continuing problem of lack of action in preparing for national and global disasters.
“Why We Fail to Prepare for Disasters”
Several […]
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