Category: Opinion

Mon 16 December 2019: The warlord Khalifa Haftar’s cunning exploitation of geopolitical rivalries has handed Russia outsized influence over the conflict. Al Arabiya TV recently broadcast General Khalifa Haftar’s speech in which he announced the beginning of a “decisive battle and the advancement towards the heart of [Tripoli] to set it free.” With Haftar ordering the Libyan […]

Can an image capture the horror of generations of repression and resistance, and is it a photojournalist’s job to try? Frame 1: A schoolboy points a toy gun at armoured police vehicles in Sebokeng, South Africa, 1991 [Photo courtesy: Greg Marinovich] Photographs have a life free of context and explanation. And they do not. When […]

Wed 11 December 2019: With the latest nationwide protests in Iran -the second in less than a year- dominating the headlines, other significant developments there may not attract the attention they deserve. One such development concerns the Shiite clergy facing what could be the biggest challenge it has faced since its formation in the 16th […]

Sun 01 December 2019: Protesters took to the streets of Iran on Nov. 15 after oil prices soared by as much as 50%. Oil prices remained unchanged despite regular yearly inflation rates of as high as 10-30%. Though subsidies were needed, the budget balance saw considerable deficits due to the direct financial transfers. Public debt […]

Tue 26 November 2019: Since Friday, massive protests have spread to more than 100 cities across Iran, in response to a sudden rise in gas prices. An estimated 100 banks and 57 shops have burned down. Iranian security forces have arrested more than 1,000 people and killed at least 12, though activists put the number as high […]

Tue 11 August 2020: Counter-revolutionary forces are seeking to resurrect the military dictatorship model the Arab Spring dismantled. With the breakout of the Arab Spring more than eight years ago, pro-democracy activists in the Arab world and elsewhere were hopeful that the tide of democratic change might have finally reached its shores. Many who had criticised the […]

Sat 23 November 2019: The graphic video shows four men in camouflage gear exchanging jokes in unaccented Russian as they pour flammable liquid over a man’s mutilated corpse strung up on two wooden beams. Before setting it alight and watching it burn as they pose for the camera, they scrawl a Russian phrase praising the […]

Fri 22 November 2019: On the day after Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death, President Trump identified an unlikely partner in the global fight against ISIS. “Iran is right there,” he said, along with Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iraq, all of which maintain close ties with Tehran. “They all hate ISIS,” the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It’s a […]

Fri 22 November 2019: The anti-Muslim sentiments that helped him get elected are likely to shape Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure as president. On Saturday, Sri Lankans elected Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a former secretary of defence and brother of two-time former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as their new president in an election that has seen rising religious tensions take centre stage.  […]

Fri 15 November 2019: After few years of consternation and reassessment of its previous round, the Arab Spring seems to be returning with renewed vigor. During the eight years that separate the first round from this one, lessons must have been learned. As a result the strategy of the protesting crowds in many Arab capitals […]