Written by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Baker Institute Fellow for Kuwait, 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 Joint Trilateral Statement, was signed in Beijing on March 11 and begins the […]
Written by Jose Caballero, Senior Economist, IMD World Competitiveness Center, International Institute for Management Development (IMD) China’s billions of dollars in global investments and infrastructure projects seem to be paying off politically and economically. Just recently, Honduras signalled it is set to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan, having been one of the few remaining countries […]
Written by Ronald Suny, Professor of History and Political Science, University of Michigan Just a few days after being branded a war criminal in an international arrest warrant, Russian President Vladimir Putin was talking peace with his most important ally, Chinese president Xi Jinping. The setting for the get-together was the late-15th-century Faceted Chamber, the […]
Written by Simin Fadaee, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Manchester Forty-four years after Iranians rose up against their hated monarch in February 1979, a group of 20 organisations engaged in long-term social and economic struggles – including labour unions, teachers, women’s groups and youth and student movements – issued an ultimatum to the government […]
Written by Michael Humphries, Deputy Chair of Business Administration, Touro University It’s a case of déjà vu all over again on the debt ceiling debate. Republicans, who regained control of the House of Representatives in November 2022, are threatening to not allow an increase in the debt limit unless they get unspecified spending cuts in […]
Written by Michelle O’Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University This year’s FIFA men’s World Cup has cast a media spotlight on Qatar’s human rights record. The tournament also offered an opportunity to draw attention to the current protests in Iran surrounding the mistreatment of women. Qatar’s imbalance in rights and treatment of […]
Written by Pardis Mahdavi, Provost and Executive Vice President, The University of Montana Until recently, most people outside of Iran had never heard of the country’s morality police, let alone followed their wider role in the region. But on Sept. 16, 2022, the death of Jina Mahsa Amini sparked widespread protests in the streets of […]
Written by Pardis Mahdavi, Provost and Executive Vice President, The University of Montana Until recently, most people outside of Iran had never heard of the country’s morality police, let alone followed their wider role in the region. But on Sept. 16, 2022, the death of Jina Mahsa Amini sparked widespread protests in the streets of […]
Written by Pardis Mahdavi, Provost and Executive Vice President, The University of Montana Until recently, most people outside of Iran had never heard of the country’s morality police, let alone followed their wider role in the region. But on Sept. 16, 2022, the death of Jina Mahsa Amini sparked widespread protests in the streets of […]
Written by Negar Partow, Senior Lecturer in Security Studies, Massey University The ongoing protests in Iran over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country’s “Guidance Patrol” (or morality police) have made world headlines. But there is another form of protest that has received less mainstream attention in Western media. […]
Written by Ross Bennett-Cook, Visiting Lecturer, PhD, School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster Russia has announced plans to begin direct flights to Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, a state recognised only by Turkey. This will make Russia the only nation outside of Turkey to fly directly to the territory since it declared independence from the […]
Written by Amy Motlagh, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern/South Asian Studies, University of California, Davis In images of the uprising that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, perhaps the most iconic ones, aside from that of Amini herself, are those of unveiled Iranian women photographed from behind, […]
Written by Jonathan Este, Associate Editor, International Affairs Editor First, let’s clear up some unfinished business from last week. We reported here that Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, had been talking up the idea that Ukraine was planning to use a “dirty bomb” and specified a couple of facilities which he said were involved in […]
Written by Aaron Pilkington, US Air Force Analyst of Middle East Affairs, PhD Student at Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver The war in Ukraine is helping one country achieve its foreign policy and national security objectives, but it’s neither Russia nor Ukraine. It’s Iran. That was starkly clear on the morning of […]
Written by Tony Walker, Vice-chancellor’s fellow, La Trobe University As protests in Iran drag on into their fourth week over the violent death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman, there are two central questions. The first is whether these protests involving women and girls across Iran are different from upheavals in the […]
Written by Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies, SOAS, University of London More than three weeks after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Ahmini for disobeying Iran’s strict laws, which make it compulsory for women to wear the hijab – or Islamic headscarf – protests continue to rage on the streets of all […]