On Instrumentalizing Freedom of Speech and Macron’s Problem with Islam

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* October 28, 2020 Amid this worsening crisis between France and leaders of some Muslim-majority countries, media outlets are manufacturing narratives favorable to the side they support. Facts and truth matter. They matter because a sound solution to a problem must be built on the truth for a solution to endure. Truth Read more

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The GCC Sanctions against Qatar broke the GCC, Will the UAE Deal with Israel disintegrate the UAE?

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* August 16, 2020 Abstract: With the war on Yemen going against Saudi stated goals, three years ago, (5 June 2017), Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar and imposed isolating sanctions. Three years later, none of their conditions, which included, primarily, shutting down Aljazeera, Read more

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Work: Democratise, Decommodify, Remediate

More than 5,000 researchers from universities around the globe issued an urgent call to heed the lessons of the COVID-19 crisis and rewrite the rules of our economic systems in order to create a more democratic and sustainable society. Their call, made in the midst of an unprecedented health, climate, and political crisis, paves a Read more

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Broken trust: How Iraqis lost their faith in Washington, long before the Kurds did

by Mieczysław P. Boduszyński, Assistant Professor of Politics, Pomona College In all the hand-wringing that critics and commentators have done since President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from northern Syria, one of the common refrains emphasizes the breach of trust between Washington and its Kurdish militia partners. Some scholars of international relations Read more

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Will Zarif’s surprise G7 visit help resolve row?

by Xu Hailin, based on conversations with Li Weijian, a senior research fellow with the Center for West Asian and African Studies Iran has been striving to overcome the crisis in its relations with the US. Although the Islamic Republic has taken some tough steps, such as shooting down a US military drone in June Read more

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Canada’s labour movement must take a stand against the Saudi arms deal

by Simon Black and Anthony Fenton* As Canada’s largest labour organization and the political arm of the labour movement, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has long been a voice for peace, human rights and social justice. But on one of the most controversial issues in Canadian politics, Canada’s arms deal with Saudi Arabia, it has Read more

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Separate and Unequal: Is State’s Support to Elite Universities a Human Rights Violation

By Ahmed E Souaiaia* Abstract: On May 11, 2019, the US federal government indicted 50 individuals, charging them with bribery and fraud in a widespread college admission scandal involving wealthy parents, coaches, administrators, and business executives, paying bribes to buy their children’s way into the nation’s elite schools. For weeks thereafter, the public discourse had Read more

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