Claiming that wars occur because there is nothing to prevent them is like saying that a sick man died because he did not take any medication—and not because of his illness.
The implications of the Arab Spring on surviving regional powers has been overshadowed by geopolitical and geostrategic interests. Bahrain exemplifies this quagmire.
Last August, the UN Environmental Programme reported that “around $300 billion or 0.7 per cent of global GDP is being spent on energy subsidies annually.” These subsidies are particularly important because most are devoted to fossil fuels.
As the authors of this volume demonstrate, India’s 170 million Muslim population have been the losers in a legacy of establishing separate territories for non-territorial religious categories.
The behaviour of women who undertake a suicide mission is unusual in the traditionally patriarchal Palestinian society, and has the allusion of challenging traditional female roles. In reality, it is a dead end.
Iran’s response to U.S. and EU sanctions demonstrates its increasing desperation, but the West lacks a plan for translating its current advantage into Iranian concessions on its nuclear program.
The archetype of racism in football is almost identical to the kind of discrimination witnessed in other parts of society. Racism in football is a socially transmitted disease that society must remedy.
Pakistan came into being out of a nationalist cause; the ethnic Muslim minority felt that its rights would be better preserved and served under a separate democratic setup, rather than among an overwhelming majority of Hindus. Great Britain also wanted a buffer state between the Muslim belt and India to save the Sub-Continent (which contained a quarter of the world’s population) from the effects of ‘Islamization’ and to ensure that it never emerged as a challenging power to British ambitions in the East (the Middle East, Hong Kong, Burma and Japan to name a few).
The “ticking bomb” metaphor is an unrealistic and wholly unconvincing argument in favour of torture that relies on assumptions that do not stand up to scrutiny in the real world.
While international politics is fettered and formed by the imperious political culture of the West, IR is developing a reflexive turn. That turn gives a new compelling impetus to the popular and radical traditions of resistance and critique.
