Mathew Guest, Durham University This autumn’s Brazilian presidential election offers a glimpse of how 21st century populist leaders are using religion to enthuse their support base. The incumbent, right-wing firebrand Jair Bolsonaro, rose to power in 2018 with support from … Continue reading Brazil: how populist politicians use religion to help them win
Nicholas R. Longrich, University of Bath For the first few million years of human evolution, technologies changed slowly. Some three million years ago, our ancestors were making chipped stone flakes and crude choppers. Two million years ago, hand-axes. A million … Continue reading How a handful of prehistoric geniuses launched humanity’s technological revolution
How two Islamic groups fell from power to persecution. Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first-ever democratically elected president, died unexpectedly during a trial in June 2019. He was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, an … Continue reading Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey’s Gulenists
Turkish local elections on March 30, as was expected by knowledgeable objective observers, resulted in sweeping victories for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Istanbul and many areas of the country. The AKP held the Ankara mayoralty and even had a surprise win in Antalya. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) saw its provincial hold weaken from 29 to 22, while the AKP increased itsnationwide vote percentage by nearly seven percentage points, to 46%, over the 2009 local elections. What do the results mean?The essential lesson that Turkish elites and international observers must take from these results, and with alacrity, … Continue reading Turkish voters get the message
Plans for Redrawing the Middle East: The Project for a “New Middle East” By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya Global Research, November 18, 2006 Region: Middle East & North Africa Theme: US NATO War Agenda In-depth Report: AFGHANISTAN, IRAN: THE NEXT WAR?,IRAQ REPORT, THE WAR ON LEBANON “Hegemony is as old as Mankind…” -Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. National Security Advisor The term “New Middle East” was introduced to the world in June 2006 in Tel Aviv by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (who was credited by the Western media for coining the term) in replacement of the older and more imposing term, the “Greater Middle East.” … Continue reading U.S. National War Academy: A Project for The Muslim nations – Whats the Muslim Response?
“We are paying very close attention to the situation in Ukraine. We hope all parties can calmly maintain restraint to prevent the situation from further escalating and worsening. Political resolution and dialogue is the only way out.” This, via Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong, is Beijing’s quite measured, official interpretation of what’s happening in Ukraine, tailored for global consumption. But here, in a People’s Daily editorial, is what the leadership is really thinking. And the focus is clearly on the dangers of regime change, the “West’s inability to understand the lessons of history”, and “the final battlefield of the Cold … Continue reading How Crimea plays in Beijing
by PATRICK COCKBURN Al-Qa’ida, the second act: Why the global ‘war on terror’ went wrong In 2014 al-Qa’ida-type groups are numerous and powerful… In other words, the ‘war on terror’ has demonstrably failed It is now 12-and-a-half years since the September 11 attacks that put al-Qa’ida firmly on the map of global terrorism. The US has spent billions of dollars on its ‘war on terror’ to counter the threat and succeeded in killing Osama bin Laden three years ago. And yet al-Qa’ida-type groups are arguably stronger than ever now, especially in Syria and Iraq where they control an … Continue reading War On Terror – LOST?
By Dorian Jones The Russian-Ukrainian crisis over Crimea is forcing Turkey into a delicate balancing act: Ankara feels a need to be seen as a protector of the peninsula’s Tatar minority, yet it does not want to vex Russia’s paramount leader Vladimir Putin in a way that complicates Turkish-Russian economic arrangements. There are abundant reasons why Turkey is taking a close interest in Crimean developments. Crimea operated as a vassal khanate of Ottoman Empire from the 1470s until 1783. In addition, Turks are bound by a strong cultural connection to Crimean Tatars, an ethnic minority group that comprises roughly 15% … Continue reading Turkey walking a tightrope over Crimea
Turkey goes for Chinese take-away defenseBy Peter Lee On September 26, 2013, Turkey made the rather eyebrow-raising decision to put its long range missile defense eggs in a Chinese basket, announcing it had awarded a US$3 billion contract to the People’s Republic of China for its truck-mounted “shoot and scoot” FD-2000 system. The Chinese FD-2000 is based on the Hong Qi missile, which has been around since the 1990s. The FD-2000 is an export version of the HQ-9 that appeared in 2009 and is marketed as a next-generation improvement on the Russian S-300 system, but whose fire control radar looks … Continue reading Turkey to buy Chinese defence missiles
Mohammed Abbasi 