When it comes to American foreign policy, realpolitik rules. Democratic allies, be warned: Washington’s friendship may be an existential liability.
Tag: ISIS
As Syria Emerges From Civil War, What Are the Consequences of its Cultural Destruction?
Broken pottery vessels in ransacked museums. Blown-up ruins in sandy villages. The crumbling dome of a mosque, open to the yawning blue sky overhead. These are the images of Syria’s destroyed cultural heritage that dominate the Western imagination. But what do these scenes of destruction actually mean, and can we really dismiss them as just […]
From Selfie to ISIS: How Western Powers Paradoxically Fund Terrorism
Picture this: fierce eyes, shiny gown, and a golden coffin worth millions. The perfect Kim Kardashian Met Gala Instagram post — fabulous, viral, and unforgettable. The photo lit up Instagram faster than any official Met ad campaign and accidentally exposed one of the biggest art trafficking scandals of the decade. The coffin wasn’t just a […]
France, The Sahelian Insurgency, Climate Change, and The Recent Coup d’etats
One Day In January Early Sunday, January 23, 2022, intense gunfire was heard outside of military bases and Burkina Faso’s presidential palace in Ouagadougou. Mutinous troops demanded the dismissal of their country’s military chiefs and more significant resources to fight the Islamist insurgency, which killed 2000 and displaced over 1.5 million in recent years. On […]
What Makes a Terrorist, What Makes an Ally
As members of the United States, we are given a designated list of what groups and which people we ought to believe engage in terrorism. Yet what the government considers and what is ignored when adding or omitting a name to that list is obscured. The United States’ relationship with terrorism was choreographed following the […]
Universal Jurisdiction, Universal Justice: Prosecuting Syrian War Crimes Abroad
In August 2013, a defector from the Syrian regime with the code name “Caesar” stunned the world by smuggling photos out of Syria illustrating abuses taking place at the hands of the Assad-led government. Tens of thousands of graphic photos illustrated “evidence of widespread torture, starvation, beatings, and disease in Syrian government detention facilities.” The […]
A Look at the Aftermath of the Battle for Mosul
On any given morning, the vibrant but battered city of Mosul is bustling with commercial activity, the liveliness of its citizens contrasting starkly with the devastation of the landscape that lies around them. After more than two years under ISIS’s oppressive rule, the city is finally beginning to enjoy the fruits of its rehabilitation efforts. […]
Front Lines: The Weak Defence for ‘Human Shields’
Picture this: a young man, branded with a nondescript sign on his chest, being paraded through villages and neighbourhoods as he only just manages to stay on the jeep that he has been so carelessly tied to. The use of civilians as ‘human shields’ in times of conflict and war is not novel or particular […]
Stranded
This piece introduces a series addressing several issues I saw during my time at a refugee camp in Samos from June-August 2017, including mental health, children in the camp, criminal justice, the asylum process, and more. For anyone interested in supporting the refugees and Samos Volunteers, the situation on the island is getting worse every […]
Battling the Burden: Reframing Our National Conversation About Refugee Economics
Aziz Dyab, like millions of his countrymen, was on the run. On the run from a repressive regime, unthinkable living conditions and little to no prospects for the higher education he so desperately sought. Aziz Dyab, however, would not be held back. He would escape to Turkey, be granted resettlement, and achieving the dream of […]