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Democracy

Middle East & North Africa

Israel Has Weaponized Trauma. Should We Talk About It?

Mourning and motherland

June 20, 2024 • by Jordan Osserman
Within left-leaning circles, any attempt articulate an emotional tie to Israel is fraught—understandably, given the scandalous forms of censorship and repression facing Palestinian perspectives in the mainstream....

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Israel Has Weaponized Trauma. Should We Talk About It?
Body & Mind

Slow Torture in Gaza

“We feel well as long as we do not feel our body”

June 18, 2024 • by Austin Tannenbaum
But having been tortured does not justify the torture others, even under the guise of self-protection. Améry said as much....

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Slow Torture in Gaza
Middle East & North Africa

Palestine and the Subversion of International Law

How the UNRWA paradox underpins Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing

June 17, 2024 • by Widad Tamimi
For Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, freedom of movement is non-existent. But to flee is to lose one’s right of return. International law underpins Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing....

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Palestine and the Subversion of International Law
Democracy

Mexico’s First Woman President Is Not a Fluke

Constitutional reform has led the country to hold some of the highest proportions of women in politics worldwide

June 6, 2024 • by Adriana Piatti-Crocker
Mexico has just elected its first woman president, the result of well-designed women-friendly policy. ...

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Mexico’s First Woman President  Is Not a Fluke
East Asia & Pacific

How Vanessa Chan Came to Write a Global Bestseller, The Storm We Made

A graduate of The New School’s MFA in Creative Writing shines a light on a rarely discussed period of Malaysian history

June 5, 2024 • by Evangeline Riddiford Graham
In the lonely period of the pandemic, Vanessa Chan could not get home to her family. In those years, she lost her mother. She sheltered in place. And she wrote her first book, The Storm We Made....

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How Vanessa Chan Came to Write a Global Bestseller, The Storm We Made
Democracy

The Right Hand of the State and the American Left

Progressives are increasingly wary of the “national securitization of the state”

May 31, 2024 • by Basak Kus
The rift within the Democratic base stems not so much from disagreement over the left hand—which both sides support, albeit in varying ways and degrees—but over the excesses of the right hand....

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The Right Hand of the State and the American Left
South Asia

The World’s “Largest Democracy”?

Modi leads India down a dark path

May 30, 2024 • by Udeepta Chakravarty
Corrosive nationalism and monarchic consciousness have become so normalized that other political forces, including the opposition, are now mimicking Modi’s practices....

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The World’s “Largest Democracy”?
Economy

Columbia University’s “Crisis”

A political economy sketch map

May 3, 2024 • by Adam Tooze
Questions of political economy are at the heart of the Columbia University protests....

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Columbia University’s “Crisis”
Democracy

Liberalism Against Itself and the Return of the Cold War

An interview with Samuel Moyn

April 24, 2024 • by Julian Nicolai Hofmann and Samuel Moyn
Samuel Moyn annd Julian Nicolai Hofmann explore the resurgence of Cold War liberalism amid global crises. Through historical analysis, Moyn examines liberalism's evolution, highlighting its transformation and proposing a revival of its progressive elements for the future....

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Liberalism Against Itself and the Return of the Cold War
Middle East & North Africa

Universalism in Dark Times

And why friendship and enlightenment flourish together

April 19, 2024 • by Omri Boehm
In his acceptance speech for the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding, Omri Boehm discusses the challenge of open discussion....

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Universalism in Dark Times
Europe & Central Asia

Putin and Patriarch Kirill’s Promise of Universal Liberation

Why some young men in America are converting to Orthodox Christianity

April 10, 2024 • by Katherine Kelaidis
Vladimir Putin is on track to be the longest reigning Russian leader since Catherine the Great. The two resilient despots have more in common than one might imagine. ...

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Putin and Patriarch Kirill’s Promise of Universal Liberation
Middle East & North Africa

From the River to the Sea, There Is Space for Many Different Interpretations

Labeling the slogan “antisemitic” is a powerful tool used by Israel to deny the existence of the Palestinian people

April 9, 2024 • by Alon Confino and Amos Goldberg
It is often maintained that the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” expresses a genocidal and antisemitic intention. But this is generally not the case....

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From the River to the Sea, There Is Space for Many Different Interpretations
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