Armed Conflicts

Hamas Rocket Launches Don’t Explain Israel’s Gaza Destruction

By Gareth Porter
Israel and its supporters abroad have parried accusations of indiscriminate destruction and mass killing of civilians in Gaza by arguing that they were consequences of strikes aimed at protecting Israeli civilians from rockets that were being launched from very near civilian structures.

OPINION: From Schools to Shelters in Iraq

By Fred Abrahams
Using schools for shelter was a natural. When the Islamic State drove waves of people from the Sinjar area of Iraq in early August, most of them members of the Yazidi minority group, they fled first to the mountains and then to the relative safety of Iraqi Kurdistan. They camped out in whatever unoccupied structures they could find.

NATO Poised to Escalate Tensions over Ukraine

By John Feffer
The NATO summit that took place at the end of last week in Wales was supposed to celebrate the end of a long, draining war in Afghanistan. But with the presidential election still up in the air in Kabul, NATO couldn’t enjoy its “mission accomplished” moment.

War Over but Not Gaza’s Housing Crisis

By Khaled Alashqar
“When the [Israeli] shelling started, I gathered up my family and headed for what I though was a safe place, like a school, but then that became overcrowded and lacked sanitation, so we ended up in the grounds of the hospital.”

OPINION: ISIS Primarily a Threat to Arab Countries

By Emile Nakhleh
Millions of words have been written about the rise, conquests, and savagery of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, and Boko Haram in Nigeria. Both have declared an “Islamic State” in their areas although Boko Haram has not claimed the mantle of a successor to the Prophet Muhammad as ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has done in Greater Syria. The two groups are the latest in a string of terrorist organisations in the past two decades.

No Easy Choices for Syrians with Small Children

By Shelly Kittleson
The woman who walked into the Islamic Front (IF) media office near the Turkish border was on the verge of fainting under the hot Syrian sun, but all she cared about was her infant son.

OPINION: Sanctions and Retaliations: Simply Unconscionable

By Somar Wijayadasa
The crisis in Ukraine is a man-made disaster created by world leaders who have been trying to pull Ukraine apart - either towards Europe or Russia.

OPINION: Iraq On the Precipice

By Bill Miller
The catastrophic events in Iraq that are unfolding daily are more significant than at any point in recent memory.

ISIS Carrying Out Ethnic Cleansing on “Historic Scale”

By Jim Lobe
While the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama ponders broader actions against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Amnesty International Tuesday accused the group of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Iraq on a “historic scale.”

Why Principle Matters at UN Human Rights Council

By Mandeep S.Tiwana
The killings of hundreds of civilians, including scores of children, in Gaza – whose only fault was to have been born on the wrong side of the wall – was a major point of contention at the United Nations Human Rights Council at the end of July.

Europe’s Two-Time Turnabout on Syria/Iraq

By Peter Custers
Is this one of those rare occasions where policy-makers self-critically correct a gigantic blunder? Or is it a cold turnabout guided by pure self-interest?

Ban on Nuke Tests OK, But Where’s the Ban on Nuke Weapons?

By Thalif Deen
As the United Nations commemorated the International Day Against Nuclear Tests this week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lamented the fact that in a world threatened by some 17,000 nuclear weapons, not a single one has been destroyed so far.

SDGs Make Room for Education for Global Citizenship

By Joel Jaeger
Civil society leaders and U.N. development experts gathered on Wednesday to discuss the role of education for global citizenship in the post-2015 development agenda.

The Age of Survival Migration

By Diana Cariboni
“Survival migration” is not a reality show, but an accurate description of human mobility fuelled by desperation and fear. How despairing are these migrant contingents? Look at the figures of Central American children travelling alone, which are growing.

OPINION: Why Kazakhstan Dismantled its Nuclear Arsenal

By Kairat Abdrakhmanov
Today is the fifth observance of the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

South Sudan’s Hip Hop Artists call for Peace and Reconciliation Through the Unhip Practice of Farming

By Adam Bemma
“What is the benefit when children are crying and people are dying due to hunger? There is no need to cry when you have the potential to dig,” sings Juba-based dancehall reggae group, the Jay Family, in their latest single “Stakal Shedit,” which means “Work Hard” in Arabic.

Civil Society Condemns Immunity for Sitting African Leaders Accused of Serious Crimes

By Miriam Gathigah
Mary Wacu lived in the Rift Valley region for 10 years prior to the 2007/08 post-election violence that rocked Kenya after a disputed general election.

These Children Just Want to Go Back to School

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Between government efforts to wipe out insurgents from Pakistan’s northern, mountainous regions, and the Taliban’s own campaign to exercise power over the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the real victims of this conflict are often invisible.

Breakthroughs and Hurdles in Colombia’s Peace Talks

By Constanza Vieira
Three major advances were made over the last week in the peace talks that have been moving forward in Cuba for nearly two years between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas, while the decades-old civil war rages on.

Obama Mulling Broader Strikes Against ISIS?

By Jim Lobe

This week’s video-taped beheading of a U.S. journalist by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has spurred renewed calls for President Barack Obama to broaden Washington’s military efforts to strike the terrorist group, including in Syria.

Israel, Hamas Set to Escape War Crimes Charges

By Thalif Deen
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a rare moment of political candour, lashed out at Israel last week, questioning its "respect for the principles of distinction and proportionality" - particularly in the context of the civilian death toll that kept rising to over 2,000 Palestinians, with more than 75 percent civilians.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
*#*