The Twisting Path to Syrian Reunification
Despite a landmark agreement between Syria’s new government and Kurdish-led factions, the country remains fractured and vulnerable to jihadist resurgence. Negotiations over security coordination and political integration have stalled amid deep mistrust, while Islamic State group attacks and U.S. pressure increase.
The Child Brides of Iraq
A proposed amendment to Iraq’s laws would allow Shiite communities to govern marriage according to religious jurisprudence and threatens to normalize child marriage in the country. This looming rejection of human rights is notably a by-product of Iraq's sectarian political system, which emerged after the U.S. invasion in 2003.
Waiting for Justice in South Africa
South Africa has cultivated an aura of moral authority grounded in its peaceful transition from apartheid. But that image obscures a darker truth, for the state has systematically failed to pursue the justice that was promised in hundreds of cases of political murder and torture committed by the apartheid regime.
Africa May Be on the Cusp of a Soccer Golden Age
For decades, African soccer has been caught between immense natural talent and broken systems of governance and funding. But a convergence of changes — new leadership, diaspora players returning to their roots, Morocco’s World Cup success and grassroots investment — could tip the continent into a golden era.
Finding Space To Dissent From Israel’s Wartime Narrative
In “Shivtown,” documentary filmmaker Hillel Ben-Zeev Perlov tells the story of three unhappy years he spent as a photographer at a remote Israeli army base, asking penetrating questions about universal concerns like generational trauma and why we perpetuate cycles of hatred and wars.