Confessions of a Syrian Barrel Bomber
After Assad’s fall, a Syrian air force colonel fled to Baghdad with multiple forged identities, waiting for a smuggler’s route to Moscow. In testimony to New Lines, he describes his career flying helicopters loaded with barrel bombs and how the crude weapons were conceived, manufactured and unleashed on Syria’s cities.
How Japanese Anime Became a Global Protest Language
Across Indonesia, Hong Kong, Chile and Thailand, protesters are wielding imagery from anime as they demand justice and freedom. Japanese pop culture’s themes of defiance and participatory fandom have made it an unexpectedly powerful political force.
The Stories That Shed Light on Power in Iran
Both the Iranian regime and those who resist it use myths and ideas about divinity to cultivate support. From self-sacrificing martyrs to ancient archers, bloodthirsty tyrants and dangerous davalpas, these tales help to reveal Iran’s political culture and the nature of the Islamic Republic’s authority.
Lyse Doucet Offers an Alternative History of Afghanistan
Veteran BBC correspondent Lyse Doucet joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai to discuss her new book on Afghanistan, “The Finest Hotel in Kabul.”
American Support for Israel Is a Political Religion
What makes the relationship between the U.S. and Israel unique, one that can’t be captured by ordinary frameworks? It’s as if the two states were a single entity — “AmericaIsrael” — functioning like an article of faith and producing its own heretics.