Mr Nobody Against Putin
RUSSIA: How a small-town teaching assistant became an unlikely whistleblower on the grim reality of wartime propaganda.
Russia
Turkey’s military-industrial complex
MILITARISM: Techno-nationalism has strengthened Turkey’s proactive foreign policy, promoted national pride and reinforced the image of a powerful state. The ‘zero problems with neighbours’ paradigm that characterised Turkish foreign policy in the 2000s has been abandoned in favour of a more interventionist approach under the doctrine of ‘security at all costs’. In 2002, the total volume of defence industry projects was a modest USD 5.5 billion – by 2023, it will rise to over USD 96 billion.
Pragmatism and repressive politics
TURKEY: This autumn, we met two intellectuals in Istanbul about today’s Turkey – and attended a major conference there on political economy. Here, we look at the use of power, freedom of expression, the media, militarisation and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s political pragmatism.
Let the young die
CONFLICT: Ville Suhonen’s study of the cult of youth soldiers in inter-war Finland shows there’s nothing new in the old sacrificing the young for their own aims.
Crimean Quagmire: Tolstoy, Russell and the Birth of Modern Warfare
CONFLICT: If truth is the first casualty of war, then Gregory Carleton argues that truth as an ideal in covering conflict was born during a war fought in Ukraine nearly two centuries ago.
«Justice is something worth living for»
PALESTINE/ISRAEL: How is it to be a Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory? We spoke to Francesca Albanese about Israel’s war against Gaza, genocide, antisemitism, and impunity – from her specialisation on international law. She talks about political, legal, psychological, and epistemic violence – coming from how Israel, with Western acquiescence, has been threatening the Palestinians for decades.
The war remains
UKRAINE: Collateral damage far from the frontlines of Ukraine’s long struggle in the east with separatists and now Russian armed forces is seen in Lesia Diak’s moving focus on a family torn apart by war.
A million roses and coal
UKRAINE: The impact of war on three generations of women, blending personal stories, family archives, and historical parallels.
Holidays in the danger zone
CONFLICT: The ethical complexities and societal implications of war tourism in our media-driven world.