Category: Academic Analysis
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Zimbabwean artist Portia Zvavahera turns her prayers into paintings
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Tinashe Mushakavanhu, Assistant Professor, Harvard University At the Boston waterfront sits the Institute of Contemporary Art, an architectural marvel that gleams against the harbour in a wealthy neighbourhood. My Uber driver, an African immigrant, remarks as I get out: “Be careful, this is an expensive area.”…
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Nigeria’s plastic waste could enrich the fashion industry: here’s how
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Solaja Mayowa Oludele, Lecturing, Olabisi Onabanjo University On any street in Lagos, Abuja or Port Harcourt, you’ll find abandoned plastic bottles lying around. Each year, about 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced in Nigeria and much of it winds up in landfills or in…
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Travel as activism: 6 stories of Black women who refused to ‘stay put’ in apartheid South Africa
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Janet Remmington, Research Associate, Humanities Research Centre (and African Literature Department, University of the Witwatersrand), University of York For black people living in South Africa during apartheid, simply moving around the country was a fraught activity, let alone crossing its borders. This was especially the case…
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A walk across Alaska’s Arctic sea ice brings to life the losses that appear in climate data
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Alexandra Jahn, Associate Professor of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Arctic Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder The author’s view walking across Arctic sea ice off Utqiagvik, Alaska, in April 2025. Alexandra Jahn As I walked out onto the frozen Arctic water off Utqiagvik, Alaska, for the first…
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What international law says about Israel’s collective punishments against Palestinian civilians
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Leonie Fleischmann, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, City St George’s, University of London A recent episode on the West Bank when hundreds of Palestinian men were detained by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has highlighted the IDF’s tactic of “collective punishment”. This is defined as “a…
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The latest Tory defector to Reform wrote David Cameron’s ‘hug a hoodie’ speech – here’s why that matters now
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nicholas Dickinson, Lecturer in Politics, University of Exeter Conservative party leader David Cameron gave a speech in 2007 on social justice which is remembered as the “hug a hoodie” moment. In it, he laid out the foundations of what would become the “big society” social programme…
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Trump administration is threatening liberal foundations and nonprofits after Kirk’s death – but proving wrongdoing by any of them would be very hard
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA – By Beth Gazley, Professor of Nonprofit Management and Policy, Indiana University Charlie Kirk speaks at the opening of the Turning Point Action conference on July 15, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Following the Sept. 10, 2025, death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in…
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Why Florida’s plan to end vaccine mandates will likely spread to other conservative states
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Anindya Kundu, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, Florida International University Florida has been a leader for other conservative states on education reform. iStock/Getty Images Plus Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a plan in early September 2025 that he intends to make Florida the first state…
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Soil erosion is tearing DRC cities apart: what’s causing urban gullies, and how to prevent them
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Matthias Vanmaercke, Associate professor BOF Faculty of Science, KU Leuven In fast-growing cities like some in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), heavy rains are carving huge scars into the land. Known as urban gullies, these deep erosion channels can swallow homes, destroy roads and displace…
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Scams and frauds: Here are the tactics criminals use on you in the age of AI and cryptocurrencies
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA – By Rahul Telang, Professor of Information Systems, Carnegie Mellon University Scammers often direct victims to convert cash to untraceable cryptocurrency and send it to them. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Scams are nothing new – fraud has existed as long as human greed. What changes are the tools. Scammers…