Category: Academic Analysis
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ICJ tells Israel to let UN aid flow into Gaza – but UN’s own failures throughout the war loom large
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ben L Murphy, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Liverpool The UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), demanded that Israel allow aid into Gaza in an advisory opinion on October 22. It held that Israel is in breach of its obligations as a…
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Scary stories for kids: Gremlins and the terror of normal, even cute, things becoming horrific
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louis Bayman, Associate Professor in Department of Film Studies, University of Southampton Horror has always helped us establish the boundaries of acceptability by giving a name and shape to what transgresses them. Much of what constitutes horror stems from childhood, a time when boundaries and ideas…
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Lucy Powell becomes Labour’s deputy leader – what that means for the party and Keir Starmer
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Karl Pike, Lecturer in British Politics/Public Policy, School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London If you blinked you may have missed it. Labour has a new deputy leader, Lucy Powell, who won the contest to replace Angela Rayner. The position of deputy…
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Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is an underwhelming ode to ‘the boss’
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Glenn Fosbraey, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Winchester In the last ten years, Bruce Springsteen has cemented his status as a bona fide music legend. In that time, he has won the Presidential Medal of Freedom, had a worldwide bestselling book been…
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Javier Milei’s victory in Argentina’s midterm elections is also a win for Trump
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Juan Pablo Ferrero, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Politics, University of Bath Javier Milei, Argentina’s self-styled anarcho-capitalist president, has secured a resounding victory in legislative midterm elections. Following a year marked by radical austerity, economic upheaval and political scandals, this outcome is nothing short of extraordinary.…
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From grooming gangs to Virginia Giuffre, this is the common thread in abuse
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rebecca Hamer, Research associate, Sheffield Hallam University Two stories of abuse have repeatedly captured the nation’s attention. The first relates to Prince Andrew’s friendship with financier Jeffrey Epstein, even after Epstein was convicted for sex offences. The second is the group-based child sexual abuse in Rotherham,…
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New discovery reveals chimpanzees in Uganda use flying insects to tend their wounds
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Kayla Kolff, Postdoctoral researcher, Osnabrück University Animals respond to injury in many ways. So far, evidence for animals tending wounds with biologically active materials is rare. Yet, a recent study of an orangutan treating a wound with a medicinal plant provides a promising lead. Chimpanzees,…
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Why stigmatising UPFs could be doing more harm than good
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Beverley O’Hara, Lecturer in Nutrition, Leeds Beckett University Evgeniia Trushkova/Shutterstock The 2025 Joe Wicks documentary on “killer protein bars” highlights how even well-intentioned attempts to raise awareness about food can sometimes oversimplify complex public health issues. The show’s premise – to develop and market a supposedly…
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Fossil hand from human relative puzzles scientists with mix of human- and gorilla-like features
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sally Christine Reynolds, Associate Professor in Hominin Palaeoecology, Bournemouth University Experts have been puzzled by recently discovered fossils from the hand of an extinct human relative, Paranthropus boisei. They have been surprised by a mix of human-like and gorilla-like traits in the fingers. In the journal…
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Raila Odinga mastered the art of political compromise for the good of Kenya
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Africa (2) – By Westen K Shilaho, International Relations Scholar, University of the Witwatersrand One of the markers of Kenyan statesman Raila Odinga was not just his courage in challenging the establishment but his ability to fortify it when circumstances demanded. An example was his willingness in 2007 to…