Category: The Conversation

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Tara Djokic, Scientific Officer, Palaeontology, Australian Museum; UNSW Sydney Fossilised fish from McGraths Flat. Salty Dingo Hidden beneath farmland in the central tablelands of New South Wales lies one of Australia’s most extraordinary fossil sites – McGraths Flat. It dates back between 11 million and…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kristian Kongshøj, Associate Professor of Political Science, Aalborg University Bjorn H Stuedal/Shutterstock After centuries of near-extinction, Europe’s wolves have made a remarkable comeback. Over the past decade, wolf populations have surged, increasing by nearly 60%. In 2022, more than 21,500 wolves were recorded across the continent.…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Chris Thompson, Lecturer in Theatre, Australian Catholic University In the chilling final scene of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece, The Godfather, the door to Michael Corleone’s office is closed in the face of his wife, Kay. It simultaneously signified the opening of many more doors…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Arrigo Moro, Postdoctoral Researcher, Galway Honey Bee Research Center, University of Galway It can be hard to distinguish between a wild and a managed honeybee. SanderMeertinsPhotography / shutterstock You might think honeybees are thriving – after all, the honey industry is growing and its bees are…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By David Smilde, Professor of Sociology, Tulane University Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures during a protest in Caracas on Jan. 9, 2025. Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images Few can doubt the courage María Corina Machado has shown in fighting for a return to democracy…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rafik Omar, Lecturer in Finance, Cardiff Metropolitan University Inkoly/Shutterstock Give me control of a nation’s money supply, and I care not who makes its laws. (Mayer Amschel Rothschild, founder of the Rothschild banking dynasty.) Throughout history, control over money has been one of the most powerful…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Pia Riggirozzi, Professor of Global Politics, University of Southampton Across Latin America, democracy is coming under severe pressure. Authoritarian leaders across the continent have been entrenching political power through constitutional manipulation, militarised policing and the persecution of dissent. In Venezuela, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Argentina, regimes…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Zsuzsanna Varga, Senior Lecturer, Political & International Studies, University of Glasgow When László Krasznahorkai, winner of the 2025 Nobel prize in literature, first burst onto Hungary’s literary scene in 1985, it was clear he was a unique talent. His first novel, Satantango, soon became a cult…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Frances Fowle, Personal Chair of Nineteenth-Century Art, History of Art, University of Edinburgh 2xSamara.com/Shutterstock Who invented art? – Grace, aged nine, Belfast, UK Before we can answer this question, we need to think about another one: “what is art?” Art is something people make to share…

Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham And the winner is … not Donald Trump. That the US president didn’t get his much-coveted award is probably going to be the enduring memory of the 2025 Nobel peace prize. This year’s recipient is María Corina…