When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

THE CONVERSATION
A network of not-for-profit media outlets that publish news stories written by academics and researchers
Teenagers and American tourists in Cape Town.
eyes on the U.S.
Asafa Jalata

The Unique Role Of African Americans In Building A New U.S.-Africa Alliance

Recent allegations by the U.S. ambassador to South Africa that the African nation gave ammunition and weapons to Russia in December 2022, amid Russia’s war on Ukraine, illustrate the complexity of U.S.-Africa relations.

Even as South Africa investigates those claims, the Biden administration is trying to strengthen ties with the African Union, a continental member organization, and 49 of Africa’s 54 countries, including South Africa, on geopolitical and commercial issues.

The only African countries the U.S. is not courting are four that were suspended from the African Union, and Eritrea, a country with which the United States doesn’t have a formal relationship.

The U.S. is making this grand African play as it competes with China to influence the continent’s future. And while this particular U.S.-China contest is relatively new, U.S. involvement in Africa is not.

The way the U.S. has been involved on the continent, though, has changed over time, depending on the era, U.S. interests and a particular African nation’s needs. In 1822, for example, the U.S. began to send freeborn African Americans and emancipated former enslaved African Americans to Africa, where they settled the colony that would eventually become Liberia. That settlement was originally governed by white Americans.

Watch VideoShow less
Image of a street with smoke in the sky in Khartoum, Sudan.
Society
Amira Osman

My Broken Khartoum: An Architect's Eye On Her Once Vibrant Hometown

Khartoum, one African capital that hadn't seen fighting in its recent history, is in the grip of a civil war between rival military forces. How it looks to an architect who grew up in the heart of its creative energy.

-Essay-

The city has always been a hub of creativity. It was awarded the title of Arab Capital of Culture in 2005. Despite its Arab affiliation, the capital of Sudan is also very African. A tension of identities — British colonial, African, Islamic — made Khartoum what it was.

This triple heritage is powerfully reflected in Greater Khartoum’s composition as three towns separated by rivers with a network of bridges. Omdurman is considered a national capital, the symbol of the values of the people, while Khartoum is the administrative capital and Bahri (or Khartoum North) is the industrial town. Together, they are simply known as Khartoum.

Watch VideoShow less
Photo of Leader of Thailand's Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat, celebrating election results in Bangkok on May 14.
Ideas
Greg Raymond

Is Thailand Ready To Be A Bonafide Democracy?

Thai voters spoke in favor of Pita Limjaroenrat's Move Forward party, bringing hopes of in-depth reform of the country's institutions. But that doesn’t guarantee Thailand’s opposition forces will be able to form a government, or that the military will ultimately give way.

The last time voters headed to the polls in Thailand was in 2019, following five years of a repressive military dictatorship. Thai voters spoke nervously of their democratic aspirations and allowed a military-led government into power.

Now, after four years of a functioning parliamentary democracy, Thai voters have roared. With nearly all votes counted in Sunday’s parliamentary election, they have resoundingly rejected the junta and its successor military-proxy parties.

Thailand’s most progressive party, Move Forward, looks set to gain the most seats in the new parliament. Close behind is the more established and similarly liberal Pheu Thai party of the polarising Shinawatra dynasty.

Following them in third place is Bhumjaithai. This rural-based, more traditional party of patronage politics had recently been the previous government’s coalition partner.

Watch VideoShow less
Image of people looking through books in a book market in the street.
Geopolitics
Renee Ragin Randall

In Iraqi Literature, A Surprisingly Minor Role For The U.S. Invasion

Leading writers in Iraq depict the U.S. invasion and its consequences as just one chapter in a much longer and broader history of foreign occupations and internal political violence in Iraq.

-Analysis-

It’s been just over 20 years since the United States invaded Iraq. Some Americans have largely forgotten about the invasion, despite the fact the Sept. 11 attacks that precipitated it still loom large in U.S. national memory. Even during the heart of the war in 2006, most young Americans could not find Iraq on a map.

Many Iraqis, though, have a more nuanced, deeper understanding of the country’s recent history: An understanding which can be seen in their literature – and particularly in the contemporary, post-invasion literature that scholars like me study.

For the past two decades, Iraqi literature in particular has undertaken a deep excavation of its recent past, going far beyond the confines of the U.S. invasion.

Watch VideoShow less
photo of King Charles coronation flags
Geopolitics
Sean Lang

Why The King's Coronation Is (Still) A Celebration Of The British Empire

The coronation ceremony of King Charles III reflects how the monarchy has developed since Saxon times, but it still carries many vestiges of Britain’s imperial past.

-Analysis-

LONDON — In the 18th century, the royal title changed from “King of England” to “King of the United Kingdom”, as successive Acts of Union joined England, Scotland and Ireland into one political unit. However, the biggest change in the royal title came in 1876, when the Royal Titles Act made Queen Victoria Empress of India. This gave her authority even over those areas of India which were not formally subject to British rule.

To give this change of title a formal announcement in India, the British authorities staged what became the first of three durbars – ceremonial events held in the British Raj to formally proclaim the imperial title. Queen Victoria’s was held in 1877, the year following the act, but Edward VII’s and George V’s were held in conjunction with their coronations.

The viceroy of India in 1877, Lord Lytton, concocted the original durbar from a mixture of Persian, Mughal and English ceremonial traditions, as a formal proclamation of the queen’s title. When her son became Edward VII in 1901, a bigger durbar was organised to proclaim his imperial title – although, like his mother, Edward remained in London.

Watch VideoShow less
​Image of people marching under the LGBTQIA+ flag during a demonstration.
LGBTQ Plus
Dennis Altman

What Explains Such Uneven Progress Of LGBTQ+ Rights Around The World

As LGBTQ+ rights continue to be a global struggle, there's a widening gap between countries making strides towards equality and those experiencing regression due to political, cultural, and religious opposition.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong joined 50,000 people to march in support of queer rights across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for World Pride in early March. A week earlier, Albanese became the first sitting prime minister to march in Sydney’s Mardi Gras, something he’s done over several decades.

And yet at the same time, in another part of the world, Uganda’s parliament passed a string of draconian measures against homosexuality, including possible death sentences for “aggravated homosexuality”. Any “promotion” of homosexuality is also outlawed.

✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

Watch VideoShow less
Image of soldiers march during a military parade to mark the 78th Armed Forces Day in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, March 27, 2023.
Geopolitics
Tharaphi Than

How Many Dead Bodies? Myanmar Military Stops At Nothing To Squash Resistance

Last week, Myanmar's armed forces bombed a gathering in a village in Sagaing Region, killing scores of innocent victims. It was not an isolated incident.

-Analysis-

In the early days of a brutal 2021 military crackdown on anti-coup protesters in Myanmar, members of the nascent resistance movement began asking “how many dead bodies” it would take for the world community to act.

More than two years on from a coup that installed military rule in the Southeast Asian country, pro-democracy protesters say they have yet to receive an adequate answer.

On April 11, 2023, the country’s armed forces dropped multiple bombs on a gathering in Pazigyi, a village in Sagaing Region, killing at least 165 people, including many children.

Such attacks are not uncommon, if not usually so deadly. The day before the Sagaing massacre, the Myanmar air force dropped bombs in Falam, Chin State, killing 11 people. In fact, since civil war broke out, 3,240 civilians and pro-democracy activists have been killed, according to the human rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. In response, a fierce resistance movement has emerged, with an estimated 65,000 fighters using ambushes and other guerrilla tactics against military targets.

Watch VideoShow less
Photo of a ​crowd flying U.S. and Irish flags as they greet then Vice President Joe Biden during a state visit to Dublin in June 2016
Geopolitics
Liam Kennedy*

In The Footsteps Of JFK: Biden's Ireland Trip Weaves Personal With Geopolitical

There's a long tradition of U.S. presidents — many of whom have been of Irish heritage — visiting Ireland. But Joe Biden's visit is much more than just a diplomatic mission.

The U.S. president, Joe Biden, is expected in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. His visit will be one of historic symbolism and of personal significance, as an Irish Catholic president who has spoken proudly of his ties to the country.

A few weeks ago, the UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, formally invited Biden to come to Northern Ireland to mark the anniversary of the peace deal, which the U.S. helped broker. The UK has much work to do to repair relations with the U.S. following the Trump-Johnson years, especially if they are to pursue a much desired trade deal that has been stymied partly due to U.S. concerns about the safety of the Good Friday Agreement post-Brexit.

The four-day visit comes at a fragile time for the agreement, threatened by post-Brexit trade arrangements and political tensions in Northern Ireland. Power-sharing in the Northern Ireland assembly — a key feature of the Good Friday Agreement — has been in limbo for over a year, due to a boycott by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). In a recent poll, a majority of Northern Irish unionists said they would vote against the agreement if a referendum were held today.

Watch VideoShow less