China, West rush to mine Africa’s critical minerals
Global demand for critical minerals, particularly lithium, is growing rapidly to meet clean energy and de-carbonization objectives.
The Conversation in asian news
Populism is on the rise and it can degrade democracy
There’s a widespread view that populism is on the rise, from the United States and Turkey to India and Hungary.
Will next Iran president make nicer with the West?
Iran’s presidential election on June 28 may provide Tehran an opportunity to press reset on foreign policy issues after years of increasing hawkishness. Indeed, a key campaign issue has been the extent to which the candidates may – or may not – pivot to more engagement with the West.
Israel-Hezbollah escalation could pull in Iran, US
Months of relentless exchanges between Israel and Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah have seen mass civilian evacuations and widespread death, injury and destruction.
China cracks down on ‘wealth-flaunting’ influencers
Chinese regulators are in the process of wrapping up a two-month “spring clean” of the country’s social media.
For decades there’ve been Jewish critics of Zionism
Since October 2023, American Jews have been engaged in an intense, fractious debate over Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.
Push to silence Modi’s critics hits Arundhati Roy
Narendra Modi recently won a third term as Indian prime minister after his BJP was returned to power, albeit as part of a minority government leading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition. Having expected to win another majority from which to pursue his Hindu nationalist – or Hindutva – agenda, Modi will have to operate within the constraints of a considerably reduced mandate.
Israel’s Hezbollah war threat hurts Biden more than Trump
Israel has announced that it is ready to go to war with Hezbollah – a move that is likely to undermine US President Joe Biden’s chances in the 2024 election even further.
Rise of the far right is a 4th dimension phenomenon
To truly understand populism, we have to take the long view. In the 1960s, populist parties won, on average, 5.4% of the vote in Europe – while today, following the European Parliament elections on June 9, more than 20% of the electorate trusts them with their vote.