‘Peace process’ is dead, as is fragile ceasefire in Ethiopia

PM Abiy has used starvation as a weapon, while negotiations have sputtered due to mistrust and weak international oversight.

The long-anticipated renewed round of war between the Federal Government of Ethiopia against the Tigrayans began at dawn on August 24. The first shots were fired on the southern borders of Tigray near the town of Alamata. Each side blames the other for firing them.

Whose war is the US fighting in Syria, and why?

American troops have been exchanging fire with alleged Iran-backed militas all week. The timing is curious, and dangerous.

U.S. forces in Syria have been carrying out strikes against “Iran-backed” militias this week in response to a recent drone attack on the American base at Tanf and rocket attacks at two other bases in northeastern Syria.

Why US hegemony is incompatible with a ‘rules-based international order’

A bad argument for invading the Solomon Islands reflects the inherent conflict between America’s dominance and its purported liberal values.

There is no shortage of bad ideas circulating in U.S. foreign policy discourse. On occasion, however, a particularly poor argument can be helpful insofar as it reveals something noteworthy about the assumptions and ideology that produced it.

Afghanistan’s Women Are on Their Own

How the International Community Turned Its Back

Life under the Taliban is the worst women’s rights crisis on the planet. When the Taliban returned to power last August, they imposed immediate and brutal restrictions, the harshest of which were reserved for women. They quickly imposed a ban on girls’ secondary education, which remains in place despite domestic and international demands to lift it. They also placed restrictions on women’s movement, requiring women to be accompanied by a male family member while traveling, and women’s dress, ordering women to cover their faces in public. Girls and women are also no longer allowed to play sports.

Beijing’s Debts Come Due

How a Burst Real-Estate Bubble Threatens China’s Economy

The Chinese real estate sector is teetering. The largest private Chinese developer has defaulted on its external bonds. Most developers are struggling to refinance their domestic bonds. Home prices have gone down for the last 11 months. New construction is down 45 percent. The most acute stress can be traced back to developers who raised large sums by preselling yet-to-be built apartments. Some, however, failed to set aside reserves to guarantee the completion of these units, and households that took out mortgages to buy these homes have threatened to stop paying.

Maroc-France : le Conseil d’État valide l’expulsion de l’imam Hassan Iquioussen

Le Conseil d’État a validé, ce mardi 30 août, l’expulsion vers le Maroc de l’imam Hassan Iquioussen. Cette mesure ayant un effet exécutoire, le prédicateur devra quitter rapidement le territoire français.

Très attendue, la décision du Conseil d’État est finalement tombée, mardi 30 août, aux alentours de 15h00 : Hassan Iquioussen, un imam de 58 ans originaire du Nord de la France, et accusé par les autorités nationales de tenir depuis plusieurs années des propos antisémites, sexistes et homophobes, devra finalement quitter le territoire français.

Did sanctions really hurt the Russian economy?

Six months after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine, the Russian economy finds itself at a crossroads.

Sanctions have noticeably complicated life for Alexander, a 23-year-old art museum worker from Moscow. Surging prices have forced him to cut back his spending and explore getting a side job to help pay the bills. At the same time, finding certain goods that he once took for granted, such as furniture and other household items, has become a far more cumbersome process.