Tag: Global War and Violence

Book review: The Coolie’s Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict, 1914-1921

The Allied victory in the First World War was won on the back of the labour of non-combatant ‘coolies’, whose deployment allowed for swift mobilisation across fronts. A new book narrates the story of their struggles on the battlefields and of their neglect. Radhika Singha, The Coolie’s Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict, 1914-1921… Read More Book review: The Coolie’s Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict, 1914-1921

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Historical anthropologist challenges conventional wisdom about human nature and violence. By April M. Short

War and all of its brutality is attention-grabbing and memorable. Recollections of war and conquests tend to stick around and take up the spotlight in historical records. However, a war-centered narrative paints an incomplete picture of human history—and human nature. While there is a popular opinion in the anthropological community that war is an evolutionary,… Read More Historical anthropologist challenges conventional wisdom about human nature and violence. By April M. Short

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JUAN COLE: Was the assassination of a nuclear scientist a bid to kill a Biden return to Iran nuclear Deal?

Likely, the operation, whether by Israel or Saudi Arabia or both, was intended to spike tensions in US-Iranian relations so as to make it more difficult for Joe Biden to start back up the 2015 nuclear deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Israel does not acknowledge its covert operations, but it seems the… Read More JUAN COLE: Was the assassination of a nuclear scientist a bid to kill a Biden return to Iran nuclear Deal?

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“Possibly the most disgraceful episode in Australia’s military history” – The alleged Afghanistan war crimes that shocked Australia

The Brereton report has uncovered credible evidence of 39 alleged murders carried out by Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan. But details of the alleged killings are not provided in full – or in some cases – at all. Only 21 alleged murders can be identified while the other 18 are missing – presumably redacted. The nature… Read More “Possibly the most disgraceful episode in Australia’s military history” – The alleged Afghanistan war crimes that shocked Australia

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'They pointed their guns at us and started shooting' – How a bloody night of bullets and brutality quashed a young protest movement

Sometime after midnight on October 21, Elisha Sunday Ibanga answered a phone call from his older brother’s number. The person on the other end of the line — a stranger — broke the news that Ibanga’s brother, Victor, had been shot dead at the Lekki toll gate, in Lagos, Nigeria, where he had been peacefully… Read More 'They pointed their guns at us and started shooting' – How a bloody night of bullets and brutality quashed a young protest movement

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Tom Engelhardt: State of Chaos // Nick Turse: A Convergence of Calamities

Whatever his political position of the moment, he reflected one thing above all: the underlying chaos and bad faith of a world of wealth, power, and ever-growing inequality, a world, as it happened, just waiting to go down. Now that he’s defeated, count on one thing: he’ll take as much of this country with him as… Read More Tom Engelhardt: State of Chaos // Nick Turse: A Convergence of Calamities

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Journey To A War by W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood (1939) // W. H. Auden 'In Time of War' (1939)

Leave Truth to the police and us; we know the Good;   We build the Perfect City time shall never alter;    Our Law shall guard you always like a cirque of mountains… (p 266)    But ideas can be true although men die,   And we can watch a thousand faces    Made active by… Read More Journey To A War by W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood (1939) // W. H. Auden 'In Time of War' (1939)

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Indians condemn Paris beheadings, deplore outrageous statements by Muslim religious and political leaders

Press Release: Indians condemn Paris beheadings, deplore outrageous statements by Muslim religious and political leaders Well over a hundred prominent Indians from diverse backgrounds have today issued a statement condemning the Paris beheadings and deploring the outrageous statements by Muslim religious and political leaders. Among other things the statement read: “No God, gods, goddesses, prophets or… Read More Indians condemn Paris beheadings, deplore outrageous statements by Muslim religious and political leaders

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