Section: The Conversation (USA)
Eastern Europe is shunning liberal democracy – but it’ll come back in the end
What’s happening to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe? A new authoritarianism, what one leader has called “illiberal democracy”, has taken over in Hungary and Poland. Propelled in part by the Paris and Brussels attacks and the fear of terrorism, parts of Europe are drifting away from democratic pluralism. There’s a growing sense...
Eurovision’s futile effort to steer clear of politics
The ticket agency for Eurovision 2016 caused alarm at the end of April when it published its first “flag policy”. It restricted regional flags, sounded ambivalent about EU and rainbow flags, and even compared eight very different territories to Islamic State – all to protect Eurovision’s “non-political nature”. Organisers relaxed the flags...
Uncovering ancient Ashkenaz – the birthplace of Yiddish speakers
Did Ashkenazi Jews descend from ancient Turkey? Everett Historical/ShutterstockThe search for the location of Ashkenaz – thought to be the birthplace of Ashkanazic Jews and the Yiddish language – is one of the longest quests in human history. It has been lasted at least 1,000 years and is perhaps second only to Noah’s Ark, which has been...
Clinton and Trump: different visions of America abroad
Despite the media’s best efforts to keep us guessing, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are now the overwhelming favorites to represent the Democratic and Republican parties in the presidential election in the fall. And as Donald Trump’s speech last week made clear, they represent two very different potential trajectories for...
At Chernobyl and Fukushima, radioactivity has seriously harmed wildlife
The largest nuclear disaster in history occurred 30 years ago at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in what was then the Soviet Union. The meltdown, explosions and nuclear fire that burned for 10 days injected enormous quantities of radioactivity into the atmosphere and contaminated vast areas of Europe and Eurasia. The International Atomic Energy...
Forget Fukushima: Chernobyl still holds record as worst nuclear accident for public health
The 1986 Chernobyl and 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accidents both share the notorious distinction of attaining the highest accident rating on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scale of nuclear accidents. No other reactor incident has ever received this Level 7 “major accident” designation in the history of nuclear power....
From fiction to gallows humour – how Chernobyl survivors are coping with trauma
It’s been exactly 30 years since the world’s worst nuclear disaster occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine. Yet the trauma is still fresh. Exactly how the survivors handle this trauma has been the subject of a lot of psychological research – and it has identified a range of sometimes surprising defence mechanisms....
Ideas for Australia: Australia boosts defences, but must pick its fights carefully in a time of tensions and uncertainties
The adjustment in Australia’s defence spending to 1.9% to 2% of GDP is reasonable. AAP/Tracey NearmyThe Conversation has asked 20 academics to examine the big ideas facing Australia for the 2016 federal election and beyond. The 20-piece series will examine, among others, the state of democracy, health, education, environment, equality,...
What Mongol history predicts for the next season of Game of Thrones
© 2015 HBOAs season six of HBO’s Game of Thrones looms, speculation is rife. Is Jon Snow really dead? What do the clips featuring a blind Arya mean? And what are the implications of the return of the Dothraki? This last question is the one that has got me thinking the most. The Dothraki are one of Game of Thrones’s more interesting...
Ukraine: a counter revolution could be under way in Kiev
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s unruly parliament, voted on April 14 to accept the resignation of Arseniy Yatsenyuk, leader of the People’s Front party. The prime minister, who has been in post since the Euromaidan uprising in February 2014, reluctantly announced on April 10 that he intended to leave office. President Petro...
