Section: The Conversation (USA)
A look inside the Czech Republic’s booming fertility holiday industry
Nick Lehr/The Conversation, CC BYIn 2008, a friend sent me a link to a Czech company called IVF Holiday. Clicking the link, I saw images of quaint European towns. These were accompanied by pictures of smiling white babies – and promises of affordable and safe rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF). I soon realized I’d stumbled into a new...
Who do they think ‘we’ are? Why the BBC should keep its distance
During the Falklands War of 1982, Margaret Thatcher was, apparently, furious at the BBC’s even-handed reporting of the conflict. She lamented what she referred to as the “chilling use of the third person” on hearing the BBC refer to military personnel as “they” rather than “we”. The BBC, however, was clear about the value of its...
We still don’t really know the health hazards of a nuclear accident
Greg Webb / IAEA/Flickr, CC BY-SAFive years after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima and 30 years after the Chernobyl accident, scientists are still disagreeing about the impact on human health – such as how many people have got cancer as a result and how dangerous the exclusion zones currently are. In Fukushima, residents are forbidden to...
Why Putin has pulled Russia out of Syria
Back in September 30 2015, when Vladimir Putin unexpectedly announced the deployment of the Russian air force in Syria, the consensus was that this would prove to be a costly mistake. Critics argued that airstrikes alone would not make any tangible difference to the facts on the ground. The seemingly endless US-led air campaign against Islamic...
Russian Syria withdrawal: Vladimir Putin is the consummate political gambler
Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is not an easy politician to read. He is willing to say one thing while his diplomats and military do another – as the long-running conflict in Ukraine has demonstrated. His statements are at the pinnacle of a Russian state propaganda machine shrouding any “truth” in layers of often deceptive assertions. And, as...
Inside Europe’s refugee deal with Turkey – is it legal and can it work?
The proposed refugee exchange programme between the EU and Turkey is the most visible example of an evolving European policy of “humane return”. Containment (keeping refugees in the Middle East) hasn’t worked, nor have deflection (razor wire on the Hungarian and Macedonian borders), temporary protection or permanent resettlement. This is...
A vibrant civil society is central to democratic consolidation in Tunisia
Unemployed graduates in Tunisia demonstrate to demand that the government provides job opportunities. Reuters/Zoubeir SouissiIn late 2010 demonstrations in Tunisia sparked a popular push for democratisation through the Arab world in what became known as the Arab Spring. The uprisings saw Tunisia emerge from 23 years of despotic rule under...
Queer wars: the best place to start promoting gay rights is at home
Australia detains asylum seekers in a country that criminalises homosexuality. AAP/Dan HimbrechtsWhen Austrian singer Conchita Wurst headlined the Mardi Gras afterparty on Saturday night it seemed as though all of Sydney was celebrating. Yet Wurst’s message of “respect and tolerance” continues to be controversial. Wurst won the 2014...
The history behind Ukraine’s Eurovision song about Stalin’s deportation of Crimean Tartars
Most entries to the Eurovision song contest are frothy pop tunes, but this year’s contribution from Ukraine addresses Stalin’s deportation of the entire Tatar population of Crimea in May 1944. It may seem an odd choice, but is actually very timely if we dig a little into the history of mass repression and inter-ethnic tensions in the...
Cyberwar is here to stay
Cyberwarfare is a threat that is anonymous, hard to trace and hard to defend against. Keyboard image via shutterstock.comLast week, The New York Times revealed that the Obama administration had prepared a cyberattack plan to be carried out against Iran in the event diplomatic negotiations failed to limit that country’s nuclear weapons...
