Professor Mark n Katz argues that Russia has diverse interests in the Mediterranean basin and these interests require strategic choices which are not always complimentary. Using combinations of opportunism, prioritisation and flexibility, Russia has pursued contradictory aims as best it can with reasonable results.
Based on a field study conducted in 2013, a Bangladeshi journalist Shafiqul Alam explains how the business of a traditional form of Bengali folk drama known as “Jatra” is dying against the backdrop of the rising popularity of a localised version of “striptease” among a section of rural Bangladeshis.
Sociologist Habib Khondker argues that organised skepticism is the key to critical thinking.
The recent bombings in Jakarta have prompted Muhammad Ahmedullah to reminisce about his time in the Indonesian capital. They have also provoked him to discuss why Islam is different to other religions, why disparate groups can emerge and why some of the current methods to curb the power and appeal of ISIS are ineffective.
Associate Professor Halim Rane, who was named as the best university teacher in Australia in 2015 was in Istanbul with a group of Australian students at the time of recent terrorist attack. He argues that despite the recent terrorist attacks in Istanbul, life goes on for average Turks much as it did before. Although more attacks by ISIS and its supporters are possible, even likely, these attacks do not easily imprint themselves on the Turkish national psyche, or interfere greatly with daily life.
Polly Pallister-Wilkins argues that the most recent influx of migrants to Europe have become inextricably associated with the images of people arriving by boat on the shores of Greece or Italy. These images, however, serve to reproduce a flawed perception of the crisis by narrowing the crisis’ scope and stereotyping the experiences of the migrants and those involved with handling them.
