Stig Jarle Hansen, Norwegian University of Life Sciences The Islamic State in Somalia is an affiliate of the transnational jihadist group Islamic State, known in short as ISIS. Based in the semi-autonomous northern Somalia territory of Puntland, the terrorist group was the target of the first foreign combat operation of the Trump administration
Ph. An etching by Pietro Fabris of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, where thousands of people continue to live, despite the risk. Wellcome Collection Ralph Hertwig, Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Stephan Lewandowsky, University of Bristol The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 paved the way for the democratisation of
The Heritage Foundation flag flies over its building on July 30, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Fred L. Pincus, University of Maryland, Baltimore County President Donald Trump issued an executive order on March 20, 2025, that calls for closing the U.S. Department of Education. The president needs congressional approval to shutter
Natasha Lindstaedt, University of Essex After Donald Trump’s “very good and productive” phone call with Vladimir Putin earlier this week, all eyes were on his subsequent call with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Would it, as it did when they last met in the flesh on February 28 at the White House, descend into
Gemma Ware, The Conversation When the first cases of COVID began to spread around the world in early 2020, people in Iquitos, a remote city in the Peruvian Amazon, weren’t unduly worried. They assumed their isolation would protect them. It didn’t. Peru, and Iquitos, were hit fast and hard. In many wealthier parts
Paul Whiteley, University of Essex The spat between Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform party, and Rupert Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, burst into the open when Lowe was suspended from the party. The allegation was that he had threatened violence to the party leadership, which he denies. The matter is
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was one of 10 Democrats who voted to break the filibuster on the GOP funding bill. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Charlie Hunt, Boise State University Facing a threat of imminent government shutdown, nine Democrats joined GOP Senate colleagues to defeat a filibuster, moving the six-month government funding bill
Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham and Tetyana Malyarenko, National University Odesa Law Academy Less than a fortnight after Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky had their now-notorious row in the Oval Office and US-Ukrainian relations appeared irretrievably damaged, the two countries have reached an agreement. After nine hours of negotiations behind closed doors in
Benoît Grémare, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 In February 2020, French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time to reflect on the European dimension of French nuclear deterrence. He proposed a strategic dialogue as well as joint nuclear exercises between European partners. Five years later, Germany’s likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, responded to this
Danny Bradlow, University of Pretoria South Africa took over the presidency of the G20 at the end of 2024. Since then the world has become a more complex, unpredictable and dangerous place. The most powerful state in the world, the US, seems intent on undermining the existing order that it created and on