Last words
Marx noted that history reoccurs, first as tragedy, then as farce. We seem to be living in a period where history remains unlearned yet is... Read More
An open letter to Donald Trump from Iraq
TransConflict is pleased to present an open letter by Sami Rasouli – founder of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, a member of the Global Coalition for Conflict... Read More
An Iraqi Sunni state is prerequisite to defeating ISIS
The Obama administration, with its coalition partners, must now develop a strategy to defeat ISIS, which will be extremely difficult unless Iraqi Sunnis join the... Read More
Mistakes were made – part II
The US is now in the process of choosing its next president. Everyone – in America and beyond – should insist that all the candidates... Read More
The inevitable conflict – empowerment of terrorism through appeasement
There is a need to unravel the many intertwined factors that affects governments’ decisions to negotiate or not with terrorist groups as part of their negotiating strategy... Read More
Conflict and intervention – the role of multilateralism
There are five good reasons for the major powers – especially the US – to commit themselves to consensus decisions on multilateral intervention achieved through... Read More
Broken states never heal themselves
Broken states never heal themselves and can only be put back together with the prolonged involvement of outsiders working together to end the violence, impose... Read More
America’s default setting – part two
Berlin and Brussels should be spearheading efforts to pull together a diplomatic approach – to accompany US/Russian military actions – to gaining some level of... Read More
The refugee crisis – demilitarising masculinities
Photos emerging from the borders of Europe weave a new narrative around what it means to be vulnerable, to be a man, to say no... Read More
Palmyra – ISIS-wanton destruction
Syria and Iraq are home to some of the world’s first cities, a complex and unique meeting of states, empires, and faiths. Leadership must come... Read More
Iraq 2015 – development and decentralization (de facto)
In the context of the bitter struggle in Iraq and beyond, it seems important at the present moment to share ideas about decentralized development and... Read More
Civic fantasy
The United States is trying to build the South Vietnamese Army in Iraq (and Syria).
The necessity of Iraqi Sunni independence
One of the main prerequisites to defeating ISIS in Iraq is to determine the political future of Sunni Iraqis. The Obama administration must therefore begin, concurrently... Read More
Yugoslavia, Syria and Iraq – lessons learnable?
The demise of Yugoslavia has several important lessons for other divided contexts. First, if you want to maintain the stability of internally divided states, it... Read More
The fractured response of humanitarian aid in Syria
Humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis remains a high priority of national governments and intergovernmental organisations. But the multiplying regional conflicts are hampering all efforts... Read More
Why military interventions fail
In examining history, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that a number of major ‘stabilizing interventions’ should not have occurred at all.
The shortcut to deradicalization is the long road
Given the continuing widespread death and destruction sweeping the Middle East, however, the Arab states have little choice but to develop a long-term comprehensive strategy... Read More
The active defense of the cultural heritage of humanity
Today we face the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage, such as the large Buddha statues in Afghanistan, manuscripts in Timbuktuica and religious and cultural artifacts... Read More
What to do about civil war?
As difficult on a human level as it may be to stand back and not intervene, the best approach to the conflicts in the Mideast... Read More
9/11 wars – a reckoning
Snared by geopolitical interests, post-9/11 interventions have too easily been captured by leading states. A robust law enforcement process must serve enforcers of law, not... Read More
Sexualized violence in Iraq – how to understand and fight it
Sexualised and gender-based violence in Iraq, highlighted in recent weeks in relation to ISIS atrocities, has been at the heart of sectarian and authoritarian politics... Read More
Living with the Islamic State
Even if the Islamic State’s current modus operandi revolts us, the political logic to its existence remains firm. The West and the regional powers alike... Read More
Torture is also stupid
The revelations of CIA torture are the tip of an iceberg. The larger issue remains the apparent American inability to formulate a bipartisan approach to... Read More
ISIS – becoming armed, dangerous and a participant in mass violence
Leaving aside financial support from more fundamentalist elements within the various Gulf states, three factors have assisted the fast-paced recruitment of such a large army;... Read More
What if the Islamic State wins?
If Islamic State cannot be defeated militarily, and if “degrading” it remains a distant and uncertain outcome, then everyone may have to accept that the... Read More