What ISIS Leaves Behind in Mosul Will Reveal a Lot
Did the bureaucrats of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) keep careful records? Did they flee Mosul too quickly to destroy the written record of their occupation? Do they care if the world learns more about their atrocities, which they publicized themselves? The capture of Mosul, Iraq, may p…
Animal life-cycles have already shifted in response to climate change – and that’s a problem for humans too
Every aspect of life has been impacted by global warming, and some changes are being felt decades before scientists thought they would. According to new research from the University of Florida published in the journal Science, 80% of the ecological processes that form the foundation for h…
The biter bit
Killing mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, the sort that transmit malaria, is a serious business—so serious that some doctors would like to do it by using people as bait. Their idea is to dose those in malarious areas with a drug called ivermectin. This will not protect the dosees directly…
An Economic Ultimatum for the Arab World
If Middle Eastern countries do not start making real progress on fundamental political and economic reforms, further regional turmoil is inevitable. With the rentier systems that governments have maintained for decades now at a breaking point, policymakers must begin the difficult, but not impossibl…
Increasing China’s Food Supply – With Drones
Although drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) achieved prominence owing to their recreational and military uses, they hold other value. In particular, drones could help increase the food supply, a critical need as the world’s population is estimated to reach 9.9 billion by t…
Should Baathists have role in post-IS Iraq?
Iraqi security forces arrested Saddam Hussein’s cousin Nizar Hammoud Abdul Ghani, who was one of the Iraqi president’s personal guards, on Oct. 25 for his alleged involvement in the Islamic State’s attack on Kirkuk on Oct. 21. “Three of his brothers are also high-ranking officers in the [I…
The 4 Types of AI That Will Rule Our Future
The common, and recurring, view of the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence research is that sentient and intelligent machines are just on the horizon. Machines understand verbal commands, distinguish pictures, drive cars and play games better than we do. How much longer can it be before …
Trump Spells End of Normality for Europe
Angela Merkel has no lack of experience in dealing with egocentric men. The chancellor has known Russian President Vladimir Putin for years and she speaks regularly with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the phone. After the surprising victory of self-made politician Donald Trump in the US p…
Africa cannot trade its way to an industrial revolution
“International trade cannot substitute for technological change, so those who depend on it as their major hope are doomed to frustration.” This was the conclusion of economist Sir Arthur Lewis in a series of seminal lectures on the “evolution of the international trade order”, in which he explained …
Donald Trump’s First 100 Days: How He Could Reshape U.S. Foreign Policy
On Inauguration Day 2017, Donald Trump will inherit Barack Obama’s “pen and phone” inside the Oval Office. Within the first day, by using the power of executive authority, he can begin to reshape U.S. foreign policy even without securing support from within the Congress for these actions, by followi…