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The Conversation
A man in military garb stands on a military vehicle.

Myanmar military’s ‘ceasefire’ follows a pattern of ruling generals exploiting disasters to shore up control

Tharaphi Than, Northern Illinois University

Chinese barges and Taiwan Strait drills are about global power projection − not just a potential invasion

Colin Flint, Utah State University

A bridge extending from a barge in the water.
In Israel, calls for genocide have migrated from the margins to the mainstream

Tamir Sorek, Penn State

A women sitting on rubble holds her head in her hand.
Marine Le Pen walking out of a courtroom.

Marine Le Pen’s victim narrative is already being constructed – but there are ways to stop her criminal conviction benefitting her

Aurelien Mondon, University of Bath

A man flashes victory V signs while holding a red, white, black and green flag.

Sudan’s civil war: What military advances mean, and where the country could be heading next

Christopher Tounsel, University of Washington

Ecological disruptions are a risk to national security

Bradley J. Cardinale, Penn State; Emmett Duffy, Smithsonian Institution, and Rod Schoonover, Georgetown University

A person uses a chain saw to cut logs next to a massive tree stump.
The peculiar Turkish corruption issue behind Istanbul mayor’s arrest – and how it became a tool of political oppression

Tulin Dzhengiz, Manchester Metropolitan University

A protester holds up a Turkish flag while facing a line of armoured roit police.
Polarisation: poor countries disagree over the economy, richer countries on social issues – new findings

Francesco Rigoli, City St George's, University of London

An illustration of two people with bullets spewing out of their mouths in.o the other's/
Myanmar’s civil war: How shifting US-Russia ties could tip balance and hand China a greater role

Tharaphi Than, Northern Illinois University

Two men in army fatigues meet amid a backdrop of a mountain.
Two men in suits stand on a platform.

Trump’s desire to ‘un-unite’ Russia and China is unlikely to work – in fact, it could well backfire

Linggong Kong, Auburn University

First year of Georgia’s ‘foreign agent’ law shows how autocracies are replicating Russian model − and speeding up the time frame

Anastasiya Zavyalova, Rice University and Christopher A. Hartwell, ZHAW School of Management and Law

A large red and white flag is seen in front of a crowd of people.
Digital imperialism: How US social media firms are using American law to challenge global tech regulation

Yasmin Curzi de Mendonça, University of Virginia and Camille Grenier, Sciences Po

An assembled crowd stands during a ceremony.

Foreign policy 101

What is a ‘revisionist’ state, and what are they trying to revise?

Andrew Latham, Macalester College

People sit around a large conference table.
What is the rules-based order? How this global system has shifted from ‘liberal’ origins − and where it could be heading next

Andrew Latham, Macalester College

Pins display various countries' flags.
What is isolationism? The history and politics of an often-maligned foreign policy concept

Andrew Latham, Macalester College

A globe has a USA flag coming out of it.
The Global South is on the rise – but what exactly is the Global South?

Jorge Heine, Boston University

A simplified map of the world is rotated 180 degrees.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, sits at a table talking on the telephone while an aide listens in.

Ukraine war: How Zelensky rebuilt his relationship with Trump to turn the tables on Putin

Natasha Lindstaedt, University of Essex

Beatings, overcrowding and food deprivation: US deportees face distressing human rights conditions in El Salvador’s mega-prison

Mneesha Gellman, Emerson College and Sarah C. Bishop, Baruch College, CUNY

Men in white shirts and shorts are bent double, being led by arimed men in balaclavas
Arrest of ex-president Duterte will shake up dynastic politics in the Philippines – and hand initiative to rival Marcos family

Lisandro Claudio, University of California, Berkeley

A black and white photo of a man is held aloft.
Can Mark Carney truly connect with Canadian voters? Canada will now find out

Kevin Quigley, Dalhousie University

A man with short grey hair speaks into a microphone behind a wooden lectern with a carved maple leaf.
1.5 million-year-old bone tools discovered in Tanzania rewrite the history of human evolution

Jackson K Njau, Indiana University

Hand holding a large piece of bone with flaked edges
Islamic State in Somalia: the terrorist group’s origins, rise and recent battlefield defeats

Stig Jarle Hansen, Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Men in combat uniforms, carrying weapons
What is apartheid? New book for young readers explains South Africa’s racist system

Xolisa Guzula, University of Cape Town and Athambile Masola, University of Cape Town

A sea of young Africans, some win school uniforms, marches down a road, placards, banners and fists aloft.
Water cooperation is essential when countries share lakes and rivers – yet it’s been deteriorating in many places, with serious consequences

Susanne Schmeier, IHE Delft and Melissa McCracken, Tufts University

People wash clothes at the edge of Lake Chad with the sunsetting over the water.
After mass killings in Syria, can a fragmented country stay united?

Ali Mamouri, Deakin University

After mass killings in Syria, can a fragmented country stay united?
Group of young boys play basketball with refugee camp in background.

Syria after Assad: why many Syrian refugees aren’t returning home

Charlotte Al-Khalili, University of Sussex and Melissa Gatter, University of Sussex

Some green leaves are seen in a pot.

How an unexpected observation, a 10th-century recipe and an explorer’s encounter with a cabbage thief upend what we know about collard greens’ journey to the American South

Bronwen Powell, Penn State and Abderrahim Ouarghidi, Penn State

Supporters of a pro-Kurdish political party with flags in Turkey.

The PKK says it will lay down its arms. What are the chances of lasting peace between Turkey and the Kurds? Podcast

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

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An aerial perspective showcases the dramatic melting icebergs of Antarctica, where the vivid blue sea claims the collapsing icy giants, a poignant visual testament to climate change

Melting Antarctic ice will slow the world’s strongest ocean current – and the global consequences are profound

Taimoor Sohail, The University of Melbourne and Bishakhdatta Gayen, The University of Melbourne

Tibet is one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world. This is in danger of extinction

Tibet is one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world. This is in danger of extinction

Gerald Roche, La Trobe University

Israel-Gaza latest

How power imbalance, misread signs and strategic blunders clouded Hamas’ judgment over Gaza ceasefire

Mkhaimar Abusada, Northwestern University

A plume of black and grey smoke is seen with distances in the foreground.
The Gaza ceasefire is dead − Israeli domestic politics killed it

Asher Kaufman, University of Notre Dame

A man surveys rubble and debris.
Israel’s war on Gaza is deliberately targeting children – new UN report

Rachel Rosen, UCL and Mai Abu Moghli, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Palestinian women and children queue for food with their pots and pans, Mach 10 2025.
What does Egypt’s plan to rebuild Gaza involve and what challenges does it face?

Rafik Omar, Cardiff Metropolitan University

Palestinians walk among the rubble of a destroyed city.
Read more on the war in Gaza

Ukraine-Russia conflict

A large warship is seen at sea behind a big wave crashing on some rocks

Maritime truce would end a sorry war on the waves for Russia that set back its naval power ambitions

Colin Flint, Utah State University

A man carries a sack past a shelled-out building.

Are Ukrainians ready for ceasefire and concessions? Here’s what the polls say

Gerard Toal, Virginia Tech; John O’Loughlin, University of Colorado Boulder, and Kristin M Bakke, UCL

More on the Ukraine-Russia War

Trump and the world

Illustration of the HIV virus

Foreign aid cuts could mean 10 million more HIV infections by 2030 – and almost 3 million extra deaths

Rowan Martin-Hughes, Burnet Institute; Debra ten Brink, Burnet Institute, and Nick Scott, Burnet Institute

How Elon Musk’s deep ties to – and admiration for – China could complicate Trump’s Beijing policy

Linggong Kong, Auburn University

How Elon Musk’s deep ties to – and admiration for – China could complicate Trump’s Beijing policy
Growing Trump-Putin detente could spell trouble for the Arctic

Duncan Depledge, Loughborough University and Caroline Kennedy-Pipe, Loughborough University

A drilling rig in the Arctic
The only ‘winner’ here is Putin: Ukraine unites in response to Trump-Zelenskyy spat and resigns itself to new reality

Lena Surzhko Harned, Penn State

Seated men and women talk while surrounded by cameras and microphones.
Why Trump really wants Ukraine’s minerals – China has put theirs off limits

Dafydd Townley, University of Portsmouth

Donald Trump.

Scam Factories: An investigation from The Conversation

Scam Factories: the inside story of Southeast Asia’s brutal fraud compounds

Scam Factories: the inside story of Southeast Asia’s brutal fraud compounds

Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Justin Bergman, The Conversation, and Matt Garrow, The Conversation

‘It seemed like a good job at first’: how people are trafficked, trapped and forced to scam in Southeast Asia – Scam Factories podcast, Ep 1

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

Buildings under construction in Sihanoukville.
‘Your life becomes a nightmare’: how scam operations exploit those trapped inside – Scam Factories podcast, Ep 2

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

A man who was trafficked to a compound praying.
‘I thought about escaping every day’: how survivors get out of Southeast Asia’s cybercrime compounds – Scam Factories podcast, Ep 3

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

A man who was trafficked to a scam compound.

Around the globe

A Chinese couple on their wedding day.

China’s dwindling marriage rate is fuelling demand for brides trafficked from abroad

Ming Gao, Lund University

Colombia wants to ban Pablo Escobar and other narco-themed merchandise – here’s why

Ross Bennett-Cook, Leeds Beckett University

A mural dedicated to Pablo Escobar in a neighbourhood in Medellín.
China flexes its media muscle in Africa – encouraging positive headlines as part of a soft power agenda

Mitchell Gallagher, Wayne State University

Man records a live speech.
Syria’s mass graves: Accounting for the dead and disappeared is crucial for the nation to heal

Stefan Schmitt, Florida International University

Two people in hazmat suits carry a body bag.
USAID’s apparent demise and the US withdrawal from WHO put millions of lives worldwide at risk and imperil US national security

Nicole Hassoun, Binghamton University, State University of New York

A man and woman rummage through various items near a cargo container with USAID signage.
DeepSeek is now a global force. But it’s just one player in China’s booming AI industry

Mimi Zou, UNSW Sydney

Red flag with one large yellow star and four smaller yellow stars in top right corner.
African Union’s new chair has a long list of tough tasks – what it will take to get them done

Ulf Engel, University of Leipzig

Man wearing grey suit, seating in front of two flags
Mexico’s drug corruption has more to do with US demand than crooked politicians

Nathaniel Morris, UCL

Claudia Sheinbaum speaking during a press conference.
Sudan war: ethnic divisions are being used to cover up army failures – peace scholar

Jan Pospisil, Coventry University

Sudan war: ethnic divisions are being used to cover up army failures – peace scholar