Why would anyone award a prize to a rejected peace deal?
Colombians march in the city of Cali to support the peace deal that was narrowly rejected in an October 2 plebiscite. The 50%-50% vote showed how polarized the country is.
Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters
Nobel Prize aside, Colombia continues to choose war over peace and uncertainty over resolution. Is it something ingrained in the national psyche, or the product of a tangled-up political process?
Duterte has, among other things, mobilised nationalist antipathy against foreign interference to deflect criticism of his violent drug crackdown.
KING RODRIGUEZ / PPD / HANDOUT
Duterte used his “tough on crime” approach to win the election as a political outsider, promising to restore law and order with strongman rule. His approval rating has since soared to over 90%.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong shows a notice of expulsion offered by Thai immigration.
REUTERS/Bobby Yip
Kevin Hewison, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Since the Thai military grabbed power in 2014, it’s been widely accepted that the country has moved closer to China, forsaking its former position as a staunch political and economic ally of the West.
The idea that there’s a moral imperative for humans to expand beyond Earth is echoed by influential proponents of space exploration.
Tamara Craiu/Flickr
Technology had enabled humans to explore the deep sea, the Earth’s poles, and outer space. But we shouldn’t forget historical lessons about frontiers in the process of traversing them.
ISIS fighters celebrating in Mosul, Iraq, in 2014. Criminological studies suggest terrorists would use diverse tactics to neutralise feelings of guilt.
Reuters
Do ISIS fighters feel guilty about the violence they perpetrate? Not likely, according to criminological research, which suggests terrorists “neutralise” their guilt, just as many other criminals do.
Um Radwan, a female fighter in the Free Syrian Army, looks through a curtain in Aleppo’s Bustan al-Basha district, October 3, 2013.
Muzaffar Salman/ Reuters
Encounters with Western countries continue to colour political discourses, including on gender in turbulent Syria. But women’s influence is more diverse and powerful than what is portrayed.
Abdurrashim, 72, who served 12 years in detention for links to the communist party, attends a state-backed event on the controversial 1965 anti-communist purge.
Reuters/Darren Whiteside
For decades, Indonesia’s official national history was silent about the murders and incarceration of hundred thousands of people. Moving beyond that will require a new understanding of what happened.
El Salvador stands at the centre of the current refugee crisis in Central America. But gang violence is not the only reason why its people are fleeing their country.
The Indian government risks a serious escalation of violence if the Pakistani government and militant groups in that country respond with even more attacks.
Mukesh Gupta/Reuters
While the details of exactly what happened during Indonesia’s 1965-66 massacre of ‘communists’ remain buried in the depths of time, here’s what we do know.
FARC members passing time, waiting for the peace negociations in a camp in Colombia.
John Vizcaino/Reuters
Women’s involvement in armed conflict in Peru and Colombia has a deep impact on societies. But peace processes and political aftermath rarely recognise their role.
Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader Ridrigo Lodono announce the signed peace accord in Cartagena.
Reuters
Once seen as a diplomatic victory, the nuclear deal of 2015 is now perceived as a failure by conservatives who reject President Rouhani’s message of moderation as economic recovery remains elusive.