Recent studies on mass violence have turned the spotlight on the resilience of targeted individuals and communities.
An Iranian woman protests the death of Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the morality police in Tehran in September 2022. This photo was taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran.
(AP Photo/Middle East Images)
Following a brutal government crackdown, Iranian protesters are organizing strikes, sit-ins, boycotts and publicizing their demands in the form of manifestos, charters and bills of rights.
Disasters such as the earthquake affecting Turkey and Syria are always worse when there is bad blood between the countries involved.
In this Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, photo obtained by The Associated Press, a police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of a young woman who had been detained for violating the country’s conservative dress code in downtown Tehran, Iran.
(AP Photo)
Women have long demanded change in Iran. In the aftermath of the death of a woman for a hijab violation, women protesters may be leading their country to a freer and more just society.
People attend an exhibition of Russian equipment destroyed by the armed forces of Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine, Aug. 11, 2022.
Olena Znak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Democratic nation-states were supposed to be the legitimate successors of empires. It hasn’t quite worked out that way in the past century, and Russia’s war on Ukraine is a reflection of that.
Day 4 of our Understanding Islam series. Knowing the historical contributions of Islam and its influence on other faiths can help counter many assumptions about the religion today.
A mural depicting Pope Francis on a concrete wall around the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, in preparation for the pontiff’s visit,
AP/Photo/Khalid Mohammed
The events that followed the 2003 US invasion of Iraq started a cycle of violence against the country’s minority Christian population. The pope’s visit is meant to bring some ‘healing and comfort.’
A protest in 2019 in support of Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Sedat Suna/EPA
To stem the spread of COVID-19, Turkey is releasing 90,000 prison inmates. Not on the list for release: tens of thousands of academics, journalists and others the regime sees as political threats.
A concert for Kurdish unity held in Germany in early January.
K.Sido/GfBV-archiv
Different ideologies and agendas among Kurdish political groups means they don’t push a single narrative about the Kurdish homeland. Diaspora groups are trying to change that.
President Donald Trump has rapidly, and without warning to allies or even his own officials, shifted U.S. foreign policy in Syria.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
David Banks, American University School of International Service
In northern Syria, Trump has caused U.S. allies and rivals to view American commitments in a new, uncertain light. Other countries may now shift to depend less on the U.S., weakening national power.
A mass grave is excavated in Khan Al-Rubea in 2003 that witnesses say is filled with the remains of Shia whom Saddam executed in 1991.
AP/Hasan Sarbakhshian
Distrust of the US – even if misplaced – can linger for decades, thwarting Washington’s foreign policy goals. A former US diplomat in Iraq reflects on that country’s skepticism of US aid efforts.
Flag of Kurdistan on military uniform.
Bumble Dee/Shutterstock.com
Since the 1940s, Congress has largely let the president make decisions, while members of the House and Senate endorse or condemn those actions from the sidelines.
A B-61 bomb, like the ones stored at the US Incirlik Airbase in Turkey.
Flickr/Kelly Michals
Almost 4 million Syrian refugees live in Turkey, which has taken noteworthy steps to integrate them into the country in the past five years. Will Turkey now try to force those refugees back to Syria?
Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University