The worst thing you could be in the Soviet Union in the late 1940s was a “rootless cosmopolitan.” The epithet sometimes came with a death sentence. The Soviet Communist Party, under the strong guiding hand of Joseph Stalin, had long turned its back on the internationalism of its founders and...
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to political scientist Jasmin Mujanovic. The Balkan region is a volatile area of southeastern Europe. It has been through many ups and downs since the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1992. Conflicts over borders and unsettled political...
In the past, emotions in politics were too often negatively defined, dismissed as symptoms of immaturity and irrationality. "I'm mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” shouts news anchor Howard Beale in the 1975 movie Network. Thousands of ordinary people follow his lead,...
The history that citizens of modern nations study as the true record of their past may in reality be nothing more than a set of new mythologies. In an article for Aeon, Oxford historian Josephine Quinn tells us that “Modern nationalism created history as we know it today: what we learn in...
Historic tensions between expansionism and isolationism continue to America’s role in the world. The United States of America is the most powerful country in human history. Responsible for nearly 40% of the world’s military spending, America’s era of global dominance has coincided with...
Nations under attack can quickly grow more divided and increasingly hostile toward those from outside cultures. A string of terror attacks across the globe have shaken the world’s most powerful nations to their core. As a result of these tragic events and the fear-mongering from politicians...
There's a battle coming for the soul of Europe and the far-right is rallying like it's 1099. In the first Crusade, on their way to fight the Muslim infidels in Jerusalem, the armed pilgrims asked themselves a provocative question: Why should we trek so far to kill people we barely know when we...
UKIP voices deep-seated concerns in British society that liberals struggle to address. In the ten years between 2001-11, Britain saw the steepest population growth of any decade since the census was first conducted in 1801. In England and Wales, over half this population increase was due to...
India, and the world, should be wary of Narendra Modi India may elect as its next prime minister a far-right Hindu nationalist who, as governor of Gujarat, directed his state's police force to look the other way during a mass slaughter of Muslims in 2002. Narendra Modi is a self-made...
As Syria’s civil war rages on, thousands of refugees flee daily to Lebanon. The Lebanese state needs to focus on national unity to avoid further political instability. By the end of 2013, Lebanon estimates that there will be a staggering 1.2 million Syrian refugees within its borders, in...
