When mobs rampaged through parts of western Burma in June, villages were burnt to the ground, dozens of people were slaughtered, and thousands fled for their lives to other parts of the country or to Bangladesh. The army joined the fray, and fleeing refugees carried tales of executions and mass arrests of Rohingya Muslims. Ethnic and […]

Online education programs are one of the most exciting trends in higher education today. Here at Via Meadia we’ve been closely following new programs like Coursera and EdX, which provide university-level classes from respected schools to anyone with an internet connection, all for free. Yet for all the excitement, we still wonder: How does a program dedicated […]

Iraq just had its bloodiest day of the year to date, with a series of coordinated bombings and shootings claiming more than 100 lives. It’s an ominous return to form for al-Qaeda, which is taking advantage of the absence of American troops and the fragility of the government to wreak havoc and enflame sectarian unrest.Fox […]

Last week, the New York Times told its readers something they didn’t want to hear. Unions, for all they accomplished in the past century, will fade into irrelevance in this century if they don’t embrace dramatic change.This week, Times is saying something similar to another devoted section of its readership: the greens. A feature on […]

Before a fruitless visit to Moscow (Radikal), Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan renewed his threatening rhetoric toward Assad and other members of the regime, saying that Syrians would “make them pay” (Today’s Zaman). The Muslim Brotherhood convened a conference in support of the Syrian opposition in Istanbul this week, attended by Abdulbasit Sida, president of […]

With everyone from Pakistan to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization aiming for influence in postwar Afghanistan, India is rolling up its sleeves and getting involved. At the end of June, New Delhi hosted an “investment meet” with representatives from 40 countries and five Afghan ministers, all to discuss the creation of economic opportunities in a nation that […]

The latest clash over fishing territory in Asia saw Russian coast guard ships open fire on a Chinese fishing trawler in far east Primorsky, knocking one sailor overboard as the rest were scooped up and detained. The FT reports: During Monday’s incident one of the Chinese vessels tried to ram the Russian ship according to a […]

With urban warfare in Syria, a worsening financial crisis plus a stock market crash in Europe and new warnings of recession in the United States, this is a big news day, but when people look back on this day in history, they may well say the most consequential story in today’s news comes from China. […]

The war in Syria is now in a critical phase. Since the beginning of the struggle, we’ve spoken of Damascus and Aleppo as the core of Assad’s strength and the cities he must hold to hold the country. Damascus is the political capital and Aleppo is the commercial capital. In both cities, the mainly Alawite […]

The essays this week continued our look at what the looming energy bonanza due to technological advances might mean for America, both domestically and in terms of its foreign policy.Foreign relations-wise, the effects could be profound. An age of energy abundance will act both as a lubricant and a salve for the international system, greasing […]