Tag: war

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Political power, religion, and perpetual dissent

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Mohammed Hanif, Booker-longlisted author’s lively and rich novel about the power of language, friendship, and protest in the face of political turmoil. Rebel English Academy is set during the rapid descent of semi-socialist Pakistan into neither its first nor last period of military dictatorship. In 1979, the army’s hanging of leftist prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto precipitates mysterious changes in the Punjab province.  Sir Baghi, a closeted gay communist English teacher who stopped volunteering his critiques of the government after being subjected to brutal torture, when a widow and former track runner Sabiha Bano, on the run arrives at his door … Continue reading Political power, religion, and perpetual dissent

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Sanctions do they work?

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The story of Russia’s historic opening to the West (1992-2022), where it succeeded and why it has failed, the impact of war and sanctions, and the prospects for Russia’s future. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 brought a tragic close to a thirty-year period of history that began with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reopening of Russia to the West after six decades of Soviet isolation. The opening lasted for three tumultuous decades and ended with a new closing, driven by the Ukrainian war, the imposition of Western sanctions, and the Russian responses to them. Thane Gustafson, … Continue reading Sanctions do they work?

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Emergence of Americas

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Yale professor, Greg Grandin, a Pulitzer-winning historian comes America, América, the first definitive history of the western hemisphere,  a sweeping five-century narrative of North and South America that redefines our understanding of both continents- perfect for reader of How the World Made the West. The story of the United States’ unique sense of itself was forged facing south – no less than Latin America’s was indelibly stamped by the looming colossus to the north.  Grandin reveals how the Americas emerged from constant, turbulent engagement with each other, shedding new light on well-known historical figures like Bartolomé de las Casas, Simón Bolivar … Continue reading Emergence of Americas

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How a $300 gadget can do what $80million F-35 can’t

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Raj M Shah, a 27-year-old US Airforce Captain, on a patrol in 2006, was flying an F-16 fighter jet near Iraq’s border with Iran when he realised that he did not know which side of the border he was on, as he lost sense of direction.  That was a serious problem, entering Iranian airspace could cause an international incident, worse still he might be shot down. Although the $30million F-16 was among the world’s most advanced jets, its navigation system could not graphically pinpoint his location on a moving map. Shah back at base, figured out a simple hack, by … Continue reading How a $300 gadget can do what $80million F-35 can’t

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Look East to understand first world war

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 Nick Lloyd professor of modern warfare at King’s College, London, tells the story for the first time of what Winston Churchill once called the “unknown war”: the vast conflict in Eastern Europe and the Balkans that brought about the collapse of three empires. Although much has been written about the fighting in France and Belgium, The Eastern Front was no less bloody. Between 1914 and 1917, huge numbers of people- perhaps as many as 16 million soldiers and two million civilians were killed, wounded or maimed in enormous battles that sometimes range across a front of 100km in length.  Lloyd … Continue reading Look East to understand first world war