News Kosovo Protesters and Peacekeepers Injured as Violence Erupts Dozens of protesters and NATO peacekeepers were injured on Monday in northern Kosovo as local Serbs protested against the installment of a Kosovo Albanian mayor. Balkan Insight | 29 May 2023 Balkans Politics Analysis Catalonia Catalonia Can’t Quit Madrid But separatist parties hope upcoming elections will revitalize the independence movement. Foreign Policy | 20 May 2023 Europe Politics Analysis Antarctica China’s Forays Into Antarctic Region Amid Growing Western Concerns Concerns over China’s expanding activities in the Polar regions seem to have grown with the recent reports of the construction of its new Antarctic station near the Ross Sea. The resumption of construction activities of China’s fifth research station—after a few years of delay—has generated quick responses from Western critics and think tanks. Eurasia Review | 17 May 2023 Polar region Politics In focus Kurdistan Daughters of the Sun Daughters of the Sun, a documentary by Reber Dosky, premiers this week at the Movies that Matter Festival in The Hague. A tender and inspiring film about a group of Yezidi women and girls who were abducted as sex slaves by Islamic State and now have to rebuild their lives. With each other’s love and support, they find the strength to look forward again. Movies That Matter | 23 Apr 2023 Middle East Film Love Politics Feature Ceuta & Melilla In Melilla It’s still not clear how many people were killed at Barrio Chino on 24 June 2022. As many as 77 people, most of them young men who had fled their homes in Sudan and South Sudan, are still missing. A reconstruction by Ben Ehrenreich. London Review of Books | 7 Apr 2023 Africa Youth Politics News Somaliland Fighting Resumes as Tens of Thousands Flee Fighting resumed on Tuesday in the disputed town of Las Anod in the self-declared republic of Somaliland. It was sparked when Dhulbahante clan elders reportedly issued a declaration stating that they no longer considered themselves part of Somaliland. Africa News | 22 Feb 2023 Africa Politics Report Chagos Archipelago That's When the Nightmare Started The forced displacement of the entire Chagossian people by the United Kingdom and United States governments and the UK’s racial persecution, and continued blocking of their return home, are crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said in a report and video released today. Human Rights Watch | 15 Feb 2023 Africa Asia Politics Nature Analysis Bougainville Balancing Independence and Foreign Relations Bougainville is likely to play a surprisingly significant role in the tussles between China and the US in the Pacific region. Lucas Knotter analyses the future of this breakaway island. 9Dashline | 31 Jan 2023 Pacific Politics Review Fortuitous Lines Borders create paradoxes: when you cross them, everything changes but much stays the same. In Borderlands, Dutch journalist Milo van Bokkum describes this paradox and the way locals deal with the complexities caused by these often arbitrarily drawn lines. Jorie Horsthuis | 20 Mar 2022 Europe Asia Africa Books Politics History Maps In focus Chagos Archipelago Post office on Chagos Archipelago stops sending mail abroad In October 2021 “Sure updates” announces that the Post office of Diego Garcia, an island of the Chagos Archipelago, temporarily suspended the outbound postal service until ongoing discussions with the United Postal Union (UPU) are solved. Jan Heijs | 21 Oct 2021 Africa Asia Stamps Politics Analysis Transnistria People, Power and Influence The development of both Donetsk and Transnistria have a strong tendency to be seen as vessels for Russia’s search for influence in a Post-Soviet world. Yet these states are just as much the result of local context and the geopolitical storm that surrounds them. However, whatever the causes of their tribulations, the burden of international abandonment falls on the people in these nations. Jonathan Casewell | 20 Oct 2021 Europe Politics Sports History Economics In focus Blood and Honey on Show In Blood and Honey: Encounters at the Borders of the Balkans, Dutch journalist Irene van der Linde and documentary photographer Nicole Segers set out to document the borders of the Balkans. Go and watch their work at Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen (the Netherlands). De Facto | 18 Oct 2021 Balkans Photography Art Books History Politics In focus Kurdistan Disputed Stamp of Iraqi Kurdistan not Accepted by Turkey To commemorate the visit of Pope Francis to the Kurdistan region, five postage stamps were designed. The one depicting a controversial map of the region sparked a protest by Turkey. Jan Heijs | 10 Mar 2021 Middle East Stamps Design Politics Review Fighters on Flip Flops Photographer Philippe Dudouit is one of the few foreigners who continues to travel to the Sahelo-Sahara region. His remarkable work The Dynamics of Dust gives an exceptional insight into the shifting alliances in this vast area that is often neglected in world politics. Jorie Horsthuis | 4 Feb 2021 Africa Photography Books Politics Music Analysis Hong Kong Across the Strait Many Hong Kong citizens and opposition politicians look to Taiwan as a place to escape China’s growing influence. However, there is less desire for independence or to become a new Taiwan. The crux of Hong Kong’s issues lies in its confused identity and awkward geopolitical position. Jonathan Casewell | 21 Jan 2021 Asia Politics History Economics Review Blood and Honey In Blood and Honey: Encounters at the Borders of the Balkans, Dutch journalist Irene van der Linde and documentary photographer Nicole Segers set out to document the borders of the Balkans. The picture they show is rather grim. Jorie Horsthuis | 13 Jan 2021 Balkans Photography Politics Art History Books In focus Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands’ Stamp Battle Since 1833 the Falkland Islands have been part of the British Overseas Territories. Argentina has always protested against this claim, also via philately. Jan Heijs | 8 Jan 2021 Americas Stamps Politics Analysis Transnistria A Hammer, Sickle and a Red Square As of this year, the Dnister Moldavian Republic, aka Transnistria, has existed for thirty years. In 2000, four stamps were issued to celebrate its ten year anniversary, with plenty of references to a Soviet past. Floor Koomen | 23 Dec 2020 Europe Stamps Maps Politics Design Review Blood and Circuses While football may strive to be apolitical and unite people, it has become highly politicised. In Blood and Circuses, Robert O’Connor delves into the collective memory and experiences of football by people who are living in contested territories like Transnistria and Kosovo. Ramesh Ganohariti | 30 Nov 2020 Europe Balkans Caucasus Books Sports Politics In Focus Terrestrial Triangle The Future of the Triangle In 2014, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ended the maritime conflict between Chile and Peru. In a Solomonic way, they divided the disputed sea between the two countries. However, the Court’s ruling left one point unresolved: the Terrestrial Triangle. Francisco Bustamante Ugarte | 3 Nov 2020 Americas Politics Nature Analysis South Ossetia Protest Wave Engulfs South Ossetia “Resign! Resign! Resign!” These were the words heard on the evening of Friday 28 August on the main square of Tskhinvali, the capital of de facto state South Ossetia. The words were addressed to its President Anatoly Bibilov, whose position seems more insecure than ever before. What happened to imperil the regime so severely? Thijs Korsten | 3 Sep 2020 Caucasus Politics History Economics
News Kosovo Protesters and Peacekeepers Injured as Violence Erupts Dozens of protesters and NATO peacekeepers were injured on Monday in northern Kosovo as local Serbs protested against the installment of a Kosovo Albanian mayor. Balkan Insight | 29 May 2023 Balkans Politics
Analysis Catalonia Catalonia Can’t Quit Madrid But separatist parties hope upcoming elections will revitalize the independence movement. Foreign Policy | 20 May 2023 Europe Politics
Analysis Antarctica China’s Forays Into Antarctic Region Amid Growing Western Concerns Concerns over China’s expanding activities in the Polar regions seem to have grown with the recent reports of the construction of its new Antarctic station near the Ross Sea. The resumption of construction activities of China’s fifth research station—after a few years of delay—has generated quick responses from Western critics and think tanks. Eurasia Review | 17 May 2023 Polar region Politics
In focus Kurdistan Daughters of the Sun Daughters of the Sun, a documentary by Reber Dosky, premiers this week at the Movies that Matter Festival in The Hague. A tender and inspiring film about a group of Yezidi women and girls who were abducted as sex slaves by Islamic State and now have to rebuild their lives. With each other’s love and support, they find the strength to look forward again. Movies That Matter | 23 Apr 2023 Middle East Film Love Politics
Feature Ceuta & Melilla In Melilla It’s still not clear how many people were killed at Barrio Chino on 24 June 2022. As many as 77 people, most of them young men who had fled their homes in Sudan and South Sudan, are still missing. A reconstruction by Ben Ehrenreich. London Review of Books | 7 Apr 2023 Africa Youth Politics
News Somaliland Fighting Resumes as Tens of Thousands Flee Fighting resumed on Tuesday in the disputed town of Las Anod in the self-declared republic of Somaliland. It was sparked when Dhulbahante clan elders reportedly issued a declaration stating that they no longer considered themselves part of Somaliland. Africa News | 22 Feb 2023 Africa Politics
Report Chagos Archipelago That's When the Nightmare Started The forced displacement of the entire Chagossian people by the United Kingdom and United States governments and the UK’s racial persecution, and continued blocking of their return home, are crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said in a report and video released today. Human Rights Watch | 15 Feb 2023 Africa Asia Politics Nature
Analysis Bougainville Balancing Independence and Foreign Relations Bougainville is likely to play a surprisingly significant role in the tussles between China and the US in the Pacific region. Lucas Knotter analyses the future of this breakaway island. 9Dashline | 31 Jan 2023 Pacific Politics
Review Fortuitous Lines Borders create paradoxes: when you cross them, everything changes but much stays the same. In Borderlands, Dutch journalist Milo van Bokkum describes this paradox and the way locals deal with the complexities caused by these often arbitrarily drawn lines. Jorie Horsthuis | 20 Mar 2022 Europe Asia Africa Books Politics History Maps
In focus Chagos Archipelago Post office on Chagos Archipelago stops sending mail abroad In October 2021 “Sure updates” announces that the Post office of Diego Garcia, an island of the Chagos Archipelago, temporarily suspended the outbound postal service until ongoing discussions with the United Postal Union (UPU) are solved. Jan Heijs | 21 Oct 2021 Africa Asia Stamps Politics
Analysis Transnistria People, Power and Influence The development of both Donetsk and Transnistria have a strong tendency to be seen as vessels for Russia’s search for influence in a Post-Soviet world. Yet these states are just as much the result of local context and the geopolitical storm that surrounds them. However, whatever the causes of their tribulations, the burden of international abandonment falls on the people in these nations. Jonathan Casewell | 20 Oct 2021 Europe Politics Sports History Economics
In focus Blood and Honey on Show In Blood and Honey: Encounters at the Borders of the Balkans, Dutch journalist Irene van der Linde and documentary photographer Nicole Segers set out to document the borders of the Balkans. Go and watch their work at Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen (the Netherlands). De Facto | 18 Oct 2021 Balkans Photography Art Books History Politics
In focus Kurdistan Disputed Stamp of Iraqi Kurdistan not Accepted by Turkey To commemorate the visit of Pope Francis to the Kurdistan region, five postage stamps were designed. The one depicting a controversial map of the region sparked a protest by Turkey. Jan Heijs | 10 Mar 2021 Middle East Stamps Design Politics
Review Fighters on Flip Flops Photographer Philippe Dudouit is one of the few foreigners who continues to travel to the Sahelo-Sahara region. His remarkable work The Dynamics of Dust gives an exceptional insight into the shifting alliances in this vast area that is often neglected in world politics. Jorie Horsthuis | 4 Feb 2021 Africa Photography Books Politics Music
Analysis Hong Kong Across the Strait Many Hong Kong citizens and opposition politicians look to Taiwan as a place to escape China’s growing influence. However, there is less desire for independence or to become a new Taiwan. The crux of Hong Kong’s issues lies in its confused identity and awkward geopolitical position. Jonathan Casewell | 21 Jan 2021 Asia Politics History Economics
Review Blood and Honey In Blood and Honey: Encounters at the Borders of the Balkans, Dutch journalist Irene van der Linde and documentary photographer Nicole Segers set out to document the borders of the Balkans. The picture they show is rather grim. Jorie Horsthuis | 13 Jan 2021 Balkans Photography Politics Art History Books
In focus Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands’ Stamp Battle Since 1833 the Falkland Islands have been part of the British Overseas Territories. Argentina has always protested against this claim, also via philately. Jan Heijs | 8 Jan 2021 Americas Stamps Politics
Analysis Transnistria A Hammer, Sickle and a Red Square As of this year, the Dnister Moldavian Republic, aka Transnistria, has existed for thirty years. In 2000, four stamps were issued to celebrate its ten year anniversary, with plenty of references to a Soviet past. Floor Koomen | 23 Dec 2020 Europe Stamps Maps Politics Design
Review Blood and Circuses While football may strive to be apolitical and unite people, it has become highly politicised. In Blood and Circuses, Robert O’Connor delves into the collective memory and experiences of football by people who are living in contested territories like Transnistria and Kosovo. Ramesh Ganohariti | 30 Nov 2020 Europe Balkans Caucasus Books Sports Politics
In Focus Terrestrial Triangle The Future of the Triangle In 2014, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ended the maritime conflict between Chile and Peru. In a Solomonic way, they divided the disputed sea between the two countries. However, the Court’s ruling left one point unresolved: the Terrestrial Triangle. Francisco Bustamante Ugarte | 3 Nov 2020 Americas Politics Nature
Analysis South Ossetia Protest Wave Engulfs South Ossetia “Resign! Resign! Resign!” These were the words heard on the evening of Friday 28 August on the main square of Tskhinvali, the capital of de facto state South Ossetia. The words were addressed to its President Anatoly Bibilov, whose position seems more insecure than ever before. What happened to imperil the regime so severely? Thijs Korsten | 3 Sep 2020 Caucasus Politics History Economics