Opinion
By Weronika Krupa, BA International Relations and Chinese Trigger warning: mentions of torture and rape. There is a revolution happening right on the EU’s doorstep. It was sparked by the rigged election of president Alexander Lukashenko, who started his sixth term in office after allegedly winning around 70% of
Opinion
By Weronika Krupa, BA International Relations and Chinese CW: Abortion Protesting is the daily bread of Polish citizens. Practised for generations, once against the communist regime, today against a fascist government. We know what it feels like to lose – to lose your rights, your freedoms, your pride, or your hope.
Opinion
By Javier Vidal Cano (BA: Chinese Studies) On 15 November 2020, 15 nations (among them China, South Korea, Japan and Australia) signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at the virtual ASEAN summit. The advent of such a symbolic deal in the current global climate may have groundbreaking implications for
Opinion
By Samia Majid, MA History The U.S. has an unsavoury history of leveraging surveillance campaigns on its unsuspecting Muslim populace. On 16 November, Vice’s Motherboard revealed that Muslim Pro, a popular Quran and prayer app, has been selling its user data to third-party brokers, and by extension the
Opinion
By Diva Sinha, MSc Environment, Politics and Development On 17 November, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was reinstated to the Labour Party. Corbyn was suspended in October after he commented that the scale of antisemitism within the party had been ‘overstated.’ This came after the Equality and Human Rights Commission
Opinion
By Kat Brown, MA Chinese Studies When art occupies public space, it is prone to being picked apart. For Maggi Hambling’s statue, dedicated to the ‘Mother of feminism’, 18th century gender equality activist Mary Wollstonecraft, the debate centres around Hambling’s depiction of the vindication of women’s rights.
Opinion
By Millie Glaister, BA Politics and International Relations. While the institution posits the Transformation and Change (T&C) Process at SOAS as necessary to save the university, I have begun to wonder what it is exactly that they are trying to save. SOASians have a clear understanding of what
Opinion
By Tamilore Ogunyemi, BA Politics and Economics In an uncanny resemblance to the protests that resulted in the declaration of Nigerian independence exactly 60 years ago, Nigerians have raised their voices once again to unite in a fight for our future. Protests have sprung up across the country and amongst
Opinion
By Javier Vidal Cano, BA Chinese Studies The passing of the National Security Law in July 2020 marked the end of an era for Hong Kong and the start of a new, more sinister chapter for its 7.4 million inhabitants. Ever since its implementation, the city has been weathering
Opinion
By Clayton Barrington-Russell, BA Arabic and International Relations In a historic move described as ‘A treacherous stab in the back’ by Palestinians, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain formally signed a deal ‘normalising’ relations with Israel on 15 September. This involves increased cooperation regarding security, healthcare, tourism, and trade in
Opinion
By SJ Armstrong, MA Postcolonialism Studies ‘There will be bodies in the streets.’ Bill Gates’ dire premonitions about Africa’s response to the impending pandemic was dystopian- mass graves, collapsing economies, political disarray. His warnings of failed states and disrepair have come to fruition this year, but not in Africa.
Opinion
By Umar Kaleem- Ur Rehman, BSc Economics In our pursuit of a carbon neutral economy, the prime minister is perceived as the most able to achieve it. Now that we have determined who our Batman is, who do you believe to be our Robin? Who is the second most powerful