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On Israel

To simply report on news about Israel is to enter a minefield. To comment is to invite extreme reactions of a sort experienced in few other issues. This week F&O columnists Chris Wood and Jonathan Manthorpe enter the fray with thoughtful, informed essays: Israel at the Boundary, by Chris Wood (Free public access) A friend — I hope I may still call him one — recently chastised me for selectiveness in my criticism on social networks of Israel’s Gaza campaign, and my comparative silence about the horrors occurring in Syria and Iraq. The unspoken implication that there was something particular

Chris Wood on the ‘double standard’ of criticizing Israel

Facts and Opinions’ Natural Security columnist Chris Wood reported from the first Palestinian intifada in 1988, for Canada’s Maclean’s magazine. The fierce global debate over Israel’s latest conflict with residents of Gaza prompted him to reflect on the alleged ‘double standard’ of criticizing Israel amid the region’s wider violence. Here is an excerpt of his essay Israel at the Boundary, in F&O’s Loose Leaf column (free public access): I have been privileged (and I don’t use the word lightly) as a reporter to witness a moderately wide range of human sorrows. One of my most vivid memories is of the hospital in Gaza

The incompetence of Hamas, and isolation of Israel: Manthorpe

International Affairs columnist Jonathan Manthorpe  tackles the crisis of Israel and Palestine crisis in a new column, Hamas Leads Gaza Down a Dead-end Street. An excerpt: Not the least of the problems of finding any kind of solution to the plight of the Palestinians is that the Hamas zealots who control Gaza are incompetent terrorists and jihadis. Hamas’ sole strategic objective, the purpose of its jihad, is to overrun Israel and drive its 6.1 million Jewish residents into the sea. This latest month-long conflict shows Hamas has no capacity to do that and has no idea how to go about it. A measure

Scotland Decides ’14: Who won the TV debate?

The leaders of the rival campaigns in Scotland’s independence referendum battle have clashed in the first televised debate ahead of the September 18 poll. So, who came out on top? By W David McCausland, University of Aberdeen and Neil Blain, University of Stirling, The Conversation The live debate on Scottish independence between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling will undoubtedly kick start discussion around the country. But it was ultimately unsatisfying. Nothing in the way of new detail was revealed, and key questions remained unanswered. On balance, Alastair Darling won on the night. He correctly identified the currency question as Salmond’s

Universities: a System Falling Apart

The global university system, threatened by funding problems and its own dysfunctions, cannot continue in its current form, argues Jim McNiven, author of F&O’s Thoughtlines column. He suggests that one solution — so drastic as to be almost unthinkable — is to jettison the research subsidies of universities, and divorce research from teaching. McNiven argued in Part One of his three-part series, The Future of the Global University System, that the  “romantic” university model — Socrates imparting wisdom to a half-dozen students while sitting under a tree — is fading, a ‘handicraft’ cultural dream. In Part Two, he considers prospects for the future. An excerpt: A

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