Myths, often ancient traditional stories that are designed to prescribe moral or traditional values, are fantastical but also highly rational. That is because myths describe a commonly manifested belief on the way we view the world. In 1992, Professor Jane Rutherford utilised the myth of Robin Hood in order to make a point about the [...]
The last few days have been very tense. Everyone had the same question on their mind: will the Supreme Court of Pakistan allow General Qamar Javed Bajwa to remain as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) as the expiry of his term and his retirement loomed ever closer on 28th November 2019 and the notification [...]
There’s a joke about a group of friends finishing up their meal at a local restaurant. One friend puts down the cutlery, pushes back the chair, and declares with conviction: “this food was bad and the portions were too small.” And so it is with the Paris Climate Change agreement. The Paris Agreement is bad [...]
Rule of Law and Transitional Justice: A New Islamic Discipline “The recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto (in degree): but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah . . . But indeed, if any show patience and forgive, that would truly be an exercise of courageous [...]
In the indictment against sixteen environmental activists now on trial outside Istanbul, George Soros and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) are mentioned over 300 times. Neither is in any way linked to the defendants or to the 2013 public demonstrations that took place at Gezi Park, yet somehow George Soros is accused of being the [...]
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg rejected a request for referral under article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) by Italy last week making the Chamber’s October 7th decision in the case Marcello Viola v. Italy a final judgment. The ECHR has decided that an “irreducible [...]
Chief Hinga Norman, head of the brutal Civil Defense Force, during the monstrous civil war in the West African country of Sierra Leone—part of larger unrest that engulfed neighboring Liberia and others—admonished his men to kill every living thing down to the ants in Pujehun. That they did. This was emblematic of the brutality that [...]
The 2021 trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the “architect of 9/11,” and the other accused will write an important page in the legal chapter of dealing with terrorism. What is not clear is if this page will solve issues, sustain them, or even create more. Ultimately, these trials will be essential not only for the [...]
In the first week of August 2019, the Indian Parliament passed, and the President signed legislation to remove Articles 370 and 35A of the India Constitution. Article 370 preserves the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), a princely state that has been forcibly divided up between India and Pakistan. Article 35A empowers the J&K State [...]
In apparent response to US President Donald Trump’s unilateral American withdrawal from the July 2015 Iran Pact (JCPOA), the Islamic Republic has seemingly reinvigorated its active nuclear program. In turn, this has led to a more-or-less continuing cycle of threat and counter-threat between the two adversarial countries, and has been reinforced by both US Secretary [...]
