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There are currently well over 100 global secessionist movements, including four in the Philippines, dozens in India and several dozen in Africa. Catalonia’s push for independence from Spain is dominating world headlines at the moment. But, writes Damien Kingsbury, very few secessionist movements are ultimately successful - partly because they rarely have the political or military capacity to impose their will on the state from which they intend to secede.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson remarks about the ruined Libyan coastal city of Sirte were jaw-droppingly offensive, even by his own standards. Johnson said that the town had the potential of becoming the next Dubai once the bodies were cleared away. Kurt Mills warns that we mustn’t let the comment distract us from the much greater damage caused by the UK’s disastrous Libyan intervention in 2011.
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Catalans protest the Spanish government crackdown after voting for independence.
Reuters/Yves Herman
Damien Kingsbury, Deakin University
Despite the passionate for which they are usually fought, independence movements are rarely successful and their outcomes less than hoped for.
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Blond derision.
Stefan Rousseau/PA
Kurt Mills, University of Dundee
The UK foreign secretary has been talking up the merits of clearing away bodies to build a new Dubai on the Libyan Med.
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Unlike napalm, which immediately scalded its victims, Agent Orange kills and maims slowly over time, its effects passed down through generations.
U.S. Army Operations in Vietnam R.W. Trewyn, Ph.D/Wikimedia
Jason von Meding, University of Newcastle
The use of Agent Orange in Vietnam had deep impacts, including a poisoned water supply, birth defects and cancer. Despite decades of attempted litigation, justice for spraying victims seems unlikely.
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Science + Technology
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Xavier Conlan, Deakin University
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to scientists who developed a way to study biological molecules under an electron microscope.
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Environment + Energy
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Adegboyega Adeniran, Australian National University; Katherine Daniell, Australian National University
The transnational project conceived 30 years ago to replenish the drying waters of Lake Chad finally seems poised to take off. But first, internal politics within member states must be overcome.
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Budiman Minasny, University of Sydney; Anthony Reid, Australian National University; Dian Fiantis, Universitas Andalas
Volcanic ash can cause a nuisance to farmers, burying agricultural lands and damaging crops. But in the long term, this ash will create highly productive soil that can support huge populations.
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Arts + Culture
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Shireen Hassim, University of the Witwatersrand
South Africa has changed since Jacob Zuma's 2006 rape trial. In recent years, a new and assertive feminist movement has emerged and attacks on the president have become common cause.
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