Around 5,000 years ago, what we know today as Ancient Egypt came into existence. At around the same time, other civilisations were rising across the world. Why did human social dynamics change so dramatically in such a relatively short space of time? Why did we stop living in smaller communities and come together into cities and “civilisations”? Benjamin T. Pennington unpacks the findings of a groundbreaking study into how the natural landscape changes in the Nile Delta may have not only helped stimulate local take up of farming technologies, but might also have played a role in the emergence of the first “nation state”.

Myanmar has once again returned to military rule, with a year-long state of emergency declared by the army. When military dictators ruled Myanmar from 1962 to 2010, they were able to maintain tight control over the people through the country’s extensive intelligence apparatus and harsh tactics such as imprisonment, torture and mass killings. As a result, Myanmar’s people lived in virtual silence for decades. However, after a decade-long political transition that brought Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy to power, Myanmar is now a changed place. DB Subedi and Johanna Garnett argue that, for the military, maintaining “social control” may not be as easy as it was before.