My piece for American website Mondoweiss: The global arms race has never been more lucrative. America and China are engaged in unprecedented levels of spending around the world to influence and shape global affairs. The effects are devastating on civilians but Washington and Beijing insists they’re “stabilizing” nations. It’s one of the deadliest myths of…
Australia may send asylum seeker back to danger in Afghanistan
I’m proud to have been asked to sign the following statement (latest information here): Prominent Australians urge Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to save the life of Nadir Sadiqi Nadir’s life hangs in the balance. You alone in this country, Mr Dutton, have the power to decide whether Nadir lives or dies. Nadir arrived by boat…
Three women speak truths in Bentiu, South Sudan
My investigation in the Guardian: Julia John with one-year-old Tuach, in Bentiu camp. Photograph: Antony Loewenstein The number of South Sudanese seeking refuge in the UN compound in Bentiu has risen above 100,000, the organisation has announced, making it the country’s largest camp for those fleeing the civil war that has killed… more than 50,000 people…
Too little to celebrate in South Sudan
My article in Le Monde Diplomatique English: The UN Security Council recently imposed new sanctions on South Sudan including travel bans on six South Sudanese citizens. Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN, praised the move saying: “The Security Council took strong action in support of a peaceful end to the conflict in South Sudan…
Land grabbing becomes global phenomenon
My investigation in Australian publication New Matilda: International aid often comes with big strings attached. Antony Loewenstein is in South Sudan researching his explosive new book. Ethiopia’s Omo Valley is one of the most culturally diverse places on the planet. Industrial-size sugar plantations and a soon to open dam are strangling indigenous communities over more…
Nothing to celebrate on South Sudan's 4th independence anniversary
My piece in Al Jazeera English today: It’s hard to think of a better example of the UN Human Rights Council’s failure. In early July, it decided to send monitors to South Sudan “to report on the situation of human rights and to undertake a comprehensive assessment of alleged violations and abuses of human rights,…
The important logic of BDS against Israeli occupation
There is increasing global pressure on Israel over its brutal treatment of the Palestinians. The boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign is thriving due to daily abuses and racism against Arabs in Israel proper and the occupied, Palestinian territories. The Israeli government is scared (see here and here) and even Hillary Clinton, in a transparent…
The daily trauma of a Sudanese man locked up in Israel
African migrants face countless struggles in Israel, from racism to discrimination to outright hatred. I’ve been reporting (for the Guardian and The National) on some of their lives when they leave the Jewish state and end up in South Sudan and across Africa. Israel houses many African migrants in the Holot detention centre in the…
Failing states in the modern world
My essay in literary journal Meanjin: “In Europe there are shelves of books dedicated to every war, archives full of documents, special rooms in museums. Nothing of the kind exists in Africa. Here, even the longest and greatest war is forgotten, falls into oblivion. Its traces vanish by the day after: the dead must be…
Resource curse alive and well in Afghanistan
My following investigation is published by the Guardian: Afghanistan faces an existential crisis over its untapped natural resources. After decades of war and insecurity, the Afghan government and foreign investors are pushing to exploit minerals under the ground but real dangers exist with little enforced regulation. Like Papua New Guinea and Haiti, two other nations…