· April, 2012

Stories about War & Conflict from April, 2012

Russia: The Battle of Borodino Lives On

RuNet Echo

After 200 years, through the works of artists such as Leo Tolstoy (as well as legal disputes about the historic preservation of the battlefield), the Battle of Borodino continues to inspire passion and incite controversy. In this post, RuNet Echo returns to the historical and modern contexts of Russia's victory in the Napoleonic Wars.

30 April 2012

Ukraine: Netizens Discuss Dnipropetrovsk Bombings

There has been a great deal of speculation about the four bombings that rocked the city of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, on Friday. The timing of the blasts is key to most of the popular theories emerging online, as Ukraine is undergoing a very eventful period right now.

29 April 2012

Bahrain: Where is Abdulhadi Alkhawaja?

For some days there has been no news of imprisoned Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, who has been on hunger strike since February 8. It is feared that Alkhawaja is either being force-fed or is in a critical state.

28 April 2012

Philippines: Counterinsurgency Primer

Karapatan, an alliance working for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines, uploaded a PDF copy of its comic book entitled Oplan Bayanihan for Beginners. The book...

28 April 2012

Ecuador: Refugee Women and Girls Turning to Sex Work

A video documentary examines the situation with Colombian women who had to migrate across the border into Ecuador due to violence. In many cases, without being able to gain legal employment, the women and their underage daughters find themselves turning to sex-work to make a living.

24 April 2012

Armenia: A Tale of Two Nations

Security, in the Caucasus and beyond…. comments on the 97th anniversary of the massacre and deportation of 1.5 million Armenians from the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Considered an act of...

22 April 2012

Russia: Liberal Democrats Join Opposition to Ulyanovsk NATO Hub

RuNet Echo

In the last week, Vladislav Naganov and Aleksei Navalny, two of Russia's most prominent liberal democrat bloggers, entered the debate about a proposed NATO transit hub in Ulyanovsk. The transit hub (or "military base," as critics call it) is unlike most Russian political issues that involve the North Atlantic Alliance, as the Kremlin in this instance has agreed to cooperate with (rather than resist) the West.

21 April 2012

Egypt: Should the Grand Mufti Have Gone to Jerusalem?

On April 18 Ali Gomaa, the Egyptian grand mufti and one of the highest religious authorities in the Islamic world, visited Jerusalem for the first time. The visit is controversial since it is seen by many as a step towards normalised relations with Israel.

21 April 2012

Tunisia: Neglect of Those Wounded in the Revolution

Tunisians have been expressing their dissatisfaction and anger regarding the government's poor treatment of those wounded during the Tunisian revolution. Some of them have bullets still to be extracted from their bodies, and other had limbs amputated and are still waiting for prosthetic limbs.

20 April 2012