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Simon Mabon

My research interests fall within the International Relations of the Middle East and are driven by the interaction of three themes: Religion and Legitimacy; Contested Sovereignty; and Political Violence. I am especially interested in the following areas:

Islam, the state and umma
'Soft power' security dilemmas
Gulf politics
Internal-external security dilemmas
Re-conceptualising sovereignty
Irredentist and secessionist movements
Gulf security
Hizballah
The Internet and 'cyber sovereignty'

Global Geopolitics Series

Liberating Mosul is one thing – next comes the real challenge for Iraq

Apr 02, 2017 01:44 am UTC| Insights & Views

The battle to fully recapture Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) is in its final stages and it is rapidly intensifying. On March 17, 200 civilians were killed in airstrikes on western Mosul mounted by the US and the...

Global Geopolitics Series

How to understand Syria's 'proxy war' – and who's fighting for whom

Sep 29, 2016 14:40 pm UTC| Insights & Views

As another attempted ceasefire falls apart, the destruction of the Syrian people and state goes on. The countrys economy has been annihilated, and the conflicts societal damage will take decades to repair. The need to stop...

Syria peace talks languish in the doldrums as fighting engulfs Aleppo

May 04, 2016 12:26 pm UTC| Insights & Views

The latest round of talks in Geneva have failed to curb a dramatic spiral of violence and the tragedy in Syria is deepening rapidly. A hard-won and admittedly imperfect ceasefire has been broken, resulting in hundreds of...

Meltdowns, crises and Islamic State: a terrible year in the Middle East

Dec 31, 2015 10:31 am UTC| Insights & Views

As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Arab Uprisings, its hard to remember the days of popular protests, of democratic revolutions and of dreams of a better future that rocked the Middle East in 2011. Nearly five...

Economy

Beyond the spin, beyond the handouts, here’s how to get a handle on what’s really happening on budget night

Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, TV or news websites on budget night. The quickest way to find out what...

Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility

Ivan Vladislavić is Johannesburgs literary linkman. He tells us, in the first pages of his new book, The Near North, that before cities were lit, first by gaslight and later electricity, people of means paid torchbearers...

What if the Reserve Bank itself has been feeding inflation? An economist explains

Heres something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its attempt to restrain inflation in May...

China’s new world order: looking for clues from Xi’s recent meetings with foreign leaders

There is broad consensus that Chinese foreign policy has become more assertive and more centralised in the decade since Xi Jinping has ascended to the top of Chinas leadership. This has also meant that Chinese foreign...

How India’s economy has fared under ten years of Narendra Modi

More than 960 million Indians will head to the polls in the worlds biggest election between April 19 and early June. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third...

Politics

Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board

To say that the Labour party is flying high in the polls is something of an understatement. But despite its consistent lead against the Tories, the opposition finds itself in a rather odd position: on the cusp of power but...

History for sale: what does South Africa’s struggle heritage mean after 30 years of democracy?

One of my favourite statues is the one of Nelson Mandela at the Sandton City shopping centre in Johannesburg. Larger than life, its oversized bronze shoes shimmer in the evening light, polished by the hands of many...

Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight

In the early hours of April 15 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a Sudanese paramilitary force attacked the military airstrip in the town of Merowe and deployed troops across strategic locations in Sudans capital,...

Turkey’s suppression of the Kurdish political movement continues to fuel a deadly armed conflict

The world has 91 democracies and 88 autocracies. Yet 71% of the worlds population (some 5.7 billion people) are living under autocratic rule, a big jump from 48% ten years ago. This trend towards authoritarianism can...

Georgia is sliding towards autocracy after government moves to force through bill on ‘foreign agents’

Georgias ruling party attempted to pass a controversial bill on foreign agents in March 2023. The law would have required civil society groups and the media to register as being under foreign influence if they receive...

Science

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Peter Higgs was one of the greats of particle physics. He transformed what we know about the building blocks of the universe

Peter Higgs, who gave his name to the subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson, has died aged 94. He was always a modest man, especially when considering that he was one of the greats of particle physics the area of...

Could a telescope ever see the beginning of time? An astronomer explains

The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST for short, is one of the most advanced telescopes ever built. Planning for JWST began over 25 years ago, and construction efforts spanned over a decade. It was launched into space on...

US media coverage of new science less likely to mention researchers with African and East Asian names

When one Chinese national recently petitioned the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to become a permanent resident, he thought his chances were pretty good. As an accomplished biologist, he figured that news...

Technology

Hertz to Offload 30K EVs This Year, Deepens Cuts Amid Mounting Fleet Losses

In a recent financial revelation, Hertz disclosed continued losses from its electric vehicle (EV) investments, announcing plans to sell 30,000 EVs this year amid depreciating values and escalating maintenance...

Toyota Motor Launches Trial for EV Pickups in Thailand

Toyota Motor Corporation launched the trial for its electric pickup trucks in Thailand. The Japanese automaker said its pilot project brought nine fully electric Hilux Revo pickups to key Thai market. According to...

Binance Reassures Filipino Users Amid SEC App Removal Request, Urges Balanced Review by Google and Apple

Following recent regulatory proceedings by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Binance has finally published a statement to its users regarding the removal request for its app from the Google Play...

Shiba Inu Announces Shibarium Hardfork: New Capabilities Teased, SHIB Price Jumps 3.2%

Shiba Inu has announced a transformative hardfork for its Shibarium platform, set for May 2, promising enhanced features and a surge in SHIBs price by 3.2% in response to the news. Shibarium Hardfork Set for May 2:...

Qualcomm Responds to Snapdragon X Elite Benchmark Cheating Claims

Qualcomm has responded to the serious allegations that it cheated on performance benchmarks for its Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chips, targeting competition with leading laptop processors. According to Toms Hardware,...