Automation: On the high-tech path to destruction
Rather than humans becoming enslaved by robots, machines have become the new slave or serf class, with devastating consequences for society and the environment. We desperately need a more humane and sustainable approach to automation.
Read MoreLiving robots and the meaning of life
The advent of ‘living robots’, or biobots, not only poses grave risks for which we must be prepared but also raises profound questions about the future and what it means to be human.
Read MoreNostalgia… when the past is a better country
The majority of Europeans do not want to let bygones be bygones and pine for a past which they believe was better than their present. This is problematic for Europe’s future.
Read MoreAmerica’s got 99 problems… but Russia ain’t the main one
The assault on American democracy and its global standing originated not in Moscow but in Washington, and across the length and breadth of the United States. Like the Soviet Empire before it, America is crumbling under the weight of its own contradictions.
Read MoreEgypt: When the opium of football sharpens the pain of existence
Instead of acting as a pain killer for a traumatised country of heroes treated like zeroes, the World Cup has provided a painful reminder to Egyptians seeking escapism of just how desperate their situation is.
Read MoreDiagonosing the Jerusalem embassy syndrome
The problem is not the new US embassy in Jerusalem. The problem is the reality which surrounds and underpins it.
Read MoreRefugees in Greece: “Instead of protecting me, they treated me like a murderer”
In the two years since the EU’s inhumane deal with Turkey, the plight of traumatised refugees arriving on the Greek islands has worsened significantly. Instead of refuge, they are being offered prison.
Read MorePost-ISIS Mosul, pt 2: Home is where the hurt is
Despite the destruction, pain, trauma and dread for the future, Mosul’s tough and long-suffering residents are returning to the ruins of their devastated city.
Read MoreEconomic recovery means little to Europe’s working poor
Europe is experiencing an economic recovery but many of the jobs being created a keeping people poor rather than lifting them out of poverty.
Read MoreDreaming of a vanished Syria
“A lot of Syrians are indulging in a nostalgia that requires a lot of denial,” says Syrian-American author Alia Malek. “This is why I’m a student of history, not to live in a fantasy but to learn why and how we are where we are today.”
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