Series

In February 1953, one of the most prominent French authors of the past century, Jean Giono, was writing an allegorical tale. The story would soon after become known to the world as “The Man Who Planted Trees”. Giono was commissioned to write it by an American...

Global concerns about climate change and the emergence of potential new energy markets such as renewable energy have attracted a great deal of attention. Nothing concentrates the mind as much as crises do and this is why there have been ongoing debates about being climate resilient...

One week ago, several countries in the Caribbean celebrated Emancipation Day. On August 1st, we decked out in our African-inspired outfits and enjoyed traditional African music all over the region. But how was independence and emancipation from colonial rule achieved in the Caribbean? A host of...

“Emel Mathlouthi’s voice feels as if a bird’s heart was set on fire by the deepest point of the ocean, a fire that none can extinguish except the highest point of the sky. But the bird does not want its heart to stop burning, so the...

Globalisation means different things to different people. A central feature however, is the growing interdependence and interconnectedness of the modern world. Economic globalisation intensified in the post-Cold War period, as evidenced by increased ease of movement of goods, services, capital, and information across borders, creating a...

Idioteque is a song by English rock band Radiohead, featured as the eighth trachk from their 2000 album Kid A. Although never released as a single as with all other songs on the album, it has since become one of the band’s most famous and popular songs...

A linguistics professor of mine once told me: “One of the hardest things in life is to tell someone what a film is about”. If one were to believe him, it is all the more challenging when it comes to a landmark of cinematic art such...

According to Shakespeare’s King Lear, “when we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools”. After coming into this world on the 17th of January 1991, amidst the start of the bombardment of Iraq during the Gulf war, Hamza al-Ghanem...

In the Caribbean Sea Ecosystem Assessment report, Professor John Agard and Angela Cropper, describes the Caribbean Sea as a distinct ecological region – the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem. The Sea was described in this way due to the interconnectivity of its characteristic habitats like mangroves, seagrass...

“If a man is able to submit himself to nature, then nature will react to his needs. Almighty nature is all powerful and all loving, for the laws of nature are for the creation and evolution of all beings and creatures throughout the cosmos. There is...

Dear alien, first of all, it was quite a humorous experience to find out you also call us “aliens”. In English, we have come up with the name “humans” for our species. What about you, have you also chosen a random name for yourselves? To be...

‘Any person who is physically restrained (by imprisonment or otherwise) from expressing (in any form of words or symbols) an opinion which he honestly holds and which does not advocate or condone personal violence’. (Amnesty International founder Peter Berenson coining and defining the expression ‘Prisoners of...

“The energy crisis of the 1970s will take a back seat to the water crisis of the 1980s and 1990.” - United States Department of Agriculture, The Yearbook of Agriculture, 1981 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are those coastal countries grouped based on certain characteristics they...

Asma Othmani, a Tunisian singer, took an old traditional Tunisian song of the Mizwad genre called “Yama Lasmar Douni” (“Oh brown is bad”) and made a new interpretation of it adding a piece of spoken word called “Tounes Alwen” (“Tunis of Colors”) written...

The world is living one of the worst migration crisis in history. This topic is constantly on the political agenda, with national governments and international organizations addressing it in their speeches and policies. While prejudice against immigrants was somewhat hidden in the arguments for the exit...