Radical Movements Archive

ATHENS—“Burn them alive!” The sinister shouts of far-right thugs to migrants and refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos last month made news all over the world. The thugs had attacked and injured hundreds of refugees camping in the central square of Mytilene, the island’s capital. The police didn’t intervene. While many hoped it was a one-off, the scenes were repeated two weeks ago, when Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visited the island. The same far-right groups attacked activists, journalists and even police officers. Again, no arrests were made. For those following Greek politics, this might sound all too familiar. […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and managing editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal. For the Report, Hilal Mir talks with WPR’s senior editor, Robbie Corey-Boulet, about the insurgency in the India-administered Kashmir Valley, where violence is surging again and al-Qaida and the Islamic State are believed to be making gains. If you like what you hear on Trend Lines and what you’ve read on WPR, you can sign up for our free newsletter to get our uncompromising analysis delivered straight to your inbox. […]

For the first time in almost a decade, Lebanese voters went to the polls last weekend and delivered a subtle but important message with regional ramifications. The results will do nothing to ease tensions, instead sharpening enmity between Saudi Arabia and Iran while marginally increasing fears of an impending confrontation between Israel and Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah. From a regional perspective, the outcome of the Lebanese election is clear: Iran has grown more powerful inside Lebanon, adding to Tehran’s influence across the Middle East. The election strengthened the hand of Hezbollah, the militant Shiite organization and political party […]

ANANTNAG, Jammu and Kashmir, India—The Facebook status updates of people living in the Kashmir Valley are a lot like those posted anywhere else in the world. There are birthday wishes and engagement announcements, and photos of weddings and newborn children, all followed by seemingly endless strings of comments from well-wishers. The content can also skew toward the political, but the stakes are much higher than they tend to be for typical political debates on a Facebook feed. This is because of the decades-old military campaign waged by those seeking independence from Indian rule. Listen to Hilal Mir discuss this article […]