History behind the headlines

Gaza War series - Episode 6 Episode 6 examines the likely and potential global and other consequences of the Gaza war Gaza 6a.m4a

Gaza War series - Episode 5 Episode 5 investigates whether or not Israel had any other choice as to how to react to the Hamas attack Gaza 5a.m4a

Gaza War series - Episode 4 Episode 4 tries to shed light on why Israel reacted in such a disproportionate way Gaza 4a.m4a

Gaza War series - Episode 3 Gaza 3a.m4a Episode 3 tries to shed light on why Hamas launched its October 7 terrorist attacks against Israel.

Episode 2 tells the 20th and 21st century history of Gaza itself. Gaza 2c.m4a

Gaza War series - Episode 1: Explains the long-term historical background to the Israel/Palestine conflict as a whole. Gaza 1.m4a Permalink

INTRODUCTION David Keys

Brexit of course has huge implications for Britain's relationship with continental Europe. But it also has disturbing implications for the long-term survival of the United Kingdom itself. That's because Brexit has provided renewed impetus to Scotland's independence movement. For many centuries, Scotland traditionally saw itself as being geopolitically closer than England to continental Europe – an...

India's continued abrogation of normal human rights in Kashmir - the only Muslim-majority region in India – is compromising the world's biggest democracy's relationship with several other key geopolitical players – including Turkey, China, Malaysia and potentially the European Union. An EU/India summit meeting on India/Europe relations is due to take place in Brussels next month. Above all, the si...

To the south of the United States’ 2,000-mile-long border with Mexico, a terrible war has been gathering pace over the past 13 years. So far, the conflict has claimed 230,000 lives, with countless others maimed, bereaved and impoverished. Tens of thousands of children have lost one or both their parents – and several hundred thousand people have been forced to flee their homes, creating a ever-gro...

IT IS A COLLISION between two nationalisms – both forged substantially in exile. It is a struggle between two peoples whose militant wings both still lay claim to the same territory. It is perceived by some as a clash between the first and third worlds or between Islam and Judaism, even between Islam and the West. At its heart lie thousands of years of history and some of the holiest places on ear...