Worlds Apart
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Erik Jones, director of European and Eurasian studies at Johns Hopkins University on European unity in the Skripal case
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‘We could have a nuclear war by accident’ Professor Gerhard Mangott of the University of Innsbruck analyses Moscow-EU relations
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‘Fidel trusted me’: Jon Alpert, American filmmaker on Cuba documentary he filmed for 45 years
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‘The US is disregarding its allies’ – Jarrett Blanc, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for Intl Peace on US pull-out from Iran deal
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‘The Americans are parents, but we say: We’re off to college’ – The Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs
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‘Who is going to take care of Jerusalem? Us or Hamas?’ An interview with Dore Gold, Israeli diplomat
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‘The US trade policy is a mess’ - Brahma Chellaney from the Center for Policy Research
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‘The US is using racket diplomacy to promote their interests’ – former French foreign trade minister
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‘Italy is a perfect storm for populism in Europe’ - Paolo Magri, director of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies
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‘You need Russia if you want peace in the Middle East’ – ex-Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel
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British media personality Katie Hopkins on Putin, London’s mayor and multiculturalism
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Propaganda exercise or attempt at democracy? – Vyatka State University assistant professor Samantha Lomb on Stalin’s constitution
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‘Iran is the main destabiliser in the region’ – Israel’s ex-Deputy FM Daniel Ayalon
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‘Migration is necessary’ – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
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‘Sport is what brings people together’ – Russian hockey legend Viacheslav Fetisov
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Columbia University Professor of Economics Arvind Panagariya on US trade war
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‘Football connects people’ – Legendary Croatian footballer Davor Suker
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‘Views about women’s rights are changing in Afghanistan’ – Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi
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Internet of Things Council founder: Internet of the future, benefits and challenges
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Meir Javedanfar: America abandoning the Iran deal was, ‘a wrong move’
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'The United States is on the declining part of the life cycle curve" – Ichak Adizes, author and management consultant
‘Views about women’s rights are changing in Afghanistan’ – Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi
After forty years of war, peace and stability still seem like a far-fetched notion in Afghanistan. However, things are changing in Afghan society, including conservative views on the role of women, according to Fawzia Koofi, who is a member of the Afghan parliament and a women’s rights activist.
“The perspective of [the] people of Afghanistan is changing,” Koofi said. Although many initially saw “women’s issues as [a] foreign agenda,” now there are “a lot of positive views” on the subject. “They see that a woman who is educated can do something,” she said, while acknowledging that Afghanistan certainly lags behind much of the world in terms of women’s rights.
Some of the problems that Afghan women face “have root in our culture and tradition,” which are “difficult to change overnight.” However, “things will not reverse back to the Taliban period,” Koofi said.
Before leaving Afghanistan, the international forces must make sure “that some of these changes will be safeguarded.” Otherwise, “history will repeat itself and then we will face, perhaps, the same situation we faced after withdrawal of the Soviets from Afghanistan – a gap of civil war and the Taliban regime.”