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On the weekend the US, France and Britain launched air strikes in Syria. The move was in response to a chemical attack on the Syrian town of Douma, allegedly by its own government. But despite the horrific images, Andrew Bell says the humanitarian intervention was fundamentally illegal.
The world now waits to see what Russia and Iran may do. Mehmet Ozalp writes that tit-for- tat fighting is unlikely, but the unknown in all of this is the unpredictable US president.
And when the war does finally end, how can aid agencies help rebuild a shattered country? Denis Dragovic argues it will be no easy exercise, with the politics of aid likely to be complex and arduous.
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A Syrian soldier films the damage of the Syrian Scientific Research Center which was attacked by U.S., British and French military strikes.
AP Photo/Hassan Ammar
Andrew Bell, Indiana University
The United Nations Charter doesn't allow the use of military force to prevent chemical weapons attacks — no matter how evil — without UN Security Council approval. That needs to change.
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Arts + Culture
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Ben Etherington, Western Sydney University
Tracker Tilmouth was a central and visionary figure in Aboriginal politics. His life is captured in Alexis Wright's Tracker through the voices of many, rather than the tradition of European biography.
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Politics + Society
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Mehmet Ozalp, Charles Sturt University
The US, France and Britain launching air strikes this weekend on Syria in retalition for an alleged gas attack by the Assad regime – but niether side is likely to up the ante soon.
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Denis Dragovic, University of Melbourne
Rebuilding Syria will be complex and costly. But expertise and extensive funds will be in short supply due the geopolitical absence of the US and other Western countries.
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Mary Anne Kenny, Murdoch University
Since the second world war nearly every Olympic Games has seen athletes seeking asylum in the Games host country.
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Olga Oleinikova, University of Sydney
For Ukrainians, the legacy of the Euromaidan revolution is decidedly mixed, and for the protesters who waved European Union flags EU membership now looks like a distant dream.
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Katharina Graf, SOAS, University of London
In Morocco, bread is not only a symbol for wider demands but also the material basis of affordable and just living conditions.
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