By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor, The Conversation
This is the text from The Conversation UK’s World Affairs Briefing email. Sign up here to receive weekly analysis of the latest developments in international relations, direct to your inbox.
It’s still not clear who will turn up in Islamabad tomorrow for the first round of talks aimed at turning the 14-day ceasefire in the Iran war into a permanent end to the crisis. Indeed, it’s not at all certain that the ceasefire will still even exist by then.
To anyone following…
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By Ioana Emy Matesan, Associate Professor of Government, Wesleyan University
President Donald Trump’s rapid and dramatic turn from threatening to kill “an entire civilization” in Iran on the morning of April 7, 2026, to announcing a two-week ceasefire later that day left many observers with a sense of whiplash.
While it is difficult to predict whether the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran will hold or how events will…
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By Alexander Lewis Peace, Associate Professor, Structural Geology, McMaster University
The interpretation that the subduction zone is winding down gets ahead of the science. What the new research actually shows is far more complex and interesting.
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By Chad S.A. Gibbs, Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies, College of Charleston
Topics such as sexual assault have been difficult for survivors and historians to write about, even decades after the war.
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By Ashlynne McGhee, Head of Editorial Innovation, The Conversation
Isabella Podwinski, Social Media Producer, The Conversation
Every populist movement needs a threat. One Nation found several: Asian immigration, native title and Islam just to name a few. But do those enemies still resonate?
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By Stella Huangfu, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Sydney
Talk of a recession in Australia has picked up in recent weeks. Rising fuel prices, a sharp fall in consumer confidence, and signs of softer spending have all added to concerns the economy may be losing momentum.
A recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. By that standard, Australia is not there yet — but the key question is what the data are telling us about the likelihood of getting there.
The answer depends on which data you…
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By Erin Harper, Lecturer, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney
A major Australian study found kids who spend 40 hours or more in childcare may struggle more with social skills and emotions than those who attend for less time.
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By Peter Edwell, Associate Professor in Ancient History, Macquarie University
Most Roman emperors died on the job. So when the emperor Diocletian decided to abdicate and retire in March 305 CE, it was a highly unusual development.
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By Belinda Lawford, Senior Research Fellow in Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne
Kim Bennell, Professor of Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne
Travis Haber, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Physiotherapy, The University of Melbourne
Some knee injections for osteoarthritis promise to repair or regenerate the joint. Others claim to decrease pain and make it easier to move.
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By Vijay Mishra, Emeritus Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Murdoch University
Vijay Mishra changed forever when a cinema opened in his Fijian town, in 1951. He traces Bollywood’s shift from multicultural fantasy to Hindu nationalism.
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