A tight gas drilling station in Changbei, China (Photo: Royal Dutch Shell via Flickr).
The myth of religious violence
The Guardian
By Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong at The Guardian goes back in time attempting to explain the modern belief that religion mixed with politics leads to bloodshed.
Dismantling Empires Through Devolution
The Atlantic
By Parag Khanna
This interesting piece links together the Scottish vote for independence with some of the destabilized situations in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world. Parag Khanna suggests that the world as we know it, established through colonialism in the past few centuries, is being challenged by devolution and a push for autonomy.
The Franklin Ship Myth, Verified
The New Yorker
By Adam Gopnik
It may not have attracted worldwide attention like ISIS, Scotland and Ukraine, but the discovery of the missing British naval voyage attempting to sail the Northwest Passage in 1845 is an interesting bit of news worth reading.
Fight Club: Israel Nuke Edition
Foreign Policy
By Jeffrey Lewis
Foreign Policy‘s Jeffrey Lewis covers what the world knows and does not know about Israel’s supposed nuclear arsenal using Fight Club’s mantra: The first rule of Israel’s nuclear arsenal is that there is no Israeli nuclear arsenal.
Deep Inside the Wild World of China’s Fracking Boom
Mother Jones
With a growing pollution crisis, China is investing in its own natural gas potential. A lot is still unknown about the hydraulic fracturing’s effects on the environment, is China just trading one environmental disaster for another?
Fatah Building Rockets To Use in the Next War by Rachel Avraham
China Issues Freedom of Religion Policy Sentences Ilham to Life Imprisonment by Gary Sands
A Geopolitical Pawn Named ‘ISIS’ by Abukar Arman
