Nowadays, autonomous vehicles are all the rage. We even hear that perhaps in a few years cars will make human drivers obsolete. Instead, roads and highways will be filled with vehicles that drive themselves and carry humans as passengers only.  We are also informed that such vehicles will increase safety, at least for accidents triggered by…

What role if any did non-Western nations played in the emergence of the West as a dominant historical force? This seems to be the key question the comprehensive book by Anievas and NIsancioglu attempts to answer. The problem is undoubtedly closely related to that of the emergence of capitalism in Western Europe and the role…

Snowden’s revelations had put into evidence the seemingly strong link between new technologies such as the Internet and the capacity of some states to harness it as a tool for massive surveillance in real time. As some had argued, these revelations were not that shocking after all as they only confirmed what many have been…

A few weeks ago, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR,  published its latest report on the current status of people who have been displaced from their homes and lands.  Although I have not closely tracked down these reports in the past, my interest on the subject has been increasing over time…

The idea of innovation, certainly not new to development practitioners, is again picking up steam. In fact, it has become a buzzword that is now permeating many discussions and development conversations. The Arab Spring and other social movements in both developed and developing countries brought back to the forefront not just the catalytic importance of…