When could a conspiracy theory be true?
As Ahsan’s affirmative action hire for this blog, I know little about Pakistani politics, even less about football, and all I know about Younis Khan is that Farooq bares an unhealthy obsession with...
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Self-Immolation as Political Protest: Powerful Beginning or a Tragic End?
In June 1963, a Buddhist monk, Thich Quang Duc, committed suicide by lighting himself on fire to protest religious discrimination by the South Vietnamese regime of Ngo Dinh Diem. Journalist David...
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Ordered to Kill, Part 1 of 3: What type of person commits an atrocity?
On March 16, 1968, American helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson Jr. was flying over the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai when he noticed a ditch filled with bodies. He then watched in horror as a U.S. Army...
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Ordered to Kill, Part 2 of 3: Why do they do it?
In my previous post, I asked what type of person commits a mass killing during wartime. I noted that a similar pattern occurred in many massacres: a minority of sadistic soldiers enthusiastically led...
View ArticleOrdered to Kill, part 3 of 3: Who refuses to kill?
In the first two parts of this series, I asked what type of soldier commits a mass killing. My last post emphasized the scary extent to which most people will conform to social pressure, including the...
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Some Initial Thoughts on Obama’s Counterterrorism Speech
Last week President Obama delivered a major speech on Counterterrorism at the National Defense University, hopefully marking a major shift in U.S. counterterrorism strategy. There were many things to...
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Chicago in 13 Maps
Perhaps a blog that focuses on Pakistani politics isn’t the best place for this post. However, this is the only blog I write for, so here it goes… I really miss Chicago. I’m incredibly sad to leave...
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