Axel Springer’s impending purchase of The Telegraph is a powerful reminder that we have entered a new media ecology, where nationalists walk in lockstep with neoliberals and neocons. The Telegraph can now take its place in an expanding national populist news empire. Josh White, for The Battleground.
Nowhere in London sounds like Hounslow. On the landing approach to Heathrow, every five minutes, descending passenger jets sonically obliterate everything in their path. In Outsidergrad, Joel Schalit & Duncan Simpson offer a sonic portrait of Hounslow as they hear it, in all of its deafening glory.
The Battleground needs your support. Please donate now:
thebattleground.eu/donate/
Bar Kokhba didn't claim to be greater than God, but asked God not to work against his goals. Netanyahu makes a similar mistake. He knows Israel can't do what it does without US support. He just believes that “America is a thing you can move very easily.” Mitchell Plitnick, for The Battleground.
A Supreme Court defeat for Donald Trump would be a victory, not just for undocumented migrants but also for those who still believe the Constitution should govern. However, the president could also turn a court loss to his advantage. Ari Paul, on Trump’s attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship.
In February, the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación carried out attacks across Mexico in response to government forces killing its leader, “El Mencho.” While cartel ultraviolence is nothing new, this had a political feel. Spencer Sunshine interviews extremism researcher Malika Criezis.
In a world where states act without declaring war, where conflict is conducted through economic and informational means as much as violence, the line between war and non-war becomes a memory. John Foster, on David Kilcullen’s The Dragons and the Snakes & why the 2020 book has never been more timely.
The conflict in Iran is set to change the Middle East, if not the world. Mitchell Plitnick, on Pakistan’s growing involvement in Middle Eastern affairs, and why it augurs an end to US domination of local politics.
Alexander Kluge’s body may have failed. But his disembodied voice lives on, reminding us that historians must never turn their backs on the future. Charlie Bertsch, on the legendary German director and Adorno protégé, who passed away last week at the age of 92.
In the 2026 French municipal elections, everyone can claim to have won. But that’s because no one did. John Foster, on the bureaucratic nature of local polls and their lack of ideological significance.
📍Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
Israelis may want peace and security. But they’re wrong to think they'll achieve it through war. Mitchell Plitnick, on efforts to convince the Israeli public that a more welcoming Middle East awaits them.
📍Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
https://thebattleground.eu/category/photo-essays/
Populism is starting to lose its lustre. Blame Trump and his disastrous government's impact on the global right. Joel Schalit, with nine new photos for The Battleground.
📍https://thebattleground.eu/photo/
If Netanyahu had been killed in a targeted assassination, would the Israeli government keep it a secret? Ari Paul, in The Battleground, on growing conspiracy theories about Bibi’s death and the powerlessness...
📍Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
It’s hard to imagine Jürgen Habermas’s commitment to the “unfinished project of Enlightenment” surviving a world where darkness is spreading rapidly. But the questions he tabled live on, more urgent than ever...
📍Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
https://thebattleground.eu/photo/
If last weekend's Palestinian solidarity protest in Torino is any indication, Gaza hasn't been buried by the Iran war. Two new pages of photos, by Joel Schalit, for The Battleground.
📍 thebattleground.eu/photo
Technocratic social democracy—the political language of careful management and incremental reform—no longer commands the emotional loyalty it once did. German voters now prefer either the transformative optimism of the Greens or the disruptive anger of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland.
The Israeli-American war on Iran only serves the interests of Bibi’s far-right government, and Donald Trump decided to support it out of his own mistaken view that he would benefit from it. Trump did not act out of fear of an "Israel lobby."
📍Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
With Iran the focus of world news, we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that the United States is also at war with Lebanon. Technically, it’s only Israel bombing its neighbour. However, it’s hard to tell the difference...
📍Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
Airstrikes are manifestations of a doctrine of domination, shaped by great powers balancing a contradiction between their own absolute authority and their fear of unpredictable events closer to the ground...
📍Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
Benjamin Netanyahu knew from the start that this war would not conclude quickly. But he desires an atomised Iran, and the consequences only matter to him insofar as they impact the government and ruling structure of Israel...
📍Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
It’s almost two years into the first Labour government elected since 2007, and we’ve witnessed an unprecedented collapse in support for Keir Starmer...
Josh White, from the introduction to his brand new Battleground book, Tories Are Dead: 2024 UK Election Diary.
📍 thebattleground.eu
Diplomacy is dead. Brute force runs the world now. Ari Paul, on the Israeli-American war against Iran, and why "bombs away" is the new normal.
The Battleground is proud to announce the publication of Josh White's Tories Are Dead: 2024 UK Election Diary. Reviewers, get in touch. Battleground eBooks are distributed worldwide by London's Faber Factory.
📍 thebattleground.eu/book/tories-are-dead/
Europe must decide whether to support America’s war with Iran or pursue a more independent foreign policy. The choice will not be easy. But neither is the alternative...
👇Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
Not in our name. Anti-Iran war protest, Torino.
In Torino, the antiwar protests have been nonstop.
Particularly since October 7th, and Israel's invasion of Gaza. This demonstration was the first against the war in Iran.
Battleground Editor-in-Chief Joel Schalit, with nine new photos for The Battleground.
🔴thebattleground.eu/photo/
They just want it dead.
Neither country has a plan or an expectation of what comes next. This is hardly surprising.
For decades, the United States and Israel have clamoured for Iran’s destruction and have never given a second thought to...
👇Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
The American Jewish establishment’s rush to defend the attack on Iran isn’t just pro-Israel. It’s an endorsement of the Christian Zionist belief that Jews are a junior partner in the Evangelical imperial project...
👇Continue reading at thebattleground.eu
Your embassy will not hide the occupation. Ha’Aliya Street, Tel Aviv.
Battleground Playlist #92
This week’s playlist compiles like-minded international artists taking apart Israel’s nationalist-in-chief. Equal parts corny and cool, their disaffection is profound.
Explore The Battleground playlists: open.spotify.com/user/1117544...
Giorgia Meloni has discovered that the most useful period of Italian history is not the Fascist era but the Years of Lead (1968-1988).
John Foster, on how Italy’s far-right premier is using memories of the terrorism-plagued period to justify strengthening the state and repressing civil liberties...
