This year emphasized the simple but profound truth that the world’s conflicts and political dramas do not stop at national borders. In the face of global interconnectedness, the idea that we can only focus on what’s happening domestically seems increasingly naive.
At The Walrus, we have sought to capture this reality by digging into stories from South Africa, Syria, Ukraine, Gaza, India, and the United States. It’s part of our effort to broaden our horizons, explore the threads that connect these events to our own lives, and grapple with the complexities of a world that refuses to be neatly compartmentalized.
Women in Afghanistan aren’t giving up
By Soraya Amiri and Samia Madwar Despite threats of imprisonment, torture and death, activists are resisting the Taliban at home and abroad
Ukrainians who refused to fight
By Jonathan Garfinkel The government has imposed martial law, restricting some people from leaving the country. This is the story of a family’s escape
Nowhere is safe: 25 days in wartime Gaza
By Louis Baudoin-Lardman Doctors Without Borders activists speak of confusion, anger and anguish after Israeli bombing and invasion of Gaza
India bans critics from returning home
By Vijayta Lalwani Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is cracking down on diaspora dissidents by stripping them of their right to re-enter the country.
How states sanction violence against minorities
By ANAM ZAKARIA Pakistan offers a chilling window into the use of morality law to legalize mob violence
South Africa doesn’t need more heroes.
By ZANELE MJI This election year marks 30 years since this country defeated apartheid. But it’s not completely healed yet
“There’s no water. We’re lost”: Following in the footsteps of immigrants who never made it.
By Marcello Di Cintio Thousands of people have died trying to enter the United States from Mexico. Every year, activists go on a harrowing journey.
The day Assad fled: joy, fear, and the weight of history
By Samia Madhwa After years of silence, I can finally write about Syria again.
Welcome to Mass Market Mountaineering
A personal guide by Bernadette McDonald. private chef. There will be a helicopter. Tensions are rising between the Sherpas who do the grueling labor and the foreign climbers they escort to the summit.
Canadian universities are a pipeline for Chinese military technology
By Jonathan Manthorpe How hundreds of Chinese researchers across the country were identified as undercover scientists
