Category: A Different View

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official position or policy of ADV or the International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS).

On February 28, 2026, when the US and Israeli jets struck Iran’s land targets, killing the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, it ignited a critical conflict (MFA Islamic Republic of Iran, 2026). While the World watched missiles fly and oil prices spike, Beijing issued a single, measured statement: it expressed “grave concern” over the “violation of Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and called for an immediate ceasefire: no troops, no sanctions, no grand rhetoric — just quiet, consistent diplomatic engagement (MFA PRC, 2026).

Initially, the Iranians viewed war as a matter of their perpetual survival; after all, it is rooted in their civilizational prestige. Iran has clearly spelled out their territorial sovereignty by counterattacking the US and other Western bases in the Persian Gulf Region (CNN, 2026). This war is not fought only on the basis of military arsenals; it is fought through maritime blockade, halting the flow of economic goods. Iran is sitting at the doorway of the Strait of Hormuz, where 25% of the World’s seaborne oil trade, 20% of global LNG export, and 34% of global crude oil transshipment happen through this strait (Snibbe, 2026). Given the geostrategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz for global oil trade and Iran’s geographical location, Iran has control over the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, backed by Yemen’s Houthis rebels. The Houthis have threatened to block the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait if Israel does not stop pursuing its goal of Greater Israel, as it goes well with their ideological imagination of the Gulf (The Times of India, 2026). Needless to say, Iran’s partial blockade has triggered an energy crisis in many countries, such as India, Pakistan, East Asian, and Southeast Asian countries. But Russian and Chinese tankers are allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, indicating that China and Russia are strategically involved in the West Asia crisis.

Beijing’s Strategic Realignment 

The US-Israel and Iran war has strengthened China’s influence in the Region by its strategic move in response to the US military escalation. While the US followed an aggressive strike, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed concern over the US-Israeli strikes against Iran and called for an immediate ceasefire, urging all sides to avoid escalation and to resume secret diplomatic mediation, sending special envoys and conducting secret negotiations through Oman and France instead of direct military intervention (The Economic Times, 2026). Iran established complete operations of the Chinese BeiDou-3 system through its transition from US-GPS in early 2026, which forms part of China’s Digital Silk Road network. Furthermore, Beijing has provided HQ-9B air defence system (surface-to-air missile systems) (The Times of India, 2026), offensive attack drones, and sodium perchlorate for solid rocket propellant, sufficient to fuel hundreds of ballistic missiles (Montagu-Smith, 2026). Its advanced anti-stealth radars, such as the YLC-8B (UHF-band), are designed to detect and track US stealth aircraft like the F-35 and F-22 by overcoming radar-absorbent materials. Beijing got the battlefield to testify to its all-technologically advanced war equipment in this war. In 2025, China imported 1.4 million barrels of Iranian crude oil per day, which accounted for 13% of its total oil imports and 80% of Iran’s exports. The shadow tanker networks maintained their operations to deliver cheap oil even when disruption happened in the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict has increased Iran’s economic and diplomatic dependence on China, too, as Tehran heavily relies on Beijing’s export and infrastructure support. This war will be beneficial for Beijing to receive Iran’s post-conflict reconstruction contracts in Iran through its BRI projects, and discounted Iranian oil will remain available for export.

Behind the scenes, Iran gets backing from a coordinated network of state and non-state actors. At the same time, Russia provides crucial diplomatic cover at the UN and participates in joint naval exercises in the western Indian Ocean alongside China, Iran, and Pakistan. As a result, the US had to move its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, from the Gulf of Oman to the central Indian Ocean. Furthermore, North Korea supplies missiles and drones in exchange for Iranian technology and cash. On the other side, the Houthis in Yemen operate as Iran’s Red Sea military force by controlling access to the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, while Hezbollah protects Israel’s northern boundary, and Syria functions as a critical supply route. Venezuela and Cuba provide political support and rhetorical support at the UN. It clearly shows that the US is losing its dominance in the Region while China is gaining prominence.

Shifting power in the Gulf region: China’s rising prominence

This West Asia war shows China’s transition from a Middle power to a Great Power. The shifts that we observe today have been proven by their rare-earth minerals and technological advancement in warfare. The US requires China to supply 70% of its rare-earth materials and 94% of its permanent magnets. Although the US has launched the Pax Silica initiative in December 2025, it serves as an AI-based response to China’s Digital Silk Road. While Pax Silica is in its nascent stage, Beijing’s BRI has been developed for more than a decade. The PLA’s focus on virtual domains gives Beijing asymmetric leverage it quietly extends to partners. China sees the current crisis as a major opportunity to maintain its Eurasian energy flow through strengthening its BRI corridors. The 2026 Iran crisis has not weakened China but has reestablished its growing prominence, as it has demonstrated responsible Global power through its economic might and technological foresight. In this multipolar world order, China has shown patient statecraft and unbreakable partnerships. The Global South has noticed: when Washington escalates, China stabilizes; when the old order fractures, the new centre holds. Beijing has achieved complete control over the international trade routes of Hormuz for its own trade flow. It positioned China as the undisputed leader of the Global South without firing a shot.

Dr. Sanghamitra Mallick is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at BITS Pilani K.K Birla Goa Campus. Formerly Chair and Vice-Chair Asia-Oceania Student Research Committee (AOSRC), International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS)

References

CNN. (2026, March 1). How the US-Israeli strikes on Iran unfolded and the aftermath, moment by moment. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-attack-02-28-26-hnk-intl

MFA PRC. (2026, March 01). Foreign Ministry Spokesperson’s Remarks on the Killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Retrieved from www.fmprc.gov.cn: https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xw/fyrbt/202603/t20260301_11866722.html

Ministry of Forreign Affairs Islamic Republic of Iran. (2026). Statement on the Martyrdom of the Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Khamenei. Ministry of Forreign Affairs. Retrieved from https://en.mfa.gov.ir/portal/NewsView/784042

Montagu-Smith, N. (2026, March 11). Could Iran be using China’s highly accurate BeiDou navigation system? Aljazeera. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/3/11/could-iran-be-using-chinas-highly-accurate-beidou-navigation-system

Snibbe, K. (2026, April 18). Here’s the share of global trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Orange Country Register. Retrieved from https://www.ocregister.com/2026/04/18/heres-the-share-of-global-trade-passing-through-the-strait-of-hormuz/

The Economic Times. (2026, March 01). China urges immediate ceasefire after US, Israel strike Iran. Retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/china-urges-immediate-ceasefire-after-us-israel-strike-iran/articleshow/128903432.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

The Times of India. (2026, March 01). Did China’s HQ-9B Fail Iran? Big-questions After US Israel Strikes. Retrieved from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/defence/international/did-chinas-hq-9b-fail-iran-big-questions-after-us-israel-strikes/articleshow/128914854.cms

The Times of India. (2026, April 19). No Force Can Reopen It; Houthis Threaten Bab al-Mandab Closure After Iran Shuts Hormuz. Retrieved from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/no-force-can-reopen-it-houthis-threaten-bab-al-mandeb-closure-after-iran-shuts-hormuz/articleshow/130367491.cms

Interviewer: Tobi, you are currently the President of IAPSS. What are your key goals for IAPSS that you want to reach in your role as President?

Tobi:  IAPSS should become a global network. But how? This has always been the question for us. Almost a year ago, we launched the Regionalisation Project which has become one of our key projects in IAPSS. In each region, we are working to reach out to political science students in a more sensitive and inclusive way through regional events, fundraising initiatives, and partnerships that would benefit everyone. Furthermore, building a global and federal vision of a political science community means using the advantages of the digital era to create a multilateral, democratic network. In doing so, more and more students around the world are becoming aware and able to access already-existing programs that we offer for students. For example, every student in the field has the opportunity to publish in our journals and blog.

Interviewer: What’s the greatest challenge you are facing?

Tobi: Becoming proactive to diversify the organisation’s structure is among the most demanding parts of my job. However, I try to incentivise bottom-up decision making processes and helped developing the regionalisation initiative. Only if the organisation develops a profoundly democratic, competitive, and sustainable environment, in which ideas and not people matter, our team will be successful. That’s what we are all working on every day. IAPSS is not about the individual, but the continuous vision to build a community of political science students. In the long run, all of us working with IAPSS will be measured by how many new critical thinkers, leaders, and voices we empower. Therefore it is important that everyone in the organisation is empowered and that noone is taking up too much space or power in the organisation. I guess that finding such a balance is a challenge for all organisations. And it’s for sure an exciting one!

Interviewer: When did you realise that you would like to take an active role in IAPSS?

Tobi: It all started in 2013, when a friend of mine introduced me to the idea of an international student community. In the beginning, I was just a member and waited for my first opportunity to participate in one of its events. However, I followed the organisation quite actively and found it remarkable that everybody at IAPSS wanted to build new bridges and bring students together.

Interviewer: Do you have a special memory regarding your first activities with IAPSS?

Tobi: Yes! A great example was the Summer School in Kiev 2016, which ran under the theme “Ukraine between the East and West.” We were around 25 students from all around Europe, including Russia, discussing the state of Ukrainian politics. I have never experienced such a challenging and at the same time interesting debate with students from so many different backgrounds. That is how I decided to play a more active role in IAPSS. Afterwards, I went to the World Congress in Budapest in 2017, where I experienced the same atmosphere. I love the idea of the IAPSS World Congress. It’s my favorite event.

Interviewer: What is special about it? Is there something you like most about it??

Tobi: The entire atmosphere is fascinating to me. You gather with over a hundred students from so many different countries. Everyone has a different academic interest: some may be aiming for an academic career, while others aspire to become activists or work for public service. Despite the variety of interests and focuses of participants, it is the open-minded character of participants and the will to critically discuss that makes the World Congress special.

Interviewer: You sound like a busy man. What are you doing when you’re not studying or working for IAPSS?

Tobi: I love cooking for my friends and read as much as I can. But there is nothing better than long nights with a friend, a stout and some political debates.

Interviewer: Finally. Now that you have been active in IAPSS for roughly 3 years: what do you think is the best thing about IAPSS?

Tobi: Personally speaking, it’s the sheer range of experiences, stories and friends that I like most about our association. In a world that gets more and more complex and where information and facts are increasingly subject to manipulation, it’s getting harder to maintain the overview on what happens. We, the students, can contribute to a more informed and fact-based analysis. One example for this are the previous elections in France. The moment Macron was announced President of the French Republic, we went live online on Facebook and one of our active members from a well-known university in Paris offered a Q&A which lasted around an hour. Thousands of young people around the world joined and asked their questions. This was amazing and showed what a powerful contribution we could make.

Interviewer: Thank you for your time and for sharing your insights and experiences with us today!

Tobi: It was a great pleasure. Looking forward to seeing you in Madrid!

Tobi (Tobias Scholz, 26) is President of the International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS) since November 2018. Tobi is a Master Candidate in International Relations at Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität as well as Universität Potsdam.

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There was a time when United Kingdom was free from foreign aggression and any form of foreign influence due to it’s land insularity that further helped the organic process of development of its political institutions and more definitely, the British political culture. Over the years, the components constituting political culture has seen a paradigm shift. Especially in the globalised world of the 21st century when the deregulated world wide web has made accessible communication channels complex, diverse, integrated and faster than the speed of sound. And, it is also very cheap. This has led to the booming ‘e-industrialization’ through the rise of several social networking medium and forums for interpretive discussions in multiple fields. Furthermore, the rise of such enterprises online has made the people around the world well connected giving them an outlook of a flexible international civil society.

Political Culture prevalent in a region always depended on factors such as the presence of ethnic groups, geography, demography, socio-economic conditions, occurrence of a war or revolution, presence of colonial rule, among others. Among these, the 21st century has seen a momentous increase in the role of ‘popular culture’ influencing international political behaviour on a daily basis. India, a nation that was under British colonial control some 70 years back now has more number of internet users annually than the current population of the entire British Isles taken twice. However, the penetration rate of the internet in India is extremely low providing access to not more than 11% of its citizens as of today. The rise of the use of English language beyond the borders of its native speakers has only aided this process.

The dissemination of popular culture has its own ways. While a video game might not resemble the sources that we are more used to studying, such as presidential statements, policy papers, and international agreements, it is still a site of micro-politics where political subjectivities, geopolitical and security imaginations, identities, and imagined communities are reproduced in a digital framework. Games such as Call of Duty provides a lucid idea of war-torn situations and simulates the same to provide the player with the feels of a battleground. Games such as Hitman bring to light the underlying mannerisms of how mercenaries operate and lead attacks on reputed plenipotentiaries of world geopolitics. Counter Strike, a multi-platform online gaming platform provides the gamer with a choice between ‘terrorists’- whose mission objective is to plant a bomb and protect it being diffused while executing the opposition(just like in reality) and ‘counter-terrorists’ whose objective is to diffuse the bomb if planted or prevent it from being planted in the first place by killing all the terrorists. Even the manner in which the characters are equipped and dressed suit their respective roles with the terrorists dressed in guerrilla, camouflage outfits and bandanas with an AK47 as their default weapon while the counter-terrorists have modern headgears, black kevlar outfits and MP40 assault rifle as the default weapon.

Jack Shaheen (2009) demonstrated an overwhelmingly negative character attributed to ‘Arabs’ in Hollywood films ever since the silent era. Disney’s Aladdin (1992) provides a notable example, both in the grossly stereotypical visual representations of the Arab characters- Aladdin and Jasmine, as the protagonists appear strikingly white and Western in comparison to the other characters. However, quite controversially the original opening lyrics, which were later replaced after several complaints from, the Arab-American anti-discrimination committee were racial slurs directed towards the Arabs:

‘Oh! i come from a land, from a faraway place-

Where the caravan camels roam,

Where they cut off your ear,

if they don’t like your face-

it’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.’

The concept of the ‘blood diamond’, too, is an aspect of popular culture, having been globally popularised by the 2006 classic ‘Blood Diamond’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio  and by Kanye West’s award-winning song ‘Diamonds from Sierra Leone’. These also drew the issue of ‘blood diamonds’ to gain media and public attention. The film reproduces the colonialist representation of Africa as relentlessly chaotic and backward simultaneously encouraging legitimate diamond consumption. West deliberately draws attention to the complicity of US blood diamond consumers such as himself, linking their purchases with the ongoing conflict in Africa. He also connects the violence of the blood diamond trade with the drug-fuelled, violent ‘bling’ culture prevalent in parts of urban and suburban United States.

In the recent past, two major events received a great deal of global attention: the international response to the release of The Interview in December 2014 and, in early January 2015, the violent attacks in Paris– primarily on the offices of the satirical publication agency- Charlie Hebdo. The Interview is an American comedy movie produced and directed by Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg. The film features Seth Rogan and James Franco as journalists who set up an interview with the infamous and notorious North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un played by Randall Park, and are recruited by the CIA to assassinate him discreetly in the course of the interview. The film is also heavily inspired by a Vice documentary which was shot back in 2012. In June 2014, the North Korean government threatened action against the United States if Columbia Pictures released the film. Columbia Pictures delayed the release from October to December, and reportedly re-edited the film to make it more acceptable to North Korea. In November, the computer systems of parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment were hacked by the ‘Guardians of Peace’ a group the FBI claims has ties to North Korea. The group also threatened terrorist attacks against cinemas that showed the film. Major cinema chains opted not to release the film, coercing Sony to release it only for online rental and purchase on the Christmas Eve the same year which was then followed by a limited release at select cinemas the following day.

‘Pop-culture’ does not belong to just the elites and it is not officially or ideologically acknowledged as the dominant culture any level, yet its discourse has enormous significance in the formation of public attitudes and values, as well as a profound impact on both domestic and international affairs. In India, for instance, Bollywood movies are used as the medium to disseminate information on health and hygiene, sex-ed, maternity and family issues especially among the backward rural communities.

With the rise of populist politics, it has become more important that we consider pop-culture to be a definite factor affecting international politics of today. Publicising a political campaign to target any nation is a more complex task than establishing policy. In the United Kingdom and the United States of America, internet ‘memes’ have played a crucial undeniable role in the election campaigns. Making fun of politicians often serves as a release valve, a way to make difficult truths into something digestibly viral. Brown Political Review defined memes as- humorous concepts that spread rapidly through the Internet with the essential function as an inside joke that a large number of internet users are ‘in on.’ Usually the meme is an image, video, or piece of text that can be slightly altered to react to various circumstances.

The Conservatives of the United Kingdom are said to have spent around 1.2 million pounds on Facebook and social media advertising for the 2015 elections with the eventual loss of their parliamentary majority while labour spent only around 16 thousand pounds for the same purpose and spread almost all of its content online for free using basic social media norms available. The rise of such elements have been a consequence of the rise in youth participation in political discussions and dialogue both online and in the field. The Tories however did not target this cohort correctly. The distinct rise of this meme culture played a crucial part in almost all of modern political campaigns and it was the young Labour supporters who particularly capitalised on this for the recent election in the United Kingdom creating meme pages and accounts to promote the politics of the Labour party in a concise and accessible manner. There still exists Facebook groups with active Labour supporters as members who share memes and similar content with an underlying humour almost at a daily basis receiving over 10 thousand shares almost always.

Such components of entertainment politics, including ‘meme politics’, gets the mainstream youth engaged and triggers conversations that usually mobilise people who usually prefer to sit out of election season in a manner that their effect resonates even to the activists who take interests in elections. While this may simply be a case of correlation, it is perhaps not a coincidence that in this election season, when young voters for the first time have memes at their disposal as a political tool, they also showed a record turnout among voters aged between 18-29 who have shown up at primaries. While we tend to look at memes as absurd, silly and trivial concept of internet based ‘time suckers’, perhaps it is time to re-conceptualize them as effective devices for diversified and accessible communication with a dash of humour.

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“The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women.” Laura Bush, 17. 11. 2001

In 2001, as the Bush administration was preparing ground for an invasion of Afghanistan, it stumbled upon oppressed Afghan women and the terror they were facing under the Taliban regime. Recognizing an excellent way to sell their war, those women became a centre of their war on terror agenda and the key factor in legitimizing an intervention. The US now had a mission for its bombers: to save those powerless and terrorized Muslim women by delivering them the Western idea of empowerment and feminism. That is, with invasion, bombs and occupation.

Far from being feminist or particularly concerned with women’s rights, the US administration skilfully used the feminist language to sell their war agenda and achieved astonishing consensus for an invasion of a sovereign country that would later prove to have disastrous consequences for the region. Mainstream feminists praised Bush for his efforts to restore the rights of women in Afghanistan and the liberal group Feminist Majority circulated a petition thanking the Bush administration[1]. Suddenly awoken to the suffering of the Afghan women, mainstream media enthusiastically disseminated the whole charade among the public, all the while choosing not to dwell on the fact that the Taliban rose to power with funding, training and encouragement from the US[2]. President Ronald Reagan was especially fond of the Taliban, or “gentlemen” as he put it, who were “the moral equivalents of America’s founding fathers.”[3]

Afghan woman, photo Graham Crouch / World Bank

Since the use of women for its imperialistic agenda proved to be so successful, the US administration resorted to the similar rhetoric in order to legitimize its invasion of Iraq. Pro-war partisans used the images of suffering Iraqi women and girls, terrorized under the regime of the demon that was Saddam Hussein[4]. Conveniently forgotten was the daily bombing by the Allied forces throughout the 90s and the UN’s economic sanctions, which resulted in the deaths of more than half a million Iraqi children between 1991 and 2000.[5]

And how did this ‘women’s liberation’ work out for Afghan and Iraqi women? Those who survived the bombing and warfare, have to deal with aftermath realities. Iraqi women are being killed for simply being women.[6] Before the US/UK led invasion, they enjoyed a number of rights; those were replaced as religious leadership took over the reins of the country[7], putting women’s position back into the 1930s. Today, Iraq is in a state of lawless hyper-patriarchy.[8]

Women in Afghanistan suffered the similar fate. The rate of illiteracy and mental disease among women is extremely high[9]; rape, abduction and sexual abuse is a bitter part of their lives. Due to poverty and unemployment, many women are forced to beg, prostitute themselves or even sell their children. The U.S. bombing campaign has brought “Northern Alliance rapists and looters back to power”, clearly demonstrating that women’s liberation was never on the agenda in Afghanistan.[10] They Afghan women were told to breathe easier though, as the version of Sharia law practiced will be milder.[11]

From the beginning, this was about the US’ and NATO’s strategic and economic benefits[12] in the region. Imperialism is not concerned with women’s rights just as military invasion cannot bring about peace and liberation. The realities of war are in stark contradiction to the fundamental values of feminism.”[13] War is one of the principal male patriarchal values and ideals[14] and the glory and necessity of war is often linked to masculinity. It affect the lives of women in various ways. The weapons of modern war are as likely to kill and maim women and girls as males[15]. Today, civilians present 90 percent of the war casualties, an increasing number of whom are women and children[16]. Violence against women becomes endemic during armed conflict and rape is a widespread method of warfare. Women are forced to flee with their families, facing thereafter numerous dangers as refugees. Both child marriage and trafficking increase, as well as intimate partner violence[17].

War is not gender neutral – women are affected disproportionately in gendered ways, a fact often ignored and underrepresented by the pro-war agents, who do not shy away from using sexist, orientalist portrayals and militarized ideals. Uncivilized, barbaric Muslim males and their oppressed, veiled Muslim female victims – one needs to be defeated, so the other can be saved by a heroic white male. Such depictions are shamelessly produced for the Western war-mongering machine, in order to justify humanitarian interventions – that is, invasions.

A Helping Hand. photo by Iain Cochrane of Scotland, the United Kingdom

Women liberation is nowhere on the to-do list of the imperialist superpowers. And how could it be? Subjugated woman is good for the capitalist system; a free one, not so much. With equality, the system of the capitalist exploitation would crumble, as it would with peace; that is why the war-drums are continually drumming in the West.

The liberation cannot come from the outside; it cannot be delivered by the means of war, invasion and occupation. The Western world is so engulfed by its power that it fails to understand different realities that societies (and women) from the other parts of the world face. The West has assumed the role of the leader and human rights champion without any regard to the other actors within the international community, a bitter result from the practices of colonialism and imperialism. Western culture, values and norms are considered superior and are in fact the foundation of today’s international system that serves the same elite which has colonised, enslaved and oppressed other nations. This system is enforced on the other civilizations by foreign aid and invasions disguised as humanitarian interventions.

Capitalism and imperialism have incorporated feminism into their rhetoric in order to pursue their malicious, war-mongering agenda. Hundreds of thousands of casualties, destroyed societies and failed states attest, there can be no liberation from the outside. Firstly, because that is not an actual concern of military intervention. And secondly, because liberation can only start within the society itself. For these reasons, feminism needs to separate itself completely from the practices that have their roots in imperialism and colonialism, as “the relation between imperialism and gender is not just a matter of macho talk and fashion, it is about who dies, about economic sexism and sexual exploitation.”[18]

---

[1] Schulte, Elizabeth. 2001. Media ignores the brutal record of the Northern Alliance: Is the U.S. fighting for women’s liberation? Socialistworker.org. Available at: http://socialistworkAer.org/2001/386/386_08_WomensLiberation.shtml.

[2] Martin, Trayvon. 2005. Afghanistan, Iraq and women’s rights. Workers World. Available at: http://www.workers.org/2005/editorials/women-0331/.

[3] Akyol, Naz. 2014. Liberation Through War: The Paradox Facing Middle Eastern Women. Brown Political Review. Available at: http://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2014/12/liberation-through-war-the-paradox-facing-middle-eastern-women/.

[4] Jabbra, Nancy W. 2006. Women, Words and War: Explaining 9/11 and Justifying U.S. Military Action in Afghanistan and Iraq, p: 249. Journal of International Women’s Studies 8 (1): 236 – 255.

[5] Pilger, John. 2000. Squeezed to death. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/mar/04/weekend7.weekend9.

[6] Wajid, Sara. 2009. The battle against brutality. The Guardian. Available at:  https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/28/iraq-women-rights-us-news.

[7] Van der Gaag, Nikki. 2017. Feminism: Why the world still needs the F-world, p. 63. Oxford: New Internationalist.

[8] Wajid, Sara. 2009. ibid.

[9] Freedom Socialist: Voice of Revolutionary Feminism. 2009. U.S. Occupation In Afghanistan Sabotages Women’s Rights. Available at: https://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/articles/us-occupation-afghanistan-sabotages-womens-rights.

[10] Smith, Sharon. 2002. Using women’s rights to sell Washington’s war. International Socialist Review (21). Available at: http://isreview.org/issues/21/afghan_women.shtml.

[11] Kolhatkar, Sonali. 2013. The Impact of U.S. Intervention on Afghan Women’s Rights, p. 23. Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice 17 (1): 12 – 30. Available at: http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1176&context=bglj.

[12] Freedom Socialist: Voice of Revolutionary Feminism. (ibid.)

[13] Mehr, Nathaniel. 2009. Feminism and war: confronting US imperialism. Red Pepper. Available at: http://www.redpepper.org.uk/feminism-and-war-confronting-us/.

[14] Bertlatsky, Noah. 2013. The Feminist Objection to Women in Combat. The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/01/the-feminist-objection-to-women-in-combat/272505/.

[15] Chew, Huibin Amee. 2007. Women and War: Reclaiming a Feminist Perspective. Left turn. Available at: http://www.incite-national.org/sites/default/files/incite_files/resource_docs/3429_women-war.pdf.

[16] Van der Gaag, Nikki. 2017. (ibid. p. 57).

[17] (ibid. p. 57)

[18] Chew, Hubin Amee. 2007. (ibid.)

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