In this appalling overview of civilian deaths from the Afghan War, Gopal looks to open our eyes to the prejudices that we may have previously held. Many, many civilians, primarily in rural areas, lost their lives, their families, and their livelihoods in the struggle between the Taliban and the American and NATO-backed armies. Gopal hopes to tell their stories.

The Other Afghan Women

In this piece, Gopal gives an extremely detailed account of the development of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and why the "Arab Spring" of 2011 ultimately failed. He argues that the movements did not have the "structural leverage" to force real change.

The Arab Thermidor

Since the ancient Romans, we have considered there to be a set of morals surrounding warfare. What we consider to be moral or justified might change from civilization to civilization, but we have, more or less, always thought there to be some set of rules under which we wage war. Anand Gopal looks at the Syrian War and Neil Renic's new book, "Asymmetric Killing: Risk Avoidance, Just War, and the Warrior Ethos" (Oxford) to understand what we now see as ethical in conflicts now decided by remote bombing and targeted interventions.

The Commons

Anand Gopal

Reviewed work