Nafeez Ahmed

Dr. Nafeez Ahmed is the founding editor of the 100% reader-funded investigative journalism project INSURGE intelligence. His latest book is Failing States, Collapsing Systems: BioPhysical Triggers of Political Violence (Springer, 2017). He is an 18-year investigative journalist, formerly of The Guardian where he reported on the geopolitics of social, economic and environmental crises. He now reports on ‘global system change’ for VICE’s Motherboard. He has bylines in The Times, Sunday Times, The Independent on Sunday, The Independent, The Scotsman, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, Quartz, New York Observer, The New Statesman, Prospect, Le Monde diplomatique, among other places. He has twice won the Project Censored Award for his investigative reporting; twice been featured in the Evening Standard’s top 1,000 list of most influential Londoners; and won the Naples Prize, Italy’s most prestigious literary award created by the President of the Republic. Nafeez is also a widely-published and cited interdisciplinary academic applying complex systems analysis to ecological and political violence. He is a Research Fellow at the Schumacher Institute.

US State Department Spent Over $1M in Iran to Exploit Unrest

Documents reveal ‘regime change’ aspirations were pursued under the cover of ‘democracy promotion’ programs.

Nafeez Ahmed
By Nafeez Ahmed
University students run away from police during an anti-government protest inside Tehran University, in Tehran, Iran, Dec. 30, 2017. (AP Photo)

At the end of 2017, a dozen cities across Iran, including the capital Tehran, were rocked by spontaneous protests which continued into the New Year. The protests drew attention to the country’s deteriorating economic conditions, along with the regime’s abysmal human rights record. They also paved the way for President Donald Trump’s announcement

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How G4S Tolerated The Homophobic Hatred Of Orlando’s IS Terrorist

Omar Mateen’s homophobic fling with the Islamic State emerged in the bowels of a national security complex dominated by the Christian Right.

Nafeez Ahmed
By Nafeez Ahmed
Omar Mateen

Omar Mateen, the terrorist who massacred 49 people and left 53 injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) in a 911 phone call during the attack. The connection has rightly drawn attention to the insidious role of IS in legitimizing violence against theologically dehumanized civilians:

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Edward Snowden: ‘We Must Seize The Means Of Communication’ To Protect Basic Freedoms

Renowned NSA whistleblower calls for ‘radical’ popular action to take control of information technologies.

Nafeez Ahmed
By Nafeez Ahmed
Edward Snowden addressing an audience live in Berlin via video link on Saturday evening.

A gathering of journalists, hackers and whistleblowers in Berlin this weekend heard former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, Edward Snowden, issue a call for citizens to find ways to take direct control over the information technologies we use everyday. The Logan Symposium, organized by the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) based

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How The Mainstream Media Became A Neo-Stalinist Propaganda Regime For Wealthy Neocons

The Media Reform Coalition (MRC), steered out of Goldsmiths University’s Leverhulme Media Research Centre, found that 71% of UK national newspapers are owned by just three giant corporations, while 80% of local newspapers are owned by a mere six five companies.

Nafeez Ahmed
By Nafeez Ahmed

This in-depth special report is part of the Media Reform Coalition’s ‘media democracy’ series of think pieces. John Pilger once wrote that journalism is the first casualty of war. In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, as governments push forward with new legislation on mass surveillance and anti-terror powers, as the drumbeat for more war

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Western Firms Plan To Cash In On Syria’s Oil And Gas ‘Frontier’

US, British, French, Israeli and other energy interests could be prime beneficiaries of a major offensive on Syria designed to rollback the power of the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS) and, potentially the Assad regime.

Nafeez Ahmed
By Nafeez Ahmed
US-led coalition forces carry out a large-scale attack on Syria’s Omar oil field

US, British, French, Israeli and other energy interests could be prime beneficiaries of military operations in Iraq and Syria designed to rollback the power of the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS) and, potentially, the Bashar al-Assad regime. A study for a global oil services company backed by the French government and linked to Britain’s Tory-led

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Saudi Arabia Faces Collapse As Oil Revenues Decline

A ‘perfect storm’ of interconnected crises could see the autocratic Saudi state disintegrate within ten years, argues Nafeez Ahmed.

Nafeez Ahmed
By Nafeez Ahmed
A Saudi man walks at the Tadawul Saudi Stock Exchange, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday, June 15, 2015. Saudi Arabia's stock market, valued at $585 billion, opened up to direct foreign investment for the first time Monday, as the kingdom seeks an economic boost amid low global oil prices. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Last September, a senior Saudi royal called for a "change" in leadership to fend off the kingdom’s collapse. In a letter circulated among Saudi princes, its author, a grandson of the late King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, blamed King Salman for endangering the monarchy's survival. Informed observers think such a prospect "fanciful", but the letter's

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Officials: ISIS Arose From US Support For al-Qaeda In Iraq

A former Pentagon intelligence chief, Iraqi government sources, and a retired career US diplomat reveal US complicity in the rise of ISIS.

Nafeez Ahmed
By Nafeez Ahmed
ISIS militants stand with a captured American Humvee, given to the Iraqi Army and captured by ISIS, June 19, 2014. (AP Photo)

A new memoir by a former senior State Department analyst provides stunning details on how decades of support for Islamist militants linked to Osama bin Laden brought about the emergence of the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS). The book establishes a crucial context for recent admissions by Michael T. Flynn, the retired head of the Pentagon’s Defense

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