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January 12, 2026

Lessons from Palestine: Understanding the resistance of educators and students in times of crisis

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Emmanuelle Khoury, Associate professor, School of Social Work, Université de Montréal

Many educators and students living through war and displacement carry difficult emotions into classrooms, but they can also transform them into acts of care and resistance. To understand this, we need to understand their emotional states at a granular level.

Since January 2024, we have been collaborating on a project with the dean and professors at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Ibn Sina College in Nablus, Palestine, with support from Université de Montréal International.

Our aim is to learn how professors and students talk about their emotions in a region marked by occupation, violence, forced displacement and chronic uncertainty.

From January 2024 to September 2025, we met every two months with five professors and the dean of nursing and midwifery at Ibn Sina College.

Palestinian university professors told us they need to be present and emotionally available for their students while grappling with the impacts of Israel’s military occupation and what many experts have labelled a genocide in Gaza, and they’re looking for tools to help them do that.

Our exchange with Palestinian educators and students led to the development of an intervention tool, CARE (Connection, Action, Resistance, Empowerment), co-designed to address two central emotional states: resistance fatigue and qahr.

What is qahr?

Resistance fatigue speaks to a pervasive loss of control over our days, choices and even our inner world. This emotional exhaustion is not only personal, but it is also shaped by political structures of exclusion and dispossession, which includes forced displacement, navigating checkpoints and restricted movement.

However, we witnessed another emotion salient in Arabic-speaking countries that we believe underpins resistance fatigue: qahr.

Qahr is a concept that is necessary to grasp in order to truly understand what Palestinians and others living through colonial violence in southwest Asia and north Africa are feeling.

In Arabic, the word qahr evokes an emotion that blends powerlessness, grief and an acute sense of injustice and being overwhelmed by forces larger than ourselves. More than anger and deeper than grief, qahr speaks to the suffocating weight of injustice, the pain of being silenced, muzzled, diminished, trivialized and made invisible.

Qahr is a complex emotion that also holds the potential for transformation — for naming, sharing and reimagining how to live and care for each other. It is a specific emotion shaped by oppression, perpetuated violence and historical trauma that non-Arabic languages often fail to capture.

What we have learned is that qahr is more than a feeling. It is also an action born of the Palestinian determination not to disappear. It is carried through stories, graffiti, songs and through everyday acts of resistance that push against military occupation and attempts at erasure.

Qahr might feel like rage and grief mixed into one, but it often looks like actions that serve as counter-narratives. These actions are deep forms of care, for ourselves, our communities and one’s history and ancestry. They are also political tools that reclaim space, time and dignity.

Hope and care

Our previous work with teachers in Lebanon has shown that educators and students alike carry the emotional trauma into the classroom from collective crises such as economic collapse, war and displacement. The Lebanese teachers we spoke to discussed losses, suffering, injustice, death, violence, unstable living conditions, but also feelings of hope and resistance.

Likewise, during the early days of the genocide in Gaza, many teachers expressed their profound sense of oppression and how they managed to transform it into hope and even moments of joy.

Their commitment to developing educational initiatives for their students stands as powerful evidence of this resistance. As Asma, a teacher from Gaza, explained: “People in the Gaza Strip have become experts in creating alternative life plans.”

In this way, spaces of suffering also become sites of hope and care. Our research on exploring emotion work, on valuing the role of emotions and on dialogue allowed us to turn toward specific emotions experienced by many of our project partners.

The CARE intervention

Inspired by our research findings about fathering amid political violence in occupied Palestine, we were interested in analyzing our discussions with colleagues at Ibn Sina College in terms of emotions and resilience.

Through our understanding of qahr, we created CARE (Connection, Action, Resistance, Empowerment), a culturally adapted intervention, with professors and students at Ibn Sina College. During a series of online dialogues, we reflected on the lived experience of teaching under occupation, talking about loss, and staying committed to teaching and training.

CARE builds on this insight, offering an adaptation of acceptance and commitment therapy with situated and culturally grounded strategies for educators and students to collectively hold space for their emotions and their actions.

What began as a project to support the psychosocial needs of health-care professionals in crisis turned into the co-creation of a training module on trauma and mental health. Our discussions revealed a common thread in our Ibn Sina colleagues’ objectives: a desire to share their own complex emotions to better support others, in particular their students.

As our collaborations evolve, we continue to explore how emotional concepts can inform pedagogical, political and relational practices. Qahr offers a lens through which to understand not only suffering and hope, but also the actions of resistance and reparation under conditions of war and displacement.

This is how our colleagues in Palestine began to share their complex, often opposing, feelings that arise in these circumstances, including resistance fatigue and qahr.

Together we identified key goals for the meetings, with a focus on developing psychosocial and mental health interventions and training sessions that recognize and validate these emotions. CARE emphasizes practical strategies for educators and students to individually and collectively hold space for strong emotions.

CARE was integrated into a guidebook and was first delivered to a cohort of nursing instructors and academics, who tested it with students and in professional circles in the fall of 2025. This initiative underscores the transformative strength of collaboration, and the importance of diving deep into learning about context and culturally specific emotion concepts for responsive care.

Qahr is a legitimate feeling. CARE offers a stepping stone to accompany teachers and professors in this experience, helping them to channel it in their own way, according to their resources and context. In this process, it is essential to mention that we also have much to learn from those who feel qahr. Their experiences invite us to question our own understandings and reflections of loss, anger and injustice.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Lessons from Palestine: Understanding the resistance of educators and students in times of crisis – https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-palestine-understanding-the-resistance-of-educators-and-students-in-times-of-crisis-269578

January 12, 2026

What Mark Carney’s China trip could mean for the future of Canadian-Chinese relations

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Ye Xue, Research Fellow, China Institute, University of Alberta

It has been more than three years since China’s Xi Jinping told Canada’s Justin Trudeau to “create the conditions first” before the two countries could work together constructively during their awkward private exchange at the 2022 G20 summit.

Despite occasional diplomatic engagement since then, the conditions for genuine co-operation between Canada and China failed to materialize, and the relationship remained overshadowed by the Meng Wanzhou affair, the ordeal of the “Two Michaels” and disputes over foreign interference.

Threats by United States President Donald Trump to make Canada a 51st state, combined with his disruptive trade policies, have forced Ottawa to re-examine the risks of excessive economic dependence on its closest ally and articulate an ambition to double Canada’s non-U.S. exports over the next decade.

As Prime Minister Mark Carney recently put it: “Never have all your eggs in one basket. We have too many eggs in the American basket.” At the same time, China has signalled a willingness to stabilize strained relations following Carney’s election win last year.

Canada-China tariffs

Foreign Minister Anita Anand’s visit to Beijing, together with Carney and Xi’s informal meeting on the margins of the APEC summit last October, suggests that the groundwork now exists for a serious stabilization of Canada–China relations.

Carney’s visit to China this week builds on this emerging momentum.

While the visit could be positive, Canadian expectations should be realistic, since the trip marks a stabilizing process rather than a symbol of stabilized relationship.

Trade will be at the top of Carney’s agenda, particularly the Canadian push for China to lift anti-dumping duties on Canadian canola oil. Yet few should expect an immediate breakthrough. Economic sanctions are rarely undone in a single high-level meeting; more often, such visits lay the groundwork for the harder, more technical negotiations that follow.

Australia’s experience offers a reality check. China did not lift restrictions on Australian coal and review anti-dumping duties on barley during high-level visits; those steps came months later, following sustained diplomatic engagement after Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s trip to Beijing in late 2022.

Nor did Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s state visit in November 2023 trigger the immediate removal of remaining tariffs on exports such as wine, red meat and live lobsters. Progress came gradually — through patience, process and persistent diplomacy.

The canola dispute is different. China’s tariffs were a direct response to Ottawa’s duties on Chinese electric vehicles. In a relationship governed by reciprocity, China is unlikely to move first without a signal from Canada.

Rather than expecting immediate, tangible outcomes, this state visit is best understood as an ice-breaking moment to encourage governments at different levels and across sectors to resume or establish dialogue. Over time, such channels can normalize working relationships and foster bilateral co-operation.

More diplomacy, no security concessions

The high-profile shift in Ottawa’s China policy places the Carney government under closer domestic scrutiny. Canadians will want to know whether this approach can advance economic interests while safeguarding national security while remaining consistent with Canada’s identity as a liberal democracy.

China, for its part, will expect Ottawa to demonstrate a sustained commitment to stabilization. All of this will unfold under the continued pressure of the American China strategy, which will continue to shape the boundaries of Canada’s policy choices.

Maintaining a balance among competing national interests has become increasingly difficult for middle powers like Canada. Yet Australia’s China policy over the past three years, characterized by “pragmatic engagement without strategic concession,” suggests such a balance is possible.

But it will require Canada to invest more heavily in effective diplomacy, rather than relying on inflammatory or performative rhetoric for domestic political gain.

It means favouring neutral, precise language over emotive labelling when responding to Chinese actions. It also demands strong leadership from Carney: centralizing message discipline, enforcing cabinet coherence on China policy and reducing the risk that domestic political point-scoring spills into the diplomatic realm.

Ottawa should also use re-established communication channels as the primary venue for managing disagreements. These mechanisms can support incremental, negotiated solutions to specific disputes, rather than an over-reliance on public pressure and symbolic gestures.

‘Stabilization with continuity’

A shift in diplomatic approach does not imply a retreat from Canada’s core strategic commitments. The Carney government can and should reaffirm that stabilizing its relationship with China is compatible with maintaining robust national security and democratic values.

This requires embedding China policy within Canada’s broader Indo-Pacific strategy rather than treating it as a bilateral exception. It also involves deepening security co-operation with regional partners to help foster an environment where states are not forced to choose between either the United States or China.

At home, Canada should continue to strengthen institutional safeguards against foreign interference, pairing them with transparent public communication that demonstrates the government’s confidence in institutions and avoids doubling down on any public anxiety about China.

Ultimately, Canada’s China policy after Carney’s visit should be one of stabilization with continuity, making clear that engagement is being pursued from a position of institutional strength, not strategic accommodation.

Ye Xue does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. What Mark Carney’s China trip could mean for the future of Canadian-Chinese relations – https://theconversation.com/what-mark-carneys-china-trip-could-mean-for-the-future-of-canadian-chinese-relations-273202

January 12, 2026

« Blue Monday » est un mythe, mais la déprime saisonnière est bien réelle. Voici comment traverser les mois d’hiver

Source: The Conversation – in French – By Joanna Pozzulo, Chancellor’s Professor, Psychology, Carleton University

En 2005, le psychologue Cliff Arnall a créé le terme Blue Monday dans le cadre d’une campagne publicitaire d’une agence de voyages britannique visant à encourager les gens à partir en vacances en hiver. À l’aide d’une formule pseudo-scientifique, il a désigné le troisième lundi de janvier comme le jour le plus déprimant de l’année marqué par la tristesse, le manque d’énergie et l’isolement social.

Bien que le concept du lundi de la déprime ait été réfuté, les émotions négatives associées à la saison froide sont bien réelles.

Le trouble affectif saisonnier (TAS) est une forme de dépression reconnue, liée aux variations saisonnières. Ses symptômes comprennent de la fatigue, de l’irritabilité, des changements d’appétit, une perte d’intérêt pour les activités agréables et un sentiment de désespoir. Selon la Société canadienne de psychologie, environ 15 % des Canadiens déclarent ressentir des symptômes de ce trouble.

On pense que le TAS pourrait être lié à un manque d’exposition au soleil, ce qui perturbe l’horloge interne, ou rythme circadien, qui régule les processus biologiques tels que le sommeil et la production d’hormones.

Si l’on ne peut pas contrôler la lumière du soleil, il existe toutefois plusieurs stratégies scientifiquement prouvées pour mieux traverser l’hiver. Par exemple, en aménageant un coin lecture confortable où on peut s’installer avec une bonne couverture, un chocolat chaud et un livre, on crée un espace dédié au bien-être et à la détente. Cela permet également de favoriser la pleine conscience, qui consiste à porter son attention sur l’instant présent et à accepter ses pensées et ses sentiments sans les juger.

De l’importance de l’état d’esprit et des attentes

Selon Kari Leibowitz, psychologue et auteure de How to Winter : Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark Days, la clé pour mieux traverser l’hiver consiste à faire du recadrage, c’est-à-dire à modifier sa perspective afin de trouver une interprétation plus positive, constructive ou libératrice de la situation.

Dans les cultures où l’on apprécie l’hiver, on s’y prépare et on le considère comme important. Le fait d’attendre l’hiver avec impatience peut améliorer le moral.

Essayez de remplacer les propos qui décrivent l’hiver comme quelque chose qu’on doit redouter ou endurer par une image plus positive. Ainsi, l’hiver peut être l’occasion de se reposer et de se ressourcer. Adopter un état d’esprit positif permet d’augmenter son bien-être.

Les bienfaits des activités extérieures

Le fait de sortir peut remonter le moral et donner de l’énergie. Même si les heures d’ensoleillement sont plus courtes l’hiver, il est important d’en profiter. Prenez le temps de sortir en fin de matinée et en début d’après-midi, lorsque la lumière naturelle est à son maximum.

Les conditions météorologiques hivernales peuvent rendre les activités de plein air peu attrayantes. Le froid et la glace peuvent même être dangereux pour la santé. Ainsi, le froid peut accroître les risques d’accident cardiovasculaire en contractant les vaisseaux sanguins et en augmentant la tension artérielle.

Pour profiter de l’extérieur en toute sécurité, investissez dans des vêtements adaptés à la température. Par temps très froid, pratiquez une activité légère, comme la marche, et limitez la durée de vos sorties (environ 15 minutes).

Ralentir grâce au hygge

Le terme hygge, d’origine danoise et norvégienne, date du XIX^e siècle et désigne le fait de vivre avec lenteur tout en tissant des liens avec les personnes qui nous sont chères.

Le hygge évoque l’idée d’un environnement agréable, avec des bougies ou un feu de cheminée, qui alimente la positivité.

Quand vous êtes à l’intérieur, installez-vous près d’une fenêtre pour travailler ou lire. Pensez également à augmenter la luminosité de l’éclairage. Optez pour des ampoules « lumière du jour » et ajoutez de l’éclairage au plafond. Cela peut accroître la production de sérotonine, une hormone qui améliore l’humeur et régule le rythme circadien, et ainsi augmenter la qualité du sommeil, l’énergie et la concentration.

Les activités de type hygge, telles que le tricot, le coloriage ou les jeux de société, peuvent favoriser le bien-être. Savourer un repas simple en bonne compagnie ou passer un moment seul dans la nature sont également des moyens de profiter pleinement de l’hiver.

Suivre les saisons et prendre soin de soi

L’hiver est naturellement une période de ralentissement, de repos et de rétablissement, comme en témoignent les ours qui hibernent et les bourdons qui s’enfouissent sous terre pour survivre. C’est le moment idéal pour vous préparer aux saisons plus actives qui le suivent.

Déjà des milliers d’abonnés à l’infolettre de La Conversation. Et vous ? Abonnez-vous gratuitement à notre infolettre pour mieux comprendre les grands enjeux contemporains.

Pour profiter du rythme plus lent de la saison, évitez de surcharger votre emploi du temps. Adaptez vos habitudes de sommeil à vos besoins personnels. Profitez de soirées calmes et couchez-vous tôt. Acceptez le fait que votre niveau d’énergie soit plus bas en hiver et que cette saison vous offre l’occasion de ralentir sans culpabiliser.

En passant plus de temps à l’intérieur en hiver, vous pourrez vous replonger dans les loisirs et les activités qui vous ont procuré du plaisir par le passé. Faire des casse-têtes, par exemple, permet de s’éloigner des écrans et de réduire le stress. La lecture d’un bon livre offre une occasion de s’évader et de se déconnecter de ses soucis. Les activités créatives, comme la pâtisserie, peuvent apporter un sentiment d’utilité.

Pratiquer des activités agréables et enrichissantes est le meilleur moyen d’améliorer son sentiment de bien-être. Pour découvrir des recommandations de livres et des stratégies fondées sur des preuves, inscrivez-vous à mon club de lecture « Reading for Well-Being Community Book Club », qui vise à promouvoir le bien-être.

Joanna Pozzulo a reçu des financements du Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines.

– ref. « Blue Monday » est un mythe, mais la déprime saisonnière est bien réelle. Voici comment traverser les mois d’hiver – https://theconversation.com/blue-monday-est-un-mythe-mais-la-deprime-saisonniere-est-bien-reelle-voici-comment-traverser-les-mois-dhiver-273156

January 12, 2026

Why Greenland’s vast natural resources won’t necessarily translate into huge profits

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lukas Slothuus, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Global Studies, University of Sussex

The US is sabre-rattling over Greenland once again. The vast island’s natural resources are back on the agenda, a year after then-US national security advisor Michael Waltz announced: “This is about critical minerals. This is about natural resources.”

Greenland is endowed with both fossil fuels and critical raw materials. It possesses at least 25 of the 34 raw materials considered critical by the European Union.

The EU’s 2024 Critical Raw Materials Act seeks to improve European supply security of these, and both Trump and the EU want to weaken Chinese dominance in the trade. Meanwhile, vast reserves of oil are found offshore across eastern and western Greenland.

The value of these resources is hard to estimate as the prices of oil and critical raw materials fluctuate wildly. Like with Venezuela’s oil, it will take an enormous amount of money to build the infrastructure needed to mine the natural resources in Greenland. Mining and fossil fuel projects are capital-intensive, requiring large upfront investments with long lead times before projects yield profits.

Outside its capital Nuuk, there is almost no road infrastructure in Greenland and limited deep-water ports for large tankers and container ships.

Around the world, private mining and fossil fuel corporations can exploit public infrastructure such as roads, ports, power generation, housing and specialist workers to make their operations profitable. In Greenland, huge capital investment would be required to extract the first truckload of minerals and the first barrel of oil.

As such, the government faces a classic dilemma. Let private multinationals extract but lose the lion’s share of revenues? Or insist on state ownership but struggle to find the capital and state capacity to enable extraction.

Mining, past and present

Greenland’s mineral riches have been known about for some time. In April 2025, Danish state broadcaster DR aired a documentary about how Denmark had historically siphoned off profits from a cryolite mine in Greenland.

The programme led to a major political and media crisis, with some believing it challenged perceptions of Greenland being financially dependent on Denmark. Minerals are a prominent but sensitive topic in Greenland’s relationship to the rest of the world.

Foreign companies have tried to set up viable mining industries in Greenland for decades, with little to show for it. Indeed, contrary to US President Donald Trump’s assertions, American corporations have long had the opportunity to enter Greenland’s mining sector. The capital intensity twinned with extremely harsh climactic conditions mean that, so far, no firm has begun commercial mining activities.

Greenland’s natural resources minister, Naaja Nathanielsen, said in 2025 that she wanted mining to become a “very good, stable supplement” to the country’s overwhelming dependence on the fisheries industry.

Yet in 2021 Greenland’s new socialist Inuit Ataqatigiit government banned uranium mining on pollution grounds. Australian company Energy Transitions Minerals (ETM) sued Greenland and Denmark in 2023 for 76 billion kroner (£8.9 billion), equivalent to almost four times Greenland’s GDP.

The mining company claimed to have been robbed of future profits after its uranium project at Kuannersuit/Kvanefjeld was terminated.

Danish courts have struck down most of ETM’s claims as baseless and there has been a report of concerns ETM could declare bankruptcy and thereby potentially avoid paying the large legal fees. In a statement, ETM said its subsidiary GM “worked in good faith for over a decade, in close cooperation with the Greenlandic and Danish governments”. It added that both governments had used GM to promote Greenland as a safe destination for mining investors.

But research in 2025 labelled similar behaviour “feigned victimisation”. Generally, this is where corporations perceive or position themselves victims of unfair processes rather than powerful participants concerned with profits.

Drilling in the Greenlandic crust would reverberate in Copenhagen as Greenland has a mining profit-sharing agreement with Denmark. As part of the gradual transfer of autonomy from Denmark, Greenland now retains ownership over its natural resources.

However, Denmark provides an annual block grant of 3.9 billion kroner (around half of Greenland’s state budget) to support the domestic economy, which is overwhelmingly comprised of fisheries. Denmark will cut its block grant by 50% of mining profits, meaning essentially mining profits are shared 50-50 between the two up to the value of the block grant.

Recently, the Australian-American corporation Critical Metals received construction approval for a permanent office for its Tanbreez project to supply rare earth minerals, including heavy rare earth elements, in southern Greenland.

The following day, mining company Amaroq declared that the US is considering investing in its mining projects in southern Greenland through EXIM, the US Export-Import Bank. If the state loan is approved, it will be Trump’s first to an overseas mining project.

A recent executive order from Trump earmarked US$5 billion (£3.7 billion) to support mining projects critical for national security. This demonstrates the close relationship between the extractive industries and military activity.

Fossil fuel production is less likely to happen any time soon. In 2021, for environmental reasons Greenland’s government banned fossil fuel exploration and extraction. A parliamentary majority still favours the ban.

With volatile oil and gas prices and the same climactic and infrastructural challenges as for other natural resources, fossil fuel production in Greenland is implausible even in the event of a full US takeover.

There are many reasons why the Trump administration might want to dominate the Arctic, not least to gain relative power over Russia and China. But natural resource extraction is unlikely to feature centrally.

What’s more, the US already has military bases in Greenland, following a defence agreement with Denmark. As such, it’s more likely that recent US moves are yet another chapter in the return of the country’s imperialist ambitions.

Lukas Slothuus receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

– ref. Why Greenland’s vast natural resources won’t necessarily translate into huge profits – https://theconversation.com/why-greenlands-vast-natural-resources-wont-necessarily-translate-into-huge-profits-273137

January 12, 2026

Bob Weir: the Grateful Dead co-founder reinvented rhythm guitar and the art of the jam

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Max Bowden, PhD Candidate, impact and influence of the Grateful Dead, University of Essex

Bob Weir, co-founder of the Grateful Dead, has died aged 78. His family announced the death on Instagram on Saturday, telling fans that he “transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues”.

Weir was born in 1947 and grew up with adoptive parents, not knowing his birth parents until later in life. He found school challenging due to undiagnosed dyslexia and moved from school to school.

He met lifelong collaborator John Perry Barlow when attending a school for boys with behavioural problems, and together they wrote some of the band’s most famous lyrics.

Some of Bob Weir’s earliest musical memories came from playing traditional songs for cowboys when his family were vacationing on a cattle ranch. But his career really began on New Years Eve 1963 when he met Jerry Garcia while wandering the streets of Palo Alto looking for something to do.

The pair first formed a jug band, called Mother McRee’s Uptown Jug Champions, before transitioning to electric and calling themselves the Warlocks. This wasn’t to last as there was a New York band that were playing under the same name, who went on to change their name to the Velvet Underground.

The Grateful Dead formed in 1965 and for the next 30 years, Weir supported Jerry Garcia’s melodic lead lines with his own idiosyncratic style of rhythm guitar playing. He sought to base his approach to rhythm guitar on McCoy Tyner’s piano, who played with John Coltrane.

This, combined with 60 years of improvisational experience, gave Weir’s guitar playing an inimitable feel that was constantly in a state of flux. Weir had freedom to explore complex rhythmic arrangements and chord inversions due to the robust rhythmic foundation of the band provided by Phil Lesh’s bass and the use of two drummers (Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart) for much of their existence.

Bob Weir performs a Tiny Desk concert with his band, Wolf Bros.

John Mayer, lead guitarist in Dead & Company, described Weir’s playing as “almost too original to be fully appreciated”.

Don Was, a member of Weir’s later band, Wolf Brothers, and a storied musician and producer in his own right said: “There is not another guitarist in the world who plays like him. He never plays the same thing remotely the same way twice in a row and will alternate between being as raw as John Lee Hooker to as sophisticated as Andres Segovia from one phrase to another.”

Weir’s unique approach to playing also manifested in his compositions, many of which rely on strange time signatures or intricate playing styles. Whether it’s the 10/4 time of Playing in the Band or the finger-picked introduction to Weather Report Suite, Weir’s songwriting always sought to push the boundaries of what the band could do.

His 1972 solo album Ace featured many tracks that would go on to become Grateful Dead staples. His work with Barlow on songs like The Music Never Stopped, Hell in a Bucket and Lost Sailor helped define the band’s sound across its 30-year duration.

Following the death of Garcia in 1995, Weir has participated constantly in elaborations and continuations of the band’s legacy. His solo band Ratdog even performed on the day Garcia died, ending with a powerful rendition of Knockin’ on Heavens Door. Weir’s commitment to music carried on until his last days, performing three shows for the band’s 60th anniversary in August, just weeks after starting treatment for cancer.

One of the band’s most successful post-Jerry Garcia iterations, Dead & Company, toured from 2015 to 2023 and were one of the first in the world to play the Las Vegas Sphere. This band brought the Dead’s music to a new generation, playing huge stadium shows led by Mayer, with their final tour playing for nearly a million fans.

When he wasn’t touring with iterations of the band like Dead & Company or Furthur and The Dead, Weir was still pushing his solo projects. From 2018 he has performed under Bob Weir and the Wolf Brothers, a more minimalist outfit without a lead guitarist.

This band’s accomplishments include a number of shows with orchestras across America and more recently at the Royal Albert Hall.

Weir hoped that his musical legacy would last 300 years with the Grateful Dead’s songs becoming their own kind of standard. The band can be credited for founding the jam band genre of music, which focuses on improvisation and the live experience, and includes bands like Phish, Widespread Panic and Billy Strings.

This is before mentioning the hundreds of cover bands, some of which are hugely successful in their own right, and have at this point played more shows than the Dead ever did.

Tributes from Guns n’ Roses guitarist Slash to US secretary of health Robert F Kennedy Jr, suggest the loss of Weir is being felt across America – and the world.

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Max Bowden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Bob Weir: the Grateful Dead co-founder reinvented rhythm guitar and the art of the jam – https://theconversation.com/bob-weir-the-grateful-dead-co-founder-reinvented-rhythm-guitar-and-the-art-of-the-jam-273265

January 12, 2026

El fenómeno de Raynaud: cuando los dedos cambian de color por culpa del frío

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Leyre Riancho Zarrabeitia, Profesor asociado ciencias de la salud, Universidad de Cantabria

Con la llegada del frío algunas personas notan que sus dedos se vuelven blancos, azulados o violáceos. Este cambio viene acompañado de una sensación de dolor u hormigueo. Si alguna vez le ha pasado algo así, probablemente padezca el fenómeno de Raynaud. Se trata de un trastorno de la circulación que afecta a los dedos de las manos y de los pies, aunque también puede aparecer en la nariz, las orejas y los labios. Pero ¿a qué se debe? ¿Debemos preocuparnos? ¿Existe algún tratamiento?

El fenómeno de Raynaud se debe a una contracción excesiva de los vasos sanguíneos de pequeño tamaño en respuesta al frío y, en ocasiones, también al estrés emocional.

Esta contracción tiene tres fases que explican los cambios de color:

La primera etapa es de palidez, debida a la reducción del flujo sanguíneo (isquemia) de la zona por la contracción de los vasos sanguíneos.
La segunda fase muestra una coloración azulada (cianosis). La causa está en la desoxigenación de la sangre en el área afectada, debida a la reducción del flujo sanguíneo.
Y en tercer lugar llega el enrojecimiento. Se debe al aumento del flujo sanguíneo (hiperemia reactiva), porque se dilatan los vasos sanguíneos en compensación.

Por esta razón los dedos se tornarán en primer lugar blancos, posteriormente entre azules y violáceos y finalmente rojos. Sin embargo, no todo el mundo presenta esta tríada: algunas personas solo muestran dos fases de este fenómeno.

Un fenómeno raro que suele ser benigno

Entre el 3 y el 5 % de la población mundial padece el fenómeno de Raynaud. Suele ser más frecuente en mujeres y en climas fríos. En España, un estudio realizado en Valencia calculó una prevalencia del 2.8 % en varones y del 3.4 % en mujeres.

En la gran mayoría de los casos, hasta el 90 % de las veces, es un proceso benigno y no asociado a ninguna patología. Sin embargo, en algunas ocasiones puede ser un efecto secundario tras el uso de fármacos como betabloqueantes y quimioterápicos, o de drogas como las anfetaminas. También ciertos factores ambientales, como la exposición a vibraciones, se han asociado con su aparición.

En un pequeño número de ocasiones el fenómeno de Raynaud puede manifestar asimismo una enfermedad hematológica o un problema vascular subyacentes. En otros casos es la forma de presentación de algunas enfermedades reumatológicas como la esclerosis sistémica, el lupus, el síndrome de Sjogren y la artritis reumatoide.

¿Cuándo debo acudir al médico?

Cuando el fenómeno se inicia a edades más avanzadas de lo habitual –entre los 15 y los 30 años–, podemos sospechar que pueda deberse a alguna enfermedad. Si aparece a partir de la treintena, es necesario estudiar sus causas.

Existen otros factores que pueden alertarnos de que hay alguna patología asociada:

La asimetría. Cuando solo están afectados uno o dos dedos o solo ocurre en una mano.
La gravedad de los ataques. Cuando estos aparecen con temperaturas templadas o son muy prolongados.
La presencia de úlceras o heridas en las yemas de los dedos.

En estos casos conviene acudir al médico de cabecera para descartar que estemos ante un fenómeno de Raynaud secundario, en el que existan otras enfermedades subyacentes.

¿Cómo saber si tenemos un fenómeno de Raynaud secundario?

El primer paso es que el médico nos realice un interrogatorio exhaustivo. Tras eso, algunos datos analíticos y una capilaroscopia nos pueden ayudar a entender lo que pasa.

La “capilaroscopia periungueal” es una técnica no invasiva que permite valorar con un microscopio la microcirculación del lecho ungueal –el área de la epidermis que hay bajo la uña–. Para ello se mira el número y la forma de los capilares.

Típicamente, los capilares tienen forma de horquilla. La presencia de dilataciones, tortuosidades, hemorragias y zonas avasculares nos alertarán de la posibilidad de encontrarnos ante un fenómeno de Raynaud secundario.

De igual forma, la presencia de autoanticuerpos nos harán sospechar una enfermedad reumatológica subyacente. Se trata de anticuerpos que van dirigidos contra estructuras propias en sangre, como los anticuerpos antinucleares y los anticuerpos anticentrómero y los antitopoisomerasa.

¿Cómo tratarlo?

La principal medida para controlar el fenómeno de Raynaud es minimizar la exposición al frío usando guantes y ropa cálida, así como calentadores de manos y agua caliente. También es recomendable evitar cambios bruscos de temperatura y proteger todo el cuerpo del frío, ya que la pérdida de calor general favorece la vasoconstricción periférica.

Además, hay que evitar factores agravantes como el consumo de tabaco, que también contrae los vasos sanguíneos.

El estrés emocional puede actuar asimismo como factor precipitante. Por eso, técnicas como la respiración controlada y la relajación pueden ser útiles en algunos pacientes.

En la mayoría de los casos, identificar los desencadenantes y llevar a cabo estas medidas básicas suele ser suficiente. De esta forma se evita que afecte a la calidad de vida.

En los casos en que los episodios son frecuentes o incapacitantes, por su duración o intensidad, se pueden emplear diversos fármacos vasodilatadores. Los más usados son los bloqueantes de los canales de calcio, si bien existen muchas terapias disponibles que han demostrado reducir el número y la gravedad de los ataques.

Si este es su caso, y sus dedos han empezado a ponerse blancos o azules con el frío, ya conoce la causa. Con estas medidas podrá controlar sus síntomas y disfrutar del invierno en la medida de lo posible.

Leyre Riancho Zarrabeitia no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. El fenómeno de Raynaud: cuando los dedos cambian de color por culpa del frío – https://theconversation.com/el-fenomeno-de-raynaud-cuando-los-dedos-cambian-de-color-por-culpa-del-frio-272417

January 12, 2026

¿Escuelas especiales para niños con discapacidad? A veces, sí

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Pablo Rodríguez Herrero, Profesor del Departamento de Pedagogía, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

¿Es deseable y prioritario que todo el alumnado con discapacidad se integre en las mismas aulas que los demás? ¿O aprende y se desarrolla mejor, en algunos casos, en centros diseñados específicamente para sus necesidades?

El debate sobre si la educación inclusiva en escuelas ordinarias (todos los niños juntos en el mismo centro) puede convivir con la educación especial (escuelas específicas para niños con discapacidad) se ha agudizado desde que la ley educativa española estableciera la primera como la modalidad deseable y más inclusiva, instando a que “en el plazo de diez años (…), los centros ordinarios cuenten con los recursos necesarios para poder atender en las mejores condiciones al alumnado con discapacidad”.

Actualmente, el Ministerio de Educación, Formación Profesional y Deportes está elaborando el Plan Estratégico de Educación Inclusiva 2025, que pretende concretar respuestas educativas “que garanticen el derecho a la presencia, la participación y el aprendizaje de todo el alumnado”, partiendo de la base de que “las barreras para el acceso y la participación en contextos ordinarios siguen siendo una realidad para muchos alumnos y muchas alumnas”. Este planteamiento establece, por tanto, que lo deseable para todo el alumnado es el acceso a escuelas ordinarias.

En línea con lo dispuesto en esta ley española, diversos autores y colectivos entienden la educación especial (que hasta la fecha ha sido una de las modalidades de escolarización fundamentales para el alumnado con discapacidad) como una opción segregadora. Sin embargo, ¿puede ser la educación especial pertinente para algunos alumnos, en el ejercicio de su derecho a la educación?

Del principio universal a la realidad concreta

Aunque la inclusión en escuelas ordinarias pueda parecer un principio incuestionable, la realidad de algunos alumnos y sus familias muestra que, en ocasiones, no es una prioridad para ellos.

La educación debería partir de las circunstancias concretas de cada alumno. Esto implica aceptar que, en algunos casos, el principio de educación inclusiva en escuelas ordinarias debe repensarse de forma situada y atendiendo a su singularidad.

Una aplicación rígida de la educación inclusiva podría, paradójicamente, debilitar un pilar fundamental: la atención a la diversidad. En este sentido, algunos autores afirman que en la medida en que la definición más básica de la educación es esencialmente inclusiva, debe ser precisamente diferenciadora.

Una educación inclusiva con sentido

En un estudio reciente introducimos el concepto de “educación inclusiva con sentido”. En él cuestionamos que las escuelas ordinarias sean necesariamente la mejor opción, en la práctica, para todos los alumnos con discapacidad, incluso cuando cuentan con recursos. Este concepto pretende contribuir a que se tomen decisiones sobre las modalidades de escolarización que vayan más allá de un principio establecido a priori como deseable para todos, reconociendo las tensiones existentes.

En ocasiones, y dependiendo de las circunstancias y necesidades concretas del alumnado y sus familias, la educación inclusiva en aulas ordinarias puede no ser adecuada. Factores como el cuidado de la salud física, el bienestar psicológico o la posibilidad de establecer vínculos de amistad con compañeros con intereses similares pueden hacer que la educación especial sea la opción más beneficiosa para algunos alumnos con discapacidad.

Por esta razón abogamos por una aplicación flexible de la idea de escuela inclusiva, que tenga en cuenta la diversidad real y la singularidad de cada alumno. Entender la educación especial como una opción segregadora sin más no reconoce que para algunos alumnos este tipo de modalidad es su vía de acceso a la sociedad.

Inclusión y grupos de referencia

En particular, esta reflexión es especialmente oportuna en el caso del alumnado con discapacidad intelectual y altas necesidades de apoyo. ¿Qué sentido tiene, por ejemplo, incluir a un adolescente cuyos aprendizajes realmente significativos tienen que ver con habilidades básicas de comunicación o autocuidado en un grupo de alumnos de la misma edad sin discapacidad, que se encontrarían estudiando fracciones o geometría?

Para alcanzar una educación inclusiva, la LOMLOE propone el diseño universal para el aprendizaje (DUA), que consiste en concretar metodologías didácticas que proporcionen múltiples medios de enseñanza, expresión y motivación en el alumnado. También se está promoviendo, en los últimos años, la codocencia o docencia compartida como metodología para atender a la diversidad.

Sin embargo, no se trata (sólo) de cómo enseñar y aprender, sino de los conocimientos que se adquieren. Y estos debieran estar en el campo de posibilidades de las capacidades de cada alumno y ser valiosos para ellos.

Vivencias de exclusión en la escuela inclusiva

En este sentido, ni el mejor diseño universal del aprendizaje que podamos imaginar nos ayudaría a enseñar contenidos no asimilables desde las circunstancias de los alumnos con más necesidades de apoyo.

Su incorporación en el aula ordinaria junto con otros alumnos sin discapacidad de la misma edad puede ser una forma de violencia que no tenga en cuenta sus circunstancias. Una experiencia aparentemente inclusiva puede transformarse en vivencias de exclusión. Esto ocurre cuando, por ejemplo, el alumno con discapacidad debe aprender contenidos distintos a los del resto de la clase; o salir del aula de manera frecuente, en grupos segregados.

Qué ocurre tras la etapa escolar

La educación que se recibe en la edad escolar afecta a nuestra vida adulta. En este sentido, también es necesario que nos planteemos qué aprendizajes son más útiles para una vida plena en sociedad de los estudiantes con discapacidad.

Hay experiencias en escuelas especiales que se han demostrado positivas para la inclusión social de personas con discapacidad a lo largo de la vida, gracias al aprendizaje de conocimientos relevantes y a un adecuado desarrollo psicosocial y físico.

También existen experiencias excelentes en escuelas ordinarias y otras “potencialmente excluyentes para la vida adulta, por vivencias de aislamiento, falta de amistades genuinas, etc.”

Aplicación crítica y concreta

La educación debería reconocer la singularidad sin renunciar a principios generales, asumiendo que puede haber casos para quienes la formación junto con alumnos semejantes puede ser beneficiosa y deseable. Es decir, la educación inclusiva es un principio que debe ser aplicado de manera crítica y concreta, no abstracta y teórica.

Además, la educación especial ha sido históricamente un foco de innovación y transferencia pedagógica hacia la escuela ordinaria, como muestran los inicios de Maria Montessori en su atención a niños con discapacidad o el trabajo por competencias desarrollado durante décadas en estos centros. Por ello, su existencia no supone un retroceso, sino la conservación de un recurso fundamental para la formación de muchos alumnos.

Pablo Rodríguez Herrero no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. ¿Escuelas especiales para niños con discapacidad? A veces, sí – https://theconversation.com/escuelas-especiales-para-ninos-con-discapacidad-a-veces-si-271024

January 12, 2026

Ukraine is under pressure to trade land for peace − if it does, history shows it might not ever get it back

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Peter Harris, Associate Professor of Political Science, Colorado State University

An elderly Ukrainian walks through the rubble following a Russian aerial bomb strike in Donetsk Oblast. Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images

Asked in December 2025 what the biggest sticking point was in negotiating peace in Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump got straight to the point: land. “Some of that land has been taken. Some of that land is maybe up for grabs,” he added.

From the very beginning of the full-scale war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ruled out ceding territory to the invading Russians.

Yet, when the war in Ukraine finally grinds to a halt, it seems likely that Russia will, indeed, control vast portions of Ukrainian land in the south and the east – about 20% of Ukraine’s pre-2014 landmass, if today’s line of actual control is any guide.

Ukrainians have spent years trying to eject Russian forces from occupied areas in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson administrative regions. Captured and fortified by Russia in 2014, Crimea has been mostly out of reach. But despite Kyiv’s best efforts, Russia is now poised to seize even more Ukrainian territory if the war does not end soon.

The pressure on Zelenskyy to accept some sort of territorial loss only increases with each new peace plan presented – all of which include some degree of map redrawing in Russia’s favor. And although a majority of the Ukrainian public is against the idea of exchanging land for peace, pragmatists in the West, and even some within Ukraine, accept that this will almost certainly be part of any peace deal.

But then what? If Ukraine accepts the de facto loss of its eastern oblasts as the price of peace, should this be understood by Ukrainians as a permanent or a temporary concession? If the latter, what measures – if any – exist for Ukraine to eventually restore its territorial integrity?

As an international security expert, I would argue that it’s essential that Ukrainians and their international backers have clear-eyed answers to these questions now, before a peace agreement is put in place.

Land lost forever?

History can provide a useful, if imperfect, guide to what happens when states are forced to cede territory to invaders.

Past precedent suggests Ukraine must be prepared for the worst: Occupied territories, once lost, often remain so indefinitely. This is what happened when the Soviet Union conquered the province of Karelia from Finland following the Winter War in 1939-1940. Finland tried to reclaim Karelia from Moscow via military means in the Continuation War of 1941-1944. But Finnish forces were ultimately beaten back.

A man in an army helmet stands in a trench — Finnish troops during the Continuation War.
Ullstein bild via Getty Images

In the aftermath, Moscow ordered the mass expulsion of ethnic Finns and implemented a program of political and cultural assimilation. Today, ethnic Russians make up more than 80% of Karelia’s population.

Support for reabsorbing Karelia into Finland is low. When surveyed about the idea 20 years ago, most Finns balked at the cost of integrating poor, Russian-speaking communities into their thriving nation-state.

The same could happen to the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine. Over time, Russian-controlled areas might become “Russified” to the point of no longer being recognizably Ukrainian. In Crimea since 2014, for example, Russia is thought to have moved more than 200,000 Russian citizens into the territory, in addition to expelling ethnic Ukrainians.

Even if they are not forcibly expelled, civilians in the occupied areas who are loyal to Kyiv might choose to leave, and already millions have. But doing so means abandoning property to ethnic Russians – and once property is ceded, it makes the chances of a permanent return that much harder. Ukrainians who remain will face almost certain repression.

As occupation wears on, the social and economic differences between the ceded territories and the free areas of Ukraine will likely become ever starker. And this will be especially true if Ukraine joins the European Union – something that Kyiv has long coveted and could be a sweetener to any peace deal involving land loss.

With fewer pro-European Ukrainians living there and a wider cultural divide, the prospect of reclaiming the Russian-controlled oblasts could become markedly less attractive to Ukrainians than it appears today.

Diplomacy and war: Dead ends

Still, Ukrainians might hope that they can avoid this outcome by moving swiftly to undo the occupation before it becomes irreversible. In theory, they could accomplish this one of two ways: through deal-making or through fighting. But in practice, neither is likely to work.

Examples of a negotiated, voluntary return of land are few and far between. In 1979, Egypt managed to negotiate the return of its Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had captured during the Six-Day War in 1967. Although some in Israel wanted to keep hold of the Sinai for security reasons, Israeli leaders instead decided to swap the territory in exchange for a durable peace with Egypt, a leading Arab nation, in the hope that others would follow.

The problem for Ukraine is that Kyiv has very little to offer Russia in exchange for its lost territories. If and when the present war ends, it will likely be on terms favorable to Moscow, which is why territorial concessions are on the table to begin with.

Two men in suits shake hands — President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

If Ukraine cannot negotiate the return of the occupied territories as part of a peace arrangement, it probably means that it will not be able to negotiate their return in the post-peace phase, either.

What about the potential to regain the occupied territories by force? Finland tried that in Karelia and failed. But other countries have been more fortunate: France regained Alsace-Lorraine from Germany after World War I, for example. But it was a reversal that took nearly 50 years to bring about – Germany had annexed the territory in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871.

Given the massive disparity in size, population and troop numbers between Russia and Ukraine, it is highly unlikely that Ukraine could reclaim the territories through war – not least of all because its international backers would very likely refuse to support Kyiv in a war of choice against nuclear-armed Russia. The task would be made harder still should Russia succeed in getting some form of Ukrainian disarmament, or a downsizing of its military, into any peace deal.

A black swan event

There is only one other set of circumstances under which territorial conquests tend to be undone in world politics: When the international system is convulsed by a major, system-level change or crisis. This might include a regional or world war, or the implosion of a great power – in this case, Russia.

This is how Czechoslovakia reclaimed the Sudetenland from Germany in 1945, China restored its control over Manchuria from Japan at the end of World War II, and the Baltic states regained their independence from the Soviet Union in 1990-1991 – not because they fought and won a narrow war of reconquest, but because their occupiers collapsed under the pressure of an external or internal crisis.

Could Russia collapse from within in the event of the death or ouster of Putin, an economic catastrophe, or some other critical development in the decades to come?

It is impossible to predict. But in the final analysis, should Ukraine be forced to accept land loss as part of any peace deal, it may require a seismic event in Russia for the territorial changes to be reversed.

Peter Harris is a Non-Resident Fellow with Defense Priorities.

– ref. Ukraine is under pressure to trade land for peace − if it does, history shows it might not ever get it back – https://theconversation.com/ukraine-is-under-pressure-to-trade-land-for-peace-if-it-does-history-shows-it-might-not-ever-get-it-back-271609

January 12, 2026

Saudi-UAE bust-up over Yemen was only a matter of time − and reflects wider rift over vision for the region

Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute, Rice University

Supporters of the UAE-backed and recently disbanded Southern Transitional Council hold flags of the former state of South Yemen during a rally in Aden, Yemen, on Jan. 2, 2026. AP Photo

Years of simmering tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates exploded into the open on Dec. 30, 2025.

That’s when Saudi officials accused the UAE of backing separatist groups in Yemen and carried out an airstrike in the southern Yemeni city of Mukalla targeting an alleged shipment of weapons from the UAE to the Southern Transitional Council, one such separatist group.

Amid a rapidly rising war of words, Saudi-backed forces in Yemen recaptured two provinces that the STC had previously taken. Continued Saudi pressure resulted in the expulsion of the STC leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, from the Presidential Leadership Council – an eight-strong executive body that represents Yemen’s internationally recognized government. On Jan. 7, 2026, al-Zubaidi fled Yemen. That, plus the reported disbanding of the STC, brings a dramatic end to years of UAE influence in the south and dramatically fractures the coalition against the Houthis, a rebel group that currently controls most of northern and central Yemen.

For observers of Yemen it should come as little surprise that the country is now splitting apart along the two-country axis that has defined so much of the geopolitics of the Middle East since the 2011 Arab uprisings. It continues a long-term trend away from initial alignment between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Yemen that risks not only reigniting conflict there but exposing a deeper power struggle that could fracture the entire region.

An uneasy alignment

The Saudis and Emiratis entered the Yemen conflict in alignment, forming an Arab coalition in March 2015 to push back the advance of Houthi rebels and forces loyal to the government of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Almost from the start, though, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi pursued different aims and objectives on the ground.

The Saudis viewed the conflict as a direct cross-border threat from the Houthis – a rebel force backed, in their view, by Iran. For the Emiratis, meanwhile, the priority was acting assertively against Islamist groups in southern Yemen.

Two men in Gulf Arab attire walk side by side. — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan walk side by side in 2021, when their countries had warmer relations.
Hamad Al Kaabi/Emirati Ministry of Presidential Affairs via AP

Initially, decision-making at the highest level of the intervening coalition in Yemen reflected a close alignment between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh and then-Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi.

The two were seen as acting in lockstep in the mid-2010s across the region, including the blockade of Qatar in 2017 over the smaller Gulf state’s alleged links to terrorist groups.

From 2015 to 2018, UAE’s Mohammed bin Zayed played a key role in facilitating Mohammed bin Salman’s rapid rise to authority in Saudi Arabia.

A mentor-mentee relationship was seen by many analysts of Gulf affairs to have developed between the two as Mohammed bin Zayed, 24 years the senior, became almost a father figure to the hitherto little-known Mohammed bin Salman while singing his praises in Western capitals, including Washington, D.C.

The coalition frays

But the cozy relationship between Saudi Arabia and the UAE didn’t last.

A range of factors contributed to the cooling between the two states. These included the abrupt Emirati decision in July 2019 to withdraw its troops from the front line in the anti-Houthi struggle and refocus UAE support for local groups in southern Yemen, including the STC, which had been established in 2017 with visible Emirati backing.

Saudi officials expressed surprise at the UAE decision. From the Saudi perspective, UAE objectives in Yemen had been fulfilled after the recapture of critical southern cities, including Aden and Mukalla in 2015 and 2016.

In their reading, it was the Saudis, not the Emiratis, who were bogged down in an unwinnable campaign against the Houthis. The subsequent fraying of a power-sharing agreement between the STC and Saudi-backed government forces caused additional friction between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

Elsewhere, signs emerged that the Emirati leadership did not share the Saudi openness to healing the rift with Qatar – even as U.S. officials signaled frustration at a stalemate that damaged U.S. partnerships in the region and gave succor to adversaries such as Iran.

Clashing visions

As the potency of the turbulent post-Arab Spring decade ebbed, the glue that had brought Riyadh and Abu Dhabi closer together in their desire to reassert control over the post-2011 regional order weakened.

On two occasions, in November 2020 and July 2021, Emirati and Saudi officials sparred at OPEC+ meetings over preferred oil price and output levels, and in the summer of 2021 the Saudis tightened rules on what passed for tariff-free status in a move that appeared to target goods that passed through the many economic free zones in the UAE.

Also that year, Saudi officials decreed that companies wishing to do business with government agencies in the kingdom would have to locate their regional headquarters in the kingdom by 2024 – a move seemingly aimed at Dubai’s long-standing leadership in regional business circles. The launch of a new Saudi airline, Riyadh Air, and the emphasis placed in Riyadh on developing travel, tourism, entertainment and hospitality as part of its Vision 2030 plan also took aim at sectors in which the UAE has long enjoyed first-mover advantage.

However, the real significance of the Yemen bust-up is that it demonstrates the degree of divergence in Saudi and Emirati visions of regional order. The Saudi preference is for “de-risking” – that is, making the region appear safe and stable for would-be outside investors.

This fits the Saudi’s resolute focus on economic development and delivering Vision 2030.

But it clashes directly with the perceived Emirati tolerance for risk-taking in regional affairs. Abu Dhabi is widely believed to have backed armed nonstate groups in Libya and supports Sudan’s rebel Rapid Support Forces, in addition to its known links with the STC in Yemen.

Libya and Sudan were less central to Saudi security concerns, but the STC’s capture of the southeastern Yemeni provinces of Hadramout and Mahra in early December crossed Saudi red lines.

The fact that the STC advance began on Dec. 3, the day Gulf Cooperation Council leaders met for their annual summit, was also seen by Saudi policymakers as a major provocation. They assumed that the offensive must have received a green light from Abu Dhabi.

An off-ramp to tensions?

While ties are unlikely to rupture between Saudis and Emiratis in the same way they both did with Qatar in 2017, the current trajectory between these two key U.S. allies in the Middle East is not good.

There is no desire within the Gulf Cooperation Council for another such rift, and the Emirati decision to withdraw its remaining forces from Yemen and leave the STC to its own fate suggests there are still off-ramps to defuse tensions.

Yet the headstrong leaders in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are all but certain to continue on a divergent pathway, I believe. And this could manifest in multiple ways, including growing economic competition in areas such as AI investments, where the Saudis, once again, are playing catch-up to the UAE. These are areas of competition that could only intensify as both Gulf states try to gain an advantage with a transactional Trump administration.

Given the challenges that the wide region faces – not only in Yemen but also in war-torn Gaza and Lebanon, a Syria emerging from civil conflict, and now, potentially, an Iran embroiled in protest – a fractured vision of regional order between the Gulf’s two biggest players does not bode well for the future.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Saudi-UAE bust-up over Yemen was only a matter of time − and reflects wider rift over vision for the region – https://theconversation.com/saudi-uae-bust-up-over-yemen-was-only-a-matter-of-time-and-reflects-wider-rift-over-vision-for-the-region-273083

January 12, 2026

Les plantes sont bien plus bavardes que vous ne le pensez

Source: The Conversation – in French – By François Bouteau, Pr Biologie, Université Paris Cité

Les plantes sont loin d’être aussi muettes que ce que l’on imagine ! Beaucoup de végétaux sont en réalité capables d’interagir entre eux et avec le reste de leur environnement. Et ces échanges façonnent et transforment activement les paysages.

On pense souvent les plantes comme des êtres silencieux, immobiles, sans intention ni action. Pourtant, de nombreuses études révèlent aujourd’hui qu’elles communiquent activement entre elles, mais aussi avec les autres êtres vivants, animaux, champignons, microorganismes. En communiquant, elles ne font pas que transmettre des informations : elles modifient les dynamiques écologiques et sont ainsi actrices des transformations de leur environnement.

Cette communication n’a rien de magique : elle repose sur des signaux principalement chimiques. Dans les faits, on peut considérer que la communication se produit lorsqu’un émetteur envoie un signal perçu par un récepteur qui, en retour, modifie son comportement. Pour communiquer, les plantes doivent donc être sensibles à leur environnement. De fait elles sont capables de percevoir de très nombreux signaux environnementaux qu’elles utilisent en tant qu’information : la lumière, l’eau, la présence de nutriments, le toucher, les attaques d’insectes ou encore la proximité d’autres plantes.

Elles savent alors ajuster leur développement : orientation des feuilles vers le soleil, développement de leurs racines vers les zones riches en nutriments ou évitement des endroits pauvres ou toxiques. Lorsqu’elles subissent l’attaque d’un pathogène, elles déclenchent des réactions chimiques qui renforcent leurs défenses ou avertissent leurs voisines du danger. Cela implique donc que les plantes sont aussi capables d’émettre des signaux compréhensibles que d’autres organismes récepteurs vont pouvoir interpréter. Ces comportements montrent une véritable capacité d’action : les plantes ne subissent pas simplement leur environnement, elles interagissent avec lui, elles vont lancer des réponses adaptées, orientées vers un but important pour elles, croître.

Parler avec des molécules

La plupart des échanges entre plantes se font notamment grâce à des composés organiques volatils. Ces molécules sont produites par les plantes et se déplacent sous forme gazeuse dans l’air ou dans le sol et peuvent ainsi véhiculer un message. Attaquée par un pathogène, une plante peut libérer des composés volatils qui alertent ses voisines. L’exemple emblématique, bien que controversé, est l’étude menée par l’équipe de Wouter Van Hoven (Université de Pretoria, Afrique du Sud, ndlr) ayant montré que les acacias soumis au broutage des koudous, une espèce d’antilope, synthétisaient des tanins toxiques et que les acacias situés quelques mètres plus loin faisaient de même.

Les chercheurs ont suggéré que les acacias broutés libéraient de l’éthylène, un composé qui induisait la synthèse de tanins chez les acacias voisins, les protégeant ainsi des koudous. Ce type d’interaction a aussi été observé chez d’autres plantes. Chez l’orge, par exemple l’émission de composés volatils permet de réduire la sensibilité au puceron Rhopalosiphum padi. Les pieds d’orge percevant ces composés peuvent activer leurs défenses avant même d’être attaqués par les pucerons.

Certains de ces composés peuvent être synthétisés spécifiquement pour attirer les prédateurs de l’agresseur. Ainsi, lorsqu’elles sont attaquées par des chenilles, certaines plantes, comme le maïs, émettent des molécules pour appeler à l’aide les guêpes prédatrices des chenilles. D’autres signaux chimiques émis dans les exsudats racinaires permettent aux plantes d’identifier leurs voisines, de reconnaître leurs parentes et d’adapter leur comportement selon le degré de parenté. Ces types d’échanges montrent que la communication végétale n’est pas un simple réflexe : elle implique une évaluation du contexte et une action ajustée.

En fonction du contexte, les plantes s’expriment différemment

Mais toutes les plantes ne communiquent pas de la même façon. Certaines utilisent des signaux dits publics, que de nombreuses espèces peuvent percevoir, ce qu’on appelle parfois l’écoute clandestine. D’autres émettent des messages dits privés, très spécifiques, compris uniquement par leurs proches ou leurs partenaires symbiotiques, c’est-à-dire des espèces avec lesquelles elles échangent des informations ou des ressources. C’est le cas lors de la mise en place des symbioses mycorhiziennes entre une plante et des champignons, qui nécessitent un dialogue moléculaire entre la plante et son partenaire fongique.

Ce choix de communication dépend donc du contexte écologique. Dans des milieux où les plantes apparentées poussent ensemble, le partage d’informations profite à tout le groupe : c’est une stratégie collective. Mais dans des milieux compétitifs, il est plus avantageux de garder les messages secrets pour éviter que des concurrentes en tirent profit. Cette flexibilité montre que les végétaux adaptent la manière dont ils transmettent l’information selon leurs intérêts.

Peut-on dire que les végétaux se parlent ?

De fait, les signaux émis par les plantes ne profitent pas qu’à elles-mêmes. Ils peuvent influencer le développement de tout l’écosystème. En attirant des prédateurs d’herbivores, en favorisant la symbiose avec des champignons ou en modulant la croissance des voisines, les plantes participent à un vaste réseau d’interactions.

La question est alors de savoir si les plantes ont un langage. Si l’on entend par là une syntaxe et des symboles abstraits, la réponse est non. Mais si on considère le langage comme un ensemble de signaux produisant des effets concrets sur un récepteur, alors oui, les plantes communiquent. Des philosophes ont recherché si des analogies avec certains aspects du langage humain pouvaient être mises en évidence.

Certains d’entre eux considèrent que la communication chez les plantes peut être considérée comme performative dans la mesure où elle ne décrit pas le monde, mais le transforme. Quand une plante émet un signal pour repousser un herbivore ou avertir ses voisines, elle n’émet pas seulement de l’information, elle agit. Ce type de communication produit un effet mesurable, ce que les philosophes du langage, dans la lignée de l’Américain John Austin, appellent un effet perlocutoire.

Les plantes façonnent activement les écosystèmes

Cette vision élargie de la communication végétale devrait transformer notre conception des écosystèmes. Les plantes ne sont pas des éléments passifs du paysage, mais des actrices à part entière, capables de transformer leur environnement à travers leurs actions chimiques, physiques et biologiques.

Ces découvertes ouvrent des perspectives pour une agriculture durable : en comprenant et en utilisant la communication des plantes, il devient possible de renforcer leurs défenses sans pesticides, grâce à des associations de cultures ou à des espèces sentinelles qui préviennent les autres du danger. La question des paysages olfactifs est aussi un sujet émergent pour la gestion des territoires.

Pour cela il faut que s’installe un nouveau regard sur le comportement végétal. En effet, pendant des siècles, on a cru que les plantes étaient dénuées de comportement, de mouvement ou de décision. Darwin avait déjà observé, au XIX^e siècle, qu’elles orientaient leurs organes selon la lumière, la gravité ou le contact. Aujourd’hui, on sait qu’elles peuvent aussi mémoriser certaines expériences et réagir différemment à un même signal selon leur vécu. Certains chercheurs utilisent des modèles issus de la psychologie et de la théorie de l’information pour étudier la prise de décision chez les plantes : perception d’un signal, interprétation, choix de réponse, action.

Repenser la hiérarchie du vivant

Au-delà de la communication, certains chercheurs parlent désormais d’agentivité végétale, c’est-à-dire la capacité des plantes à agir de façon autonome et efficace dans un monde en perpétuel changement. Reconnaître cette agentivité change profondément notre rapport au vivant. Les plantes ne sont pas de simples organismes passifs : elles perçoivent, décident et agissent, individuellement et collectivement. Elles modifient les équilibres écologiques, influencent les autres êtres vivants et participent activement à la dynamique du monde.

L’idée d’agentivité végétale nous invite à abandonner la vision hiérarchique du vivant héritée d’Aristote, qui place l’être humain tout en haut d’une pyramide d’intelligence. Elle nous pousse à reconnaître la pluralité des formes d’action et de sensibilité dans la nature. Comprendre cela, c’est aussi repenser notre propre manière d’habiter la terre : non plus comme des maîtres du vivant, mais comme des partenaires d’un vaste réseau d’êtres vivants où tous sont capables de sentir, d’agir et de transformer leur environnement.

François Bouteau ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. Les plantes sont bien plus bavardes que vous ne le pensez – https://theconversation.com/les-plantes-sont-bien-plus-bavardes-que-vous-ne-le-pensez-271783