author - oman observer

Racism must be confronted head on. It is a toxic cancer. If it is left to grow, it destroys societies from the inside by turning neighbours into targets and replacing justice with mob rule. I am...

ASI is a theoretical system that will function on an entirely different scale from current AI, operating with a capacity so advanced that it is as far beyond humans as humans are beyond chimpanzees. ...

Unprovoked military aggression is wrong, crude and uncivilised. It belongs to the past, and those who continue to use violence to pursue their aims will ultimately be buried in that past. I remain...

As a father, I have watched social media hurt my own daughters. I have seen the upset, the fear and the sleepless nights that can follow a cruel post or message. Cyberbullying does not stay online....

“If you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave him love.” George Orwell I have lost my lifelong friend, William, and I am struggling to cope with it....

The broadcaster and documentary maker, Sir David Attenborough, who turned 99 on May 8, has spent a lifetime reminding us of a basic truth: every breath we take and every mouthful of food we eat...

The title comes from John Lennon’s song ‘Beautiful Boy’. He was, and still is, one of my heroes and possibly my favourite singer. Tragically, he was murdered on December 8, 1980, in New York...

Oman continues to offer something precious: a society held together by family, faith and strong communities. That is not a romantic slogan, but a real social strength: one that deserves recognition...

In the UK, suicide rates have not risen simply because the population has grown. Over the past century, the population increased steadily while suicide rates rose and fell with social change. From...

When I was studying French at university I read Voltaire’s Candide for the first time, and I have never quite forgotten it. Voltaire was a famous author and political analyst. I was struck by...

Israel’s politics are driven above all by security. It is the yardstick by which most voters judge competing parties. For most Israelis, the case for a two-state solution is not a moral argument; it...

There are times when world events stop feeling distant and affect your personal life. War does that. Political loyalties do too. And you may have to reconsider friendships which conflict with your...

Trump’s existential threats against Iran, together with Israel’s decision to launch this illegal and unprovoked war against Iran, have left diplomacy badly damaged and made an early end to the...

The title of this article is taken from Edwin Starr’s song 'War' recorded in 1970. The lyrics continue by answering this question with 'absolutely nothing, stand up and shout...

You’d probably laugh, as I do, if you could hear the concern from friends and family back in the UK when they ask whether I feel safe living in Oman, especially given the current regional conflict....

I was sitting in a bank in Muscat waiting while my wife dealt with some account matters, when a quiet moment turned into an unexpected conversation. Beside me sat a gentleman whom I greeted with...

Karim Easterbrook As an expat with an Omani wife and spending most of the year living in Oman, it has taken me time to fully understand why the country is so successful, both as a society and as a...

Islam is a religion of peace, as are Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism. Humanism, too, is a pathway of peace. During Ramadhan, Muslims are obligated to remember those who suffer under the weight of...

We live on a small, fragile planet, spinning silently through space, bound by gravity to a single star, the Sun, which lies about ninety-three million miles from the Earth. That star itself is one...

Ramadhan is a month in which Muslims are commanded to slow down, restrain anger, reflect on conduct and deepen responsibility toward others. Fasting is not merely abstention from food and drink; it is...