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1500 questions
46
votes
6 answers
Is the Israeli "complete siege" on Gaza strip a war crime?
Reading this from BBC:
On Monday, Israel declared a "complete siege" on the territory, saying
electricity, food, fuel and water would be cut off.
Is this a war crime or illegal in any way under international laws?
Mocas
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46
votes
3 answers
Why is the US listed as a "flawed democracy" in the Democracy Index?
I was reading Wikipedia's Democracy Index and it shows the United States as a "Flawed Democracy". Reading in more detail, the article points out that the US has low scores in "Functioning of Government" (6.43) and also in "Political Culture" (6.25),…
Joe DiNottra
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46
votes
5 answers
What do independent reputable onlookers think of figures quoted by Ukraine for Russian losses?
Ukraine independent media seems to quote figures from its General Staff, that sound large, and it's hard to get a sense if they are likely to be accurate, or inflated.
Are these figures seen as plausible/reliable? What do reputable third party…
Stilez
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46
votes
2 answers
What happens if a single NATO country like Poland decides to send troops to help Ukraine and gets attacked, would Article 5 still be invoked?
It's pretty clear that NATO does not want to get militarily involved in the war between Russia and Ukraine. However a NATO country like Poland or Romania could still decide to send in troops to defend Ukraine on their own accord.
Let's say something…
Maurice
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46
votes
10 answers
Why do one-party states still have a party at all?
In single-party states like the former eastern bloc (Soviet Union, East Germany, ...), there is only one dominant party. One thing that has always bothered me is that this is a contradiction in itself: a party is a part of the whole, it is by…
jdm
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46
votes
11 answers
Is the prevalence of racial arguments unique to US politics or is it a topic in other Western countries as well?
It seems that in the United States, much of politics is currently focused around the subject of racism. Many issues are rephrased as racism issues - infrastructure, healthcare, policing...
Now I'm not saying that racism does not play a role in some…
Burt
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46
votes
10 answers
Why do Republicans want to break up Facebook?
Republicans are generally against government meddling in business. Yet many Republicans are threatening to break up Facebook after the decision to ban Trump as seen here, here, here, or here.
If the government shouldn't meddle in business then…
Nabil Farhan
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46
votes
3 answers
Why does the US block a UN statement calling for violence to stop in the Palestine-Israel conflict?
The US is blocking* what seems to be a simple statement asking both parties to stop violence:
The United States has today blocked - for the third time in a week - the adoption of a joint UN Security Council statement calling for a halt to…
Erwan
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46
votes
12 answers
Why did postal voting favour Joe Biden so much?
In the recent US presidential election, there were several states which looked almost certain wins for Donald Trump until the postal votes were counted, after which there was a huge swing towards Joe Biden.
But why is this? I know Trump raised…
komodosp
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46
votes
8 answers
What are the advantages/disadvantages of a mandatory voting system?
Living in a country where mandatory voting exists and experiencing the results in another without mandatory, I'm wondering:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of mandatory voting?
Sven Clement
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46
votes
12 answers
Why does having a college degree make a difference to how white Americans vote?
Four years after the 2016 election, it hasn't changed that the majority of non-college-degree white people support Trump's re-election, while the majority of college-degree white people don't. Why does having a college degree make a difference among…
Tim
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46
votes
7 answers
What would Russia have to gain from interfering with the US presidential election?
There were quite a few allegations that Russia interfered, or at least tried to interfere, with the 2016 US presidential election, and new allegations have started to appear that similar interference in the 2020 election may have started or will…
Robert Columbia
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46
votes
5 answers
How is Japan able to sustain a large debt as a percentage of GDP, while Greece could not?
Japan is currently the nation with the highest debt as a percentage of GDP - at the time of writing it stands at over 250%. Greece, currently the second most indebted nation, went through a decade-long debt crisis after the 2008 financial crash. It…
CDJB
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46
votes
10 answers
How is Russia able to maintain the 2nd most powerful military in the world at a fraction of the cost of the US & China?
The 2020 Military Strength Rankings list Russia's military as #2 in strength:
United States
Russia
China
However, their defense budget rankings show that Russia's only #8 in spending:
United States (~750 billion USD)
China (~237 billion USD)
[...…
CDJB
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46
votes
8 answers
Why is it so important who the whistleblower in the Trump-Zelensky phone call is?
As far as I can tell, the anonymous whistleblower report filed by an intelligence officer about President Trump’s interactions with the leader of Ukraine is what got the whole Trump impeachment investigation started.
At this point, however, others…
Burt
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