Archive for the ‘American current affairs’ Category
Is the United States in unstoppable decline?
June 16th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
This is the question at the heart of the book I read during my recent holiday in the USA [my account of the trip here]. The book by Edward Luce is entitled “Time To Start Thinking: America And The Spectre Of Decline”. You can read my review here.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
Will Barack Obama be re-elected? (1)
June 12th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Most people outside the United States assume that Obama will win a second term in November. After all, he is the incumbent, he has not suffered any personal or political scandal, he is so intelligent and fluent, he baled out the auto industry, he is reforming the financial system, he is introducing a new healthcare […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (2)
Versions of free speech – the debate continues
June 9th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Almost a month ago now, I did a posting about the different approaches in the United States and Europe to the sensitive issue of free speech. I have just returned from a two-week holiday in the USA where this subject came up several times in conversation. I encouraged one of my American friends to post […]
Posted in American current affairs, World current affairs | Comments (0)
Is America’s decline inevitable?
May 13th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
All civilisations rise and fall; all great powers ascend and descend. This is the lesson of world history. After all, Britain was once the greatest power on earth ruling one-fifth of the global population and covering a quarter of the planet’s area. Yet many American politicians and policymakers assume that the current American hegemony is […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (1)
Any ideas for saving $4 billion?
May 12th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
What about not upgrading the United States’ 180 tactical nuclear weapons in western Europe. You can check out the case here.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
The caging of America
April 7th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
“Mass incarceration on a scale almost unexampled in human history is a fundamental fact of our country today—perhaps the fundamental fact, as slavery was the fundamental fact of 1850. In truth, there are more black men in the grip of the criminal-justice system—in prison, on probation, or on parole—than were in slavery then. Over all, there […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (1)
Will Obama’s healthcare reforms survive?
March 26th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In Britain, Parliament passes a Bill, and that’s it. However controversial, once the Bill becomes an Act, the debate is over. Nobody argues that the measure is unconstitutional, not least because the UK does not have a constitution as generally understood. Of course, an Act can be subject to judicial review – as was the […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
How should America cut its deficit?
March 3rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
“The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget recently published an overview of the budget proposals of the four “major” Republican candidates and, in a separate report, examined the latest Obama budget. .. And here’s what it tells us: According to an “intermediate debt scenario,” the budget proposals of Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
The cost of American democracy
January 30th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
All efforts to curb or contain election spending in the United States have failed and a 2010 Supreme Court ruling effectively abolished spending limits by allowing super Political Action Committees to spend as much as they want (as long as they do not co-ordinate their campaigns with that of an individual candidate – which is […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (7)
How democratic is the United States?
January 24th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
On my web site, I explain the political systems of some 11 countries and these pages are very popular. I’m sometimes asked which nation is more democratic than another and, when I’ve time, I propose to write something about how to critique a political system. Some of the questions that I would ask are: How […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)