Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
What is this thing we call a nation?
September 23rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Recently, we have been commemorating the 70th anniversary of India achieving independence from Britain which, at the last moment, resulted in the creation of Pakistan as well as India and subsequently – following a civil war – to the creation of another nation state Bangladesh. I have just returned from a short trip to Georgia. […]
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Election. election, referendum, referendum
September 22nd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
There are a lot of interesting polls going on around the world just now. Tomorrow (Saturday), there is a general election in New Zealand and the next day (Sunday) there is a federal election in Germany. In both cases, the incumbent party is a Right of Centre one: the National Party in NZ and the […]
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Climate change + urban development = massive flooding worldwide
September 3rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington
“Houston may have broken the US rainfall records, but lost in the dramatic worldwide coverage of Texas has been the plight of tens of millions of people across Asia and Africa who are also counting the human cost of equally intense storms in which months of rain has fallen in just a few hours. One […]
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Ever heard of the Suwalki Gap?
August 24th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
I doubt that you have – but many people in the Baltic States and in the Russian military are well aware that this is a short stretch of land which is the only connection between the Baltic States and the rest of the European Union. On one side is Lithuania and on the other side […]
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The modern resurgence of China
August 13th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
At this time of year, my professional commitments are light, so I sign up for a number of short courses at the City Lit further education college in central London. My sixth such course of this summer was delivered by a lecturer called John Berryman and it was titled “China: sphere of influence”. The course involves […]
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Kenya goes to the polls today and Kenyans hold their breath
August 8th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
A month ago on my fourth visit to Nairobi, I did a blog posting about the coming general election in Kenya. That election – and a host of other polls – will be held today and, given the experience of previous elections and the closeness of the rival coalitions, there are real fears about the […]
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Russia: Re-exerting its dominance
August 7th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
At this time of year, my professional commitments are light, so I sign up for a number of short courses at the City Lit further education college in central London. My fifth such course of this summer was delivered by a lecturer called Robert Behan and it was titled “Russia: Re-exerting its dominance”. The course involves two […]
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The rise of populism: causes and consequences
July 28th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
At this time of year, my professional commitments are light, so I sign up for a number of short courses at the City Lit further education college in central London. My third such course of this summer was delivered by an American lecturer called Dale Mineshima-Lowe and it was titled “An introduction to populism: a view of America […]
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Fifty years since the Six Day Arab-Israeli War of 1967
July 25th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
At this time of year, my professional commitments are light, so I sign up for a number of short courses at the City Lit further education college in central London. My first such course of this summer was delivered by Dr Noman Hanif – UK born of parents from Kashmir – and it was titled “The […]
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The coming referendum on independence for Iraqi Kurdistan
July 17th, 2017 by Roger Darlington
Regular visitors to my blog or Facebook page will know that I have been in Nairobi for 12 days visiting my son and his family. I flew back overnight and, in spite my tiredness, I found myself in serious conversation with the driver of my cab home. When I asked him where he was from, […]
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