Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
My heart bleeds for the people of Aleppo
August 12th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Just a couple of weeks before the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, we visited the country for a holiday. The Arab Spring had engulfed Tunisia, Libya and Egypt but, on the surface, all seems quiet in Syria. Every time I see a news item about the situation now in Syria, I remember our […]
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A review of the impressive book “Age Of Discovery”
August 8th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
There are not many books that are so wide-ranging in subject matter and optimistic about the present and future of humankind as “Age Of Discovery”. It argues that, for most people in most places on the globe, this is the best time to be alive in the whole of human history. You can read my […]
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Don’t forget Hong Kong – the only place in China with anything like genuine elections
July 31st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
“On 4th September, sandwiched between the Brexit vote and the US elections, Hong Kongers have the opportunity to vote in the four yearly LegCo [Legislative Council] elections. Hong Kong’s democratic processes are a hangover from its colonial days – the first election took place in 1995 two years before handover. UK graciously offering HK a […]
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Understanding the different branches of Islam
July 24th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I have now attended two sessions of the City Lit course on “Global Political Islam’. Recently we have been looking at the various branches of the religious faith. Virtually from the beginning of Islam, there has been a major split. Unlike the divisions in the Christian world, the differences are not about theology and belief […]
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Trying to understand the phenomenon of global political Islam
July 16th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
We don’t yet fully understand the motivation behind the terrible attack at Nice, but it seems that the perpetrator, as well as being mentally ill, was inspired by Islamic fundamentalism. We don’t yet know the background to the attempted coup in Turkey, but it seems that sections of the military are concerned about a shift […]
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Reasons to be cheerful
July 13th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Most of my personal and professional acquaintances voted – like me – for Britain to remain a member of the European Union and are – like me – deeply troubled by the narrow decision to leave the EU. But there are still many reasons to be cheerful that we live at this special time in […]
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Muslims and modernity: the road from jihad to Brexit
July 10th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
As a believer in lifelong learning, I regularly attend short courses at a London further education college called the City Lit. This weekend, I attended a one-day course entitled “Hope And History: A Short Introduction To Contemporary Issues In Muslim Contexts”. Our tutor was Pakistani-born Dr Farid Panjwani, a lecturer at the Institute of Education, […]
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Has anyone actually read the Chilcot Report?
July 8th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
The Chilcot Report on the invasion of Iraq consists of 12 volumes adding up to some 2.6 million words. Even the Executive Summary runs to 145 pages. According to an item in the “Guardian” newspaper, on average people read about 250 words a minute so, on that estimate, it would take 10,400 minutes or about […]
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What Alastair Campbell has to say about the Chilcot Inquiry on the Iraq War
July 7th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
If ever the word tragedy was appropriate, it applies in spades to the whole experience of the Iraq War. It is too simple to view the actions of British politicians and officials – especially Tony Blair – as the acts of evil men. Enormous mistakes were made but essentially they were made by people who […]
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Britain is not the only country in political chaos – have a look at Spain
June 28th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
In Britain, we are about to see a new leader of the Conservative Party which means a new Prime Minister. Some months later, we might have a general election which could conceivably result in yet another Prime Minister. Meanwhile, in sunny Spain, they had an election in December when the Prime Minister’s party won the […]
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