Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
As the World Cup runs its course, John Oliver takes apart its governing body FIFA
June 18th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
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Still 16,300 nuclear warheads, so world a long way from nuclear disarmament
June 17th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
All five legally recognised nuclear-weapons states – China, France, Russia, Britain and the US – are deploying new nuclear weapon delivery systems or have announced programmes to do so, according to an authoritative study. India and Pakistan are also developing new systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons and are expanding their capacities to produce fissile […]
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What now for the Kurds of Iraq?
June 13th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The speed of events in Iraq is astonishing and frightening. The actions of the Shia government in Baghdad have assisted the insurgents in the Sunni-dominated north of the country. Meanwhile the Kurds in the largely autonomous north-east have moved quickly to take over control of Kirkuk. Some commentators have blamed “Western policy” for the present […]
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Why racism is on the rise in so many democratic states
June 2nd, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“The limited ability of national governments to pursue any agenda that has not first been endorsed by international capital and its proxies is no longer simply the cross they have to bear; it is the cross to which we have all been nailed. The nation state is the primary democratic entity that remains. But given […]
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Love is a many splendoured thing – except in 76 countries where being gay is illegal
May 17th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
“Five countries – Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen – still have a statutory death penalty for homosexuality, while a further 71 countries punish same-sex couples with lesser sentences of imprisonment or corporal punishment. In total, 2.79 billion people live in countries where being gay can lead to prison or death – seven times […]
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Where now for Ukraine? – next step: the presidential election
May 15th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
This week, I attended a meeting in the House of Commons to discuss Ukraine’s presidential election. The meeting was organised by the Henry Jackson Society and featured three expert speakers: Orysia Lutsevych from Chatham House, Andy Hunder from the Ukrainian Institute in London, and Andrew Foxall of the Henry Jackson Society itself. The background to […]
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What does James K Galbraith think of the work of Thomas Piketty?
May 13th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
James K Galbraith is the economist son of the famous economist John Kenneth Galbraith. Thomas Piketty is the French economist who has caused a storm in the world of economics with his book “Capitalism In The Twenty-First Century” on which I have already blogged here and here and here. In this interesting essay, Galbraith reviews Picketty’s […]
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South Africa goes to the polls tomorrow, so here is a short guide to the country’s political system
May 6th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
South Africa is the 12th country – the first in Africa -about which I have chosen to write a short guide to its political system. You can read it here. I will update it when the results of tomorrow’s general election are known. If you are interested in the political systems of other major democratic […]
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Thomas Piketty: the French economist bringing capitalism to book
May 4th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
I have previously done a posting about “Capital In The Twenty-First Century” by the French economist Thomas Piketty which is a stunning critique of the capitalist system. I explained that few lay people will read it because it is more than 700 pages long with footnotes, graphs and mathematical formulae. So it is good that […]
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Thomas Piketty’s “Capital”: everything you need to know about the surprise bestseller
May 2nd, 2014 by Roger Darlington
I have previously done a posting about “Capital In The Twenty-First Century” by the French economist Thomas Piketty which is a stunning critique of the capitalist system. I explained that few lay people will read it because it is more than 700 pages long with footnotes, graphs and mathematical formulae. So it is good that […]
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