Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
What do you know about Finland? (1)
August 4th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Not many people outside of Finland know much about the country, but I’m about to make a short trip there for the first time, so I’m reading up about the country. I always like to get to know a new place and this will be the 57th country that I have visited. In fact, as […]
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China vs India as a new world power
August 1st, 2012 by Roger Darlington
As someone interested in the geo-political picture, I’m fascinated by what might happen as we enter what has been called the post-America world when the USA ceases to have the totally dominant position on the globe that it has enjoyed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The obvious candidates for a vital role in […]
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How the super rich become much much richer
July 22nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
“A global super-rich elite has exploited gaps in cross-border tax rules to hide an extraordinary £13 trillion ($21tn) of wealth offshore – as much as the American and Japanese GDPs put together – according to research commissioned by the campaign group Tax Justice Network. James Henry, former chief economist at consultancy McKinsey and an expert […]
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How much dissent is there in Iran?
July 13th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
We tend to think of authoritarian regimes as monolithic, but they are often as riven with dissent as democracies. It is just that we do not know this because of course such authoritarian regimes do not have a free media. Take Iran. The power structure in that country is complicated and fractured as explained in […]
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How would you have voted?
June 18th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Since I obtained the right to vote 44 years ago, I have never missed an opportunity to cast my vote, whether in a national or local election. It has not been difficult for me to decide how to cast my vote since principles and ideology matter more to me than current policy or the particular […]
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A different view of Iraq
June 11th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I’ve visited 56 countries and would love to go to more. I learn so much on my travels and see the world very differently. One country which fascinates me is Iraq. I would not be willing to travel to most parts of the country in current circumstances, but I would be open to visiting the Kurdish […]
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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 […]
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The most complicated politics in the democratic world
May 9th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Israel may be a small country of just 8 million, but its politics matter, both because it is the only genuine democracy in the Middle East and it is the strongest military power in the region. I have tried to explain Israel’s political system here. In the conclusion of my essay, I state: “Israeli’s strange […]
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Elections, elections, elections …
May 7th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Who says that politics is boring? Not me. Granted that I am something of a political junkie, but the last few days have been absolutely fascinating for anyone remotely interested in politics or current affairs here in Europe. First, on Thursday, we had the local elections in England, Scotland and Wales when the Labour Party […]
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The hidden gulag of North Korea
April 29th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
“There may be as many as 200,000 North Koreans locked away on political grounds behind barbed wire and subject to extreme cruelty and brutality. Many are “not expected to survive,” according to the State Department’s 2010 human rights report, in particular those incarcerated in the kwan-li-so (political penal labor colonies). Others are held in long-term […]
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