Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
The ‘princeling’ who would be ‘king’
February 14th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
If there’s one thing the Chinese Communism Party does well it is succession planning. Ever since Barack Obama became US President in January 2009, we have not been absolutely sure that he would still be President in 2013. But, since the Party Congress in 2007 , we have known that Xi Jinping will succeed Hu […]
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Ever heard of Camp Ashraf?
February 8th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
No – neither had I. However, when I was in central London recently, I was approached by an Iranian dissident who is now living in exile in The Netherlands and wanted to talk to me about Camp Ashraf in Iraq. Since I visited Iran two years ago [see my account here], I was interested in […]
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The political power of “The Lady”
February 3rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
“The Lady”, the bio pic of the Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, was released in Britain in December but it was too political and too personal for it to attract a large audience. I saw it and was very moved and you can read my review here. The film has still not been released […]
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What is the major strength of the British political system?
January 27th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
This week, I had the following e-mail from a student in Russia: “Hello! I have read your short guide to the British political system, and I wanted to ask what you think about this statement: “The capacity of the UK’s constitution to evolve is its major strength”. Do you agree with this, as I am […]
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My review of “The Lady”
January 22nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
You’ve heard of the film “The Iron Lady” about the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (which I’ve not seen yet), but you probably don’t know about the film “The Lady” about the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi. That’s a pity because the movie is well-done and deserves a much wider audience than it is […]
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What are we going to do about Iran’s nuclear intentions?
January 12th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I am especially interested in the future of Iran since I visited the country only two years ago and know how much people there would like a more liberal regime. You can read my account of the trip here. This week, we have the news that a fourth attack has been made on a scientist […]
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How democratic is your country?
January 7th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In its annual review of the state of democracy in the world, the Economist Intelligence Unit finds a mere 25 countries to be “fully democratic” with the UK coming in 18th and the USA at 19th. The compilers of the survey comment: “In 2011 there has been little change at the top of the rankings, […]
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How democratic is Hungary now?
January 7th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In a recent article for the “New York Times”, Kim Lane Scheppele explained: “In a free and fair election last spring in Hungary, the center-right political party, Fidesz, got 53% of the vote. This translated into 68% of the seats in the parliament under Hungary’s current disproportionate election law. With this supermajority, Fidesz won the […]
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Word of the day: Mittelstand
January 5th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I’ve spent the last couple of evenings catching up on recordings of two television programmes made by the BBC’s economic correspondent Robert Peston (I used to know his father when I worked in Whitehall in the 1970s). The programmes were called “The Party’s Over: How The West Went Bust” and sought to explain the origins […]
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It’s a new year – so let’s be cheerful
January 1st, 2012 by Roger Darlington
“So we face challenges, but we have a growing capacity to respond. For the average inhabitant of Britain, or Europe, or the planet, there has never been a better time to be alive than today. And, like as not, that statement will be true again tomorrow, and the next day – and the next.” This […]
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