In Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO)’s frequent condemnation of the conservative elite and neoliberal technocrats echoed in his daily morning conferences during his six years as president. He mobilized voters mainly by appealing to popul...
“Willkommen in Wust! Willkommen in Saxony-Anhalt!” These were the first words I heard following 18 hours of travel as my host parents, Sigrun and Matthias, welcomed me with open arms. Wust, a town of just over 800 residents in old East German...
In July 2022, thousands of Sri Lankans stormed the presidential palace in Colombo. They swam in the president’s pool, sat in his chair, and used his personal gym. These actions were not borne out of rage at just one leader. It signaled the end of t...
Last week, Spain introduced an additional €40bn austerity policy in face continuing recession, unemployment, and violent separatist cries of the Catalonia and Basque region. One should not forget, however, that Spain’s public debt, which hovers a...
Last week, Spain introduced an additional €40bn austerity policy in face continuing recession, unemployment, and violent separatist cries of the Catalonia and Basque region. One should not forget, however, that Spain’s public debt, which hovers a...
My tour of European austerity’s next stop is Germany. However, I have criticized austerity without putting it into context. I have simply assumed it is a bad thing, and avoided entering a discussion on what austerity is and does. This is unfair. So...
My tour of European austerity’s next stop is Germany. However, I have criticized austerity without putting it into context. I have simply assumed it is a bad thing, and avoided entering a discussion on what austerity is and does. This is unfair. So...
Remember that YouTube video, the anti-Islam film trailer that sparked riots in countries with large Muslim populations across the world? The 14-minute clip that caused hundreds of casualties in mob demonstrations because it insulted Muhammad, the Pro...
Remember that YouTube video, the anti-Islam film trailer that sparked riots in countries with large Muslim populations across the world? The 14-minute clip that caused hundreds of casualties in mob demonstrations because it insulted Muhammad, the Pro...
I’m beginning to think all posts on Europe should fall into the category interesting times, partly in honor of Eric Hobsbawm. Our last piece of interesting news from the past month is the French budget for 2013. François Hollande’s initiation in...
I’m beginning to think all posts on Europe should fall into the category interesting times, partly in honor of Eric Hobsbawm. Our last piece of interesting news from the past month is the French budget for 2013. François Hollande’s initiation in...
I meant to begin with a post on European Structural Funds. Structural Funds and regulation are the stereotypically dull issues European integration used to be about. Brussels bureaucrats bickering over the optimal way of manufacturing and getting rid...
I meant to begin with a post on European Structural Funds. Structural Funds and regulation are the stereotypically dull issues European integration used to be about. Brussels bureaucrats bickering over the optimal way of manufacturing and getting rid...
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, classmate of Sr. Romney, has outdone himself. In what is now a legendarily cavalier portrait of recklessly reductive thinking on the topic of nuclear threat, Bibi holds a graphic poster of a simplistic bomb with...
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, classmate of Sr. Romney, has outdone himself. In what is now a legendarily cavalier portrait of recklessly reductive thinking on the topic of nuclear threat, Bibi holds a graphic poster of a simplistic bomb with...
“The first thing the government does in an election year,” former Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou admitted in 2009, “is to pull the tax collectors off the streets.” I think this statement has a lot to say about Greek debt, and ...
“The first thing the government does in an election year,” former Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou admitted in 2009, “is to pull the tax collectors off the streets.” I think this statement has a lot to say about Greek debt, and ...
A famous essay by Sir Isaiah Berlin begins with the following quote: There is a line among the fragments of the Greek poet Archilochus which says: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” I am not about to assess the u...
A famous essay by Sir Isaiah Berlin begins with the following quote: There is a line among the fragments of the Greek poet Archilochus which says: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” I am not about to assess the u...
September has come and Europe’s politicians are finally in their offices, back from the annual August recess. Back to the rescue. We’re only half way through the month, but so much has been done and said over the past few days. True, European lea...
September has come and Europe’s politicians are finally in their offices, back from the annual August recess. Back to the rescue. We’re only half way through the month, but so much has been done and said over the past few days. True, European lea...
I lived in India for all of my life and I still don’t understand the political climate of my country. Sure it’s a democracy–but how is it still a democracy? Democratic Theory states that poverty, widespread illiteracy, and a deeply hierarch...
I lived in India for all of my life and I still don’t understand the political climate of my country. Sure it’s a democracy–but how is it still a democracy? Democratic Theory states that poverty, widespread illiteracy, and a deeply hierarch...