Category Archives: World Affairs

There’s an American cliché: Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes. It emerged from the advertising industry in the Mad Men era. It’s what you do with an idea that’s a bit outlandish but that just might work; … Continue reading →

While the American election is finally over, one company is still monitoring for potential damage after being caught up in false allegations of voting fraud.

US president-elect Joe Biden’s foreign policy will be very different from that of President Donald Trump. Biden has vowed to bring back US global leadership, value international diplomacy, restore US alliances and promote democracy and human rights abroad. He intends to undo … Continue reading →

Recent events have highlighted weaknesses in American society. There is much uncertainty about the future of the struggling empire but a look at other empires in history may shed some light on the matter.

Spare us, at least, the mock horror. On the morning after the US presidential election of November 4th, The Irish Times ran a headline: “At 2.23am, the US president launched an attempted coup.” This was merely factual reporting.

The whiplash from the Georgia elections to the storming of the Capitol mirrored a familiar pattern in US history of Black advancement followed by white backlash.

Can a country so bitterly divided  be an effective global leader. Its system is seen to have failed. It is perceived as at war with itself . … America’s international reputation has tumbled mightily.

The United States is not the only Western country having difficulties with its democratic credentials. Under Boris Johnson’s chaotic regime, the UK has its own particular type of democratic deficit, especially concerning Scotland.

What happened at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6? Depends on whom you ask. To some, the attack by hundreds of mostly white men and women was an insurrection. To others it was a coup.

The storming of the US Capitol on January 6 is easily misunderstood. Shaken by the ordeal, members of Congress have issued statements explaining that America is a nation of laws, not mobs.

Large parts of the world—outside of China and a few other countries—face a runaway virus, which has not been stopped because of criminal incompetence by governments.

The New Cold War with respect to China points to an even more serious conflict than the one with Russia, since it involves a direct challenge to U.S. hegemony over the world economy.

As I write this, pro-Trump protesters have stormed the U.S. Capitol building seeking to impose Trump’s attempted coup on America. Trump’s hand in stoking the coup is apparent on multiple fronts. He’s been disseminating and mainstreaming baseless electoral fraud conspiracies … Continue reading →

And then, because the rioters were white, they were allowed to walk away. But just imagine if they had been Black…Authorities would remove and arrest Trump—if he were Black.

In Part 1 – A Question of Identity, I examined the question of whether Brexit will hasten the reunification of Ireland from the point of view of how it has affected the identity of Northern Ireland unionism. In this part, … Continue reading →

Morality racketeering’ is Australian academic Dr Ian Wilson’s shorthand for Indonesian white-clad mobsters who dress in religious righteousness to terrorise their animus-du-jour. Last century it was vice. More recently it’s been blasphemers.  Now it’s the government of President Joko Widodo.

Four and a half years after the United Kingdom referendum in which a majority voted in favour of leaving the European Union, the Brexit project is at last formally complete. Now we await the consequences. One question is whether Britain’s … Continue reading →

The cover-up has to stop – and with it, the huge sums in aid for a country with oppressive policies towards Palestinians.

The British judge’s ruling that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States is welcome, but it comes after the charade called justice in which British authorities held an unconvicted person in a top security prison and made his … Continue reading →

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, a leader prone to blunders (he initially took the Trump no-worries approach to Covid-19 now ravaging the Republic), may have made another serious error. He’s banned a Muslim organisation that’s become the loudest and most militant … Continue reading →