Subterms
There once was a state called the Soviet Union. It included places as wide-ranging as Lithuania (now part of the European Union), Kazakhstan (part of Europe as far as EUFA is concerned) and Kyrgyzstan (definitely not part of Europe). It was an intricate part of what was known as the Cold War, which pitted it, […] More
Middle East Monitor features an article by American-Palestinian journalist Ramzy Baroud, who celebrates Tunisia’s progress as a democracy. The author cites recent data produced by two independent agencies that monitor the state of democracy in the world. He makes a point of comparing the North African nation that set off the short-lived phenomenon known as […] More
The shock to Western civilization produced by the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 is only beginning to register. Most commentators have focused on the political and economic dimension of a historical moment unlike any other, in which entire nations across the globe have moved into shutdown mode. Other commentators, such as Andrew Sullivan and Umair […] More
Donald Trump was elected in 2016 on his promise to “Make America Great Again.” Four years later, he presides over a country that would be the laughing stock of the world if the situation were not so dire. The greatest country in the world apparently cannot provide its citizens with toilet paper, is running out […] More
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed almost the entire world on lockdown. The current crisis is often compared to historic events such as the two World Wars, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 or 9/11. The worst-case modeling of the spread of the novel coronavirus predicts millions of deaths on top of immeasurable economic consequences across […] More
In 1978-79, the United Kingdom experienced the winter of discontent. Trade unions around the country went on strike. On January 22, 1979, the UK experienced the largest strike action since the General Strike of 1926. Even gravediggers and waste collectors joined in, leaving corpses and rubbish piling up. A bitterly cold winter with blizzards and heavy […] More
With nearly every government and populace around the world now mobilized to combat the coronavirus pandemic, the sort of broad-based international coordination often seen in previous global crises remains glaringly absent, and it’s holding us back from a solution. The reasons for this lack of overarching collaboration and coordination may be several, but one stands […] More
The Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), finds himself in a difficult place, fighting three very different sorts of wars. The first — and the longest running — is the Saudi-led campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen that on 25 March passed its fifth anniversary. The second, the war on COVID-19, was […] More
