Politics

Subterms

    More stories

    • 213 Shares32 Views

      in US Politics

      The Guardian view on Epstein, power and accountability: full transparency is the least survivors deserve | Editorial

      by

      As the wheels of justice begin to turn in Britain, a spotlight should also shine on the financier’s wealthy enablers in the US“The more Epstein documents get released, the more we see how he had so many powerful friends, and that’s ultimately what helped him,” commented the US lawyer Lisa Bloom in an interview with the Guardian this week. As Ms Bloom, who represents 11 of Jeffrey Epstein’s dogged and brave victims, drily notes: “That’s not the way the justice system is supposed to work.”From the outset, the Epstein affair has offered a textbook example of the ability of the influential and well-connected to avoid scrutiny and intimidate those who would exert it. A ruthless pursuit of transparency, both institutional and personal, is the only way to combat such tactics and hold power to account. In the extraordinary days following the release of further Epstein files last week, the wheels of justice in Britain are belatedly beginning to turn on that basis.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading… More

    • 225 Shares46 Views

      in World Politics

      The Politics of Cheapness: Japan’s Consumption-Tax Truce, the Yen’s Fragility and the Long Shadow of a Weaker Dollar

      by

      In politics, there are few ideas more seductive than cheapness. Not efficiency, not reform, not even growth — but the promise that tomorrow will cost less than today. Cheapness is democratic. It asks nothing of voters except gratitude. It allows leaders to appear generous without confronting trade-offs, and it flatters the belief that pain can… Continue reading The Politics of Cheapness: Japan’s Consumption-Tax Truce, the Yen’s Fragility and the Long Shadow of a Weaker Dollar
      The post The Politics of Cheapness: Japan’s Consumption-Tax Truce, the Yen’s Fragility and the Long Shadow of a Weaker Dollar appeared first on Fair Observer. More

    • 275 Shares41 Views

      in US Politics

      Never forget Epstein’s little helpers – the powerful men who knew about his crimes, and helped him out anyway | Marina Hyde

      by

      I’m sorry, but this is not just a political scandal. Time to refocus on the horrific mistreatment of women and girls, and the role of these ghoulsLike a lot of women, I do vaguely care about the latest political implosion of Peter Mandelson – but I think we’re all massively more obsessed with the fact that there really was a network of incredibly famous and powerful men trying to help a known ex-con minimise and wave away his underage sex crimes. Amirite, ladies? Sure, I’m crying my eyes out about some Gordon Brown adviser having his asset-sale memo forwarded in 2009 … but at the same time I’m a whole lot more concerned about the actual Sex Bilderberg. Which, even now, our eyes seem to keep being conveniently dragged away from. Can we refocus?We are, naturally, talking about the Jeffrey Epstein files. Since the latest lot dropped, I’ve been collating the emails from extremely famous men who actively sought to help the since-deceased underage sex trafficker trivialise his crimes in the years after his jail release in 2009. Richard Branson, Noam Chomsky, Steve Bannon, Mandelson, Andrew (obviously) – all of these men offer strategic advice, or media training, or chummy solidarity. Or, in the case of Chomsky, all of the above plus a drive-by on the notion of female victimhood. According to text signed under his first name that Epstein sent to a lawyer and publicist in February 2019, months after the Miami Herald had run an explosive series of articles laying out the scale of Epstein’s serial underage sexual abuse and the perversion of justice that covered it up, Chomsky sneered at “the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women”. Wow. Never mind Manufacturing Consent – have a read of Not Giving A Shit About Consent. I thought Chomsky cared about power and exploitative elites? Still, nice photo of him laughing it up with Steve Bannon. Continue reading… More

    • 150 Shares75 Views

      in World Politics

      FO° Talks: Freebies, Religion and Corruption: The Brutal Reality of India’s Politics

      by

      Fair Observer’s Video Producer Rohan Khattar Singh speaks with Dhruv Jatti, a young Congress spokesperson from Karnataka, India, about how Indian democracy functions. The country’s elections are often explained through ideology, religion or social media narratives. Drawing on his experience in both rural and urban politics, Jatti strips away abstraction and focuses on turnout, money,… Continue reading FO° Talks: Freebies, Religion and Corruption: The Brutal Reality of India’s Politics
      The post FO° Talks: Freebies, Religion and Corruption: The Brutal Reality of India’s Politics appeared first on Fair Observer. More

    • 125 Shares58 Views

      in US Politics

      Epstein files: has Trump really been ‘absolved’? | The Latest

      by

      Donald Trump claims that the release of millions more files related to Jeffrey Epstein ‘absolve’ him of wrongdoing, even though his name appears hundreds of times. The latest documents also indicate high-profile figures , including the former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Labour peer Peter Mandelson, continued friendships with the disgraced financier after his child sex abuse convictions. So what have we learned from the newly released files and what happens next? Lucy Hough speaks to columnist and host of Politics Weekly America Jonathan Freedland Continue reading… More

    • 175 Shares75 Views

      in World Politics

      Why Strategic Partnerships Fail to Build Power in the Global South: Lessons from Pakistan

      by

      Strategic partnerships are often presented as pathways to development for the Global South. Yet from Latin America to Asia and Africa, they have delivered finance and infrastructure without the technological capabilities needed for lasting transformation. As geopolitical competition intensifies, the key question is no longer who partners with whom, but who controls technology, learning and… Continue reading Why Strategic Partnerships Fail to Build Power in the Global South: Lessons from Pakistan
      The post Why Strategic Partnerships Fail to Build Power in the Global South: Lessons from Pakistan appeared first on Fair Observer. More

    • 113 Shares78 Views

      in World Politics

      Governance Without Legitimacy: The Kurdish Region’s Descent into Stagnation

      by

      For more than three decades, particularly since 1991, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has been presented as a semiautonomous polity with its own institutions and an ethnically distinct identity. But beneath that veneer of autonomy lies a more troubling reality.  Corruption has deteriorated the region, and it is not an aberration in the Kurdish… Continue reading Governance Without Legitimacy: The Kurdish Region’s Descent into Stagnation
      The post Governance Without Legitimacy: The Kurdish Region’s Descent into Stagnation appeared first on Fair Observer. More

    • 125 Shares92 Views

      in World Politics

      South Yemen at a Crossroads: Saudi Arabia’s Risky Political Gamble

      by

      Recent events in Yemen’s south reveal a rapidly shifting political and security landscape shaped by external intervention, internal mobilization and deep uncertainty over southern governance. At the center of these changes stands Saudi Arabia, which has increasingly taken the political initiative in the south — a role previously shared with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).… Continue reading South Yemen at a Crossroads: Saudi Arabia’s Risky Political Gamble
      The post South Yemen at a Crossroads: Saudi Arabia’s Risky Political Gamble appeared first on Fair Observer. More