Subterms
While the extraordinary crash of the WTI price of crude into negative territory — the first in history — can be viewed as something of an anomaly, the 25% drop in the price of Brent to $20 a barrel today (April 27) is a stark statement about the vulnerability of the Saudi economy and of Crown Prince […] More
There is a general recognition that major problems and issues of our world — including understanding them and their causes and proposing remedies and coping strategies — are rarely simple in nature. Complexity theory and the long history of systems science, as exemplified by the work of such authorities as Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Talcott Parsons, Russ […] More
The current pandemic has led to the postponement of elections around the world. Over 75 countries have declared some kind of state of emergency. Several illiberal leaders, like Viktor Orban, have used the crisis to seize virtually unlimited powers. The Chinese model of full-spectrum clampdown has elicited praise across the political spectrum for its apparent effectiveness […] More
Venezuela’s dictatorship has proved to be highly resilient. It mutated from a lively democracy in the second half of the 20th century to a hybrid regime where unfree and unfair elections were held and repression reigned, giving way to the current dictatorial domination. In the process, it also destroyed the economy and brought down most […] More
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (known as AMLO) reacted last week to the news that a corruption investigation into Mexico’s nationalized petroleum industry, Pemex, had moved on to target his predecessor, Enrique Peña Nieto. Though aware of the attorney general’s investigation into another personality active during the previous regime — former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya […] More
A few days ago, President Donald Trump came out and announced that the United States was suspending its funding of the World Health Organization (WHO). Among the main reasons for his decision, Trump cited the WHO’s “mismanaging” of the spread of the epidemic and its heavy pro-China slant. The United States is the most important […] More
Following Donald Trump’s election as US president, many more radical-right rallies have taken place. This not only indicates an interaction between the electoral arena and civil society — it illustrates the fact that when a party (or a candidate) of the radical-right family is elected, its supporters are more likely to voice their approval in public […] More
Most political observers sensed that former US President Barack Obama was keeping a close eye on the Democratic primaries with a view to engineering events leading up to this year’s convention. Months ago they had heard rumblings about his determination to prevent Senator Bernie Sanders from getting the nomination. In early March, the day before […] More
