by Lea Ypi on 13th November 2019 With the UK facing one of the most important elections in decades, the focus should be on the clear programmatic differences between the main parties, rather than weekly polling outcomes. If I were…
Category: Columns
The German impasse
by Adam Tooze on 12th November 2019 Adam Tooze dissects how the macroeconomic policy discourse is disabling necessary German, and European, steps forward. The autumn of 2019 is a moment of anniversaries. The 30th anniversary of German unification has garnered…
Europe: Tear down those walls!
by David Gow on 9th November 2019 @gowdav It may be three decades since the Berlin wall came down but too many others have recently proliferated. ‘Die Mauer in den Köpfen’ (the wall in the heads) is a phrase I…
Unpacking supreme courts to restore checks and balances
by George Tyler on 7th November 2019 @georgertyler Democracy is threatened by politicisation of constitutional courts. Unorthodox tactics are required to restore their role.
Europe’s Green Deal is turning red
by Delara Burkhardt on 4th November 2019 @delarabur The European Green Deal does not just aim at combating the climate crisis. It’s also an opportunity for social change.
Budapest’s new mayor and the redemocratisation of Hungary
by Stephen Pogány on 31st October 2019 Local elections in Hungary have placed a question-mark over the durability of the ‘illiberal democracy’ of Viktor Orbán.
The big Green New Deal and its little red social question
by Albena Azmanova on 30th October 2019 @AAzmanova Why does environmental promise always fall short in practice? A new answer to the social question can bridge the gap.
Central-bank digital currencies: Proceed with caution
by Peter Bofinger on 29th October 2019 Peter Bofinger argues that introducing central-bank digital currencies would need to be subject to very careful consideration.
Beyond headlines: The dev story behind irregular migration
By Achim Steiner UN, Oct 28 2019 (IPS) – Last week, a too-familiar human tragedy captured news headlines. 39 people were found dead inside a shipping container on an industrial estate in Essex in Southeast England; 31 men and 8…
Oceans as an investment priority
By Emma Navarro Oslo – The Earth’s oceans face many threats, none of which have quick fixes. Still, the solutions are known, and with a sufficiently broad coalition of partners, we can get the ball rolling on a number of…
The Manchester revolution
by Paul Mason on 23rd October 2019 @paulmasonnews Paul Mason reimagines the Manchester of his birth in a postcapitalist age—and raises the challenge of getting there. Imagine this: a child is born in a city where 40 per cent of…
It happens only in India
Sudhirendar Sharma Mention of a railway journey invites memories of the good, and not-so-good travel experiences over time. More than the destination, it is the sheer experience of being on the train journey that replays through awful encounters, amusing anecdotes,…
Financing the green transition
By Bertrand Badré and Antoine Sire Paris – Four years after world leaders signed the Paris climate agreement and adopted the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the global environmental crisis shows every sign of…
Climate leadership from developing countries
by Lee White, Tanguy Gahouma Libreville – When Gabon ratified the 2015 Paris climate agreement, its real work was just beginning. The main challenge was to find ways to conserve the country’s natu ral environment and address the growing climate…
The Goulard case—a rap on the knuckles for Emmanuel Macron
by Amandine Crespy on 17th October 2019 The rejection by the European Parliament of Slyvie Goulard as French commissioner showed that ‘it’s France’ is not a sufficient excuse for special treatment.
Can Europe help the Balkans keep its young emigrants?
by Alida Vračić on 16th October 2019 High emigration rates are doing massive damage to the prospects of the western Balkans—would a stronger EU perspective reverse this outflow?
The world mustn’t sleep-walk into another debt crisis
By Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary-General 16 October 2019 -Trade wars, protectionism, and nationalist rhetoric are combining to create the possibility of a nightmare debt crisis that could be worse than any previously experienced. Global borrowing is now at the highest…
Is it time to ban political advertising on Facebook?
by Karin Pettersson on 15th October 2019 @AB_Karin Karin Pettersson argues that ‘free speech’ is not a licence for politicians relying on rage to lie, and for such lies to be amplified by ‘social media’.
Trees are from Eden
Sudhirendar Sharma Liberalisation of morality notwithstanding, the heroism of surrender and sacrifice is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
C’wealth model offers hope for easing multilateral trade tensions
By Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary-General 7 October 2019 – Global uncertainties and tensions are escalating and affecting trade in every region. We see rising protectionism, while multilateral cooperation – including through the World Trade Organisation – is increasingly under threat.…
The parliamentary election in Poland—the future at stake
by Maria Skóra on 7th October 2019 @MariaSkora Whether the coming election in Poland will consolidate the monopoly of the national-conservative PiS or favour a more pluralist balance of power, it will have a significant impact on Polish political culture.
How media technocrats manipulate public opinion
By Jan Lundius Stockholm / Rome, Oct 2 2019 (IPS) – In a 1974 article, Woody Allen poked fun at biblical stories presenting ludicrous paraphrases of The Book of Job, Abraham´s intended sacrifice of his son Isaac, as well as…
Saving Pacific Islanders from geoengineering
by François Martel SUVA – Geoengineering will save us from the climate crisis, its champions insist. By using technology either to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or to deflect some solar radiation away from the Earth, they claim, we…
What matters at the end is ingenuity
Sudhirendar Sharma Bad news holds currency, subsuming whatever little good that lies littered around. That has been the way of life, lately. Had I not read hugely popular Factfulness by noted statistician Hans Rosling who stressed that one must strive…
Long road to respecting workers’ rights in supply chains
by Justine Nolan and Martijn Boersma on 1st October 2019 @justine_nolan The US Business Roundtable statement in favour of stakeholder rather than shareholder capitalism has opened the question of corporate responsibility—crucially, it extends to global supply chains.
‘Sustainable Resolution of the Rohingya Crisis’
Mahfuz Adnan New York, Sept 28 – The activists concerned have called for world conscience to be addressed in a permanent solution to the Rohingya issue, adding that it is important for Myanmar to be extradited to the international court…
What surfing taught me on reforming state-owned enterprises
By Rafayil Abbasov Reforming state-owned enterprises can be an extraordinarily complex activity but it is underpinned by a single clear goal.
Why radical right no longer exclusive domain of older, male voters
by Caroline Marie Lancaster on 26th September 2019 The typical radical-right voter is often assumed to be older and male, with conservative views on women’s and LGBT rights—an assumption which should now be reassessed. Today’s European radical right is rife…
Reconciliation must drive development
By Rémy Rioux Paris – In a profoundly volatile world riddled with fractures, the temptation to embrace a seemingly reassuring path of withdrawal or isolation may be strong. In fact, avoidance of potential hazards seems only natural. For lack of…
Climate code red
By Rachel Kyte Washington, DC – When emergencies strike, special processes within governments and communities swing into gear. And everyone steps up to help.