Category: Politics

Diplomacy & International Relations FEATURED Politics

New EU-UK trade deal has promise for Northern Ireland and US as well

Kimberly Cowell-Meyers April 5, 2023

A new trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom, which left the EU in 2020, could have finally found a way to safeguard peace in Northern Ireland after Brexit reignited old tensions. There is an element of U.S. foreign policy at work here, too. The U.S. was key to negotiating the 1998 agreement, and successive administrations have championed it as the only way to a sustainable peace.

By Kimberly Cowell-Meyers, Carolyn Gallaher

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Diplomacy & International Relations FEATURED Politics

Sanctions rarely work, but are they still the least worst option?

Mark Beeson March 2, 2023

Clearly, Putin was not deterred by NATO or the prospect of American opposition. The re-emergence of China as a great power has become the single biggest challenge to American preeminence. Not only is China rapidly becoming a strategic “peer competitor”, it will soon overtake the US as the world’s largest economy. It has already “grown far too big for America to sanction Beijing with its usual toolkit”.

By Mark Beeson

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Americas FEATURED Politics

Trump announces he’ll run for president again as Murdoch turns on him – and it could be politically expensive for both

Rodney Tiffen November 21, 2022

No politician, journalist or media critic has ever been heard to utter the phrase “as subtle as a Murdoch tabloid”. The headline was “Trumpty Dumpty” with a picture of an egg-shaped Trump sitting on a wall and the sub-head “Don (who couldn’t build a wall) had a great fall – can all the GOP’s men put the party together again?”

By Rodney Tiffen

View More Trump announces he’ll run for president again as Murdoch turns on him – and it could be politically expensive for both
Europe FEATURED Opinion Politics

The fox in the chicken coop: how the far right is playing the European Parliament

Christin Tonne November 8, 2022

While far-right parties have been present in Europe for some time, liberal democratic parties still do not know how to respond to their presence. Of even more concern is their deep political entanglement with liberal democratic political parties, which renders the whole story even more complex, writes Christin Tonne.

By Christin Tonne

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Americas Economy & Business FEATURED Politics

Brazil election: victorious Lula faces an uphill struggle

Anthony Pereira November 1, 2022

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has achieved a remarkable political comeback by regaining the presidency of Brazil, however, victorious Lula faces an uphill struggle – a damaged economy and a deeply divided country.

By Anthony Pereira

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Europe Opinion Politics

Liz Truss is now a case study in poor leadership

Stefan Stern October 18, 2022

Leaders are watched. They are scrutinised. If you don’t like the idea of being held accountable and having to answer for your actions then a leadership role is probably not for you.Leadership should not be an ego trip or seen as some sort of game. It is not a playground for ideological experiment. Leadership, finally, is not about you, it is about everybody else. I fear Liz Truss did not understand very much of this at all, and it will now cost her both her job and her political career.

By Stefan Stern

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Asia Ethics & Religion Politics Situation Reports

Headcovers have always been political in Iran – for women on all sides

Eliz Sanasarian October 13, 2022

Acts of defiance, big and small, have continued uninterrupted across multiple generations. Women’s activism has been constant, as has their imprisonment. In the past, major demonstrations were crushed, but regardless of how the current protests turn out, they underscore that the headcover issue is not going away – and has the potential to amplify anti-regime sentiments in Iran and abroad.

By Eliz Sanasarian

View More Headcovers have always been political in Iran – for women on all sides
Defense & Security FEATURED Politics

Nord Stream pipeline sabotage: how an attack could have been carried out and why Europe was defenceless

Christian Bueger October 6, 2022

Whatever caused the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, it appears to be the first major attack on critical “subsea” (underwater) infrastructure in Europe. It’s now widely thought – not least by Nato – that the explosions that led to major leaks in the two pipelines were not caused by accidents. The alliance says they were a deliberate act of sabotage, writes Christian Bueger

By Christian Bueger

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