‘Instead of giving up their wealth to control their deficit, the burden has been put on the masses. There are pressures in crisis and it’s evident that people would protest in such a situation.’ No, not Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, but, ironically, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad’s verdict on August’s … Read More
Month: August 2011
The twin tales of Russian history
Studying imperial Russia, scholars have produced two stories. One concerns a great country that competes successfully, though unevenly, with other European powers, produces brilliant literature, and stages unprecedented social experiments. The other story is one of economic backwardness, unbridled violence, misery, illiteracy, despair, and collapse. I subscribe to both of … Read More
A world of new perspectives
A world out of control? A world of ruthless elites, environmental disaster, reborn patriarchy, and growing gaps between rich and poor? A world where the alternatives are riot, terrorism, or futile protest? Our world, right?
If that is NOT to be our world – if we want real democracy in … Read More
Probing the dark side of government
National security intelligence is a vast, complicated, and important topic, with both technical and humanistic dimensions – all made doubly hard to study and understand because of the thick veils of secrecy that surround every nation’s spy apparatus. Fortunately, from the point of view of democratic openness as well as … Read More
Pearls Before Swine: The Wikileaks Principle
Forget the Internet and digital age; July 2011 was dominated by an old tabloid newspaper, the News of the World. In case you missed it, James Murdoch announced the paper would close on 7th July after 168 years in print. One private investigator and the paper’s royal … Read More
