Each generation assumes it lives through tumultuous times. But as we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11, we can surely claim that the last ten years will be remembered as a decade of extraordinary volatility and insecurity. We now assume – as if it is a basic law of the universe – that 9/11 not just changed the world but set in train a sequence of events that has pitched the world on a roller coaster ride of seismic geo-political activity.
So Lonely
[AnnaPurna Consulting is currently away; Research Director, Steve Thomsan, is the author of this blog]
I have recently finished reading Baader-Meinhof, Stefan Aust’s fascinating account of the lives, ideas and violence of the Red Army Faction (RAF). For younger readers, the RAF was a West German terrorist group responsible for a spate of murders, kidnappings and plane hijackings in the 1970s and 80s, espousing a nihilistic ideological cocktail of Marxism, libertarianism and fanatical adherence to the Palestinian cause. [Read more…]
First mover dis-advantage
Whatever happened to Tunisia? The most unlikely starting point of the political turmoil that has swept the Arab world has dropped out of the headlines. While Tunisia wrestles with the realisation that toppling a flaky leader is, in this case, a lot easier than root and branch regime change, the news crews and international affairs pundits have moved on. [Read more…]
Crisis? What crisis?
It is hard to imagine who would want to be a politician at the moment. But the job still lures ambitious people like almost no other. Yet in most cases the job seems either hopeless or thankless. And often both.
Sitting in the White House, President Obama must be scratching his head wondering how to inject some health into the economy. Prime Minister Papandreou of Greece must feel in an even tighter corner as his government wrestles with the dire consequences of years of economic misrule. And it is not just the Greek people who are watching what he does next. The rest of Europe and all the world’s major economies have a stake in what happens in Athens and are eager for their opinion to be heard. [Read more…]
Northern lights
In the past few weeks I have been to a seemingly random selection of countries: Bahrain, Colombia, the USA and Canada. On the surface, there is not a lot to obviously connect each of these nations. But there are a few common threads.
A near compulsive interest in Lady Gaga is such an obvious shared characteristic it hardly needs mentioning. But each place is also preoccupied by their near neighbours. In Bahrain, it is Iran – blamed for much of the recent unrest. In Colombia, it remains Venezuela, despite an improvement of sorts in the traditionally fraught relationship. And in the USA, the chaos in the Mexican border region continues to harden attitudes towards combatting drugs and illegal immigration. [Read more…]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- …
- 14
- Next Page »