SPOTLIGHT

Labour Economics: Economy in 2020

Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘Economy in 2020’ is admirable for the working class in its principles but ultimately has its flaws. Battered and bruised, with knees rocking after a haymaker, Labour’s current predicament within British politics resembles that of a boxer that has been tactically outclassed for ten rounds, it’s close to a stoppage. Granted, politics has […]

The UK response to the “refugee crisis” is theoretically sound but practically counterproductive

The UK Conservative government has a strategy for tackling the current “refugee crisis” that is theoretically convincing but practically contradictory. The strategy consists of letting as few refugees onto UK soil as it can get away with, whilst increasing efforts to tackle the source of the crisis. The former is implicit in the numbers: until […]

Sport

Athletics’ Quick Fix: How the politics of doping is taking athletics to the brink of ruin

June 2003 As most sport-crazy 9 – 90 year-old boys do, I began reading my copy of the Mail on Sunday from the last page to the first. But on this particular day, my eyes were strangely captivated by the side column rather than the main headline. “World’s Fastest Couple give birth to baby boy”. […]

The fall of oil and the environment


The Fall of Oil and the Environment Bane or Blessing? The recent rapid decline of the price of oil, from around $115 per barrel in mid-2014 to below $50 per barrel by August 2015 (Brent Crude), has prompted widespread concerns about negative impacts of cheap oil on the environment. These concerns can be roughly divided […]

Human Rights

Rufgee crisis: Lessons David Cameron can learn from Lebanon’s example

In the midst of the current refugee crisis it’s easy to get caught up in numbers. Germany is expecting 800,000 by the end of the year – and 500,000 annually for years to come. Australia says they’ll let in 12,000 and David Cameron announced that the UK will accept 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian […]


 
 
 

 

The New Sudetenland And The Return Of The Truman Doctrine

There is something remarkably old-fashioned about the crisis that has broken out in the Crimea and the Eastern Ukraine. For once, there seems to be no pretence of following international law, not even a cursory attempt to justi...
by Matthew Valla
1

 
 

COP20: Australia tightens belt on environmental spending

Australia’s federal government has slashed funding to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) by AU$4 million ahead of UN climate talks in Lima. Australia’s environment minister, Greg Hunt, said that other issues took precedenc...
by Sydney Pead
0

 
 

USA: A Failure of Democracy

Last night the US government barely avoided breaching the US debt ceiling, which would have left the US Treasury unable to pay their bills within the next few days. This could have been disastrous for the recovering global econ...
by Conor Sullivan
0

 

 

Infographic: Things China Makes

We’re all used to flipping an item over and reading the words “Made In China” on the back. A few days ago it was reported that China’s manufacturing activity is at a 16 month high. It makes you wonder e...
by Priyanka Mogul
0

 
 

China In Africa: Reproducing Dependency?

The huge growth of Chinese political and business interests in Africa is conceivably the most significant development for the continent’s international relations since the ending of the Cold War. Published trade figures alone...
by Ian Taylor
0

 
 

Daily News Roundup – 10 January 2013

Asia India rape case: Defence claim police brutality A potential defence lawyer in the India rape case has said his clients have been tortured into plea bargains. Three of the six men pleaded guilty to the charges of abduction,...
by Tom Dunbar
0