SPOTLIGHT

Economy

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 […]

Europe

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”. […]

Green

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 […]


 
 
 

 

White Widow, White Lies?

Samantha Lewthwaite has been a prominent feature of mainstream news since the attacks on the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi this September. However, when her name is entered into a Google search, the foremost entry is a li...
by Amanda Sheppard
0

 
 

Tokyo’s Hope for Improvements by 2020 Olympics

On 7 September 2013, Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Summer Olympics after the members of International Olympic Committee voted to select the host city from Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul. As Tokyo celebrates its win, opinion leader...
by Keiko Tanaka
0

 
 

‘Nul Point’ for the Eurosceptics?

It is a European institution, known for its excess and undemocratic nature. In Britain it provokes a mixture of exasperation and contempt. While this has always been true of the Eurovision song contest, a similar feeling toward...
by Matthew Campsie
0

 

 

Fighting Pinochet’s Ghost

General Augusto Pinochet’s grip over Chile’s political life did not disappear on the night of October 5 1988, when Chileans voted against his confirmation at the country’s helm and brought a 15–years-long dictators...
by Leonardo Goi
1

 
 
International Political Forum

Singapore’s ‘Pink Dot’ LGBT Rights Rally Was Bigger Than Ever, Despite #WearWhite Opponents

Singapore’s Pink Dot, an annual gathering at Hong Lim Park in celebration of love, equality, and LGBT rights, attracted more than 26,000 people on June 28, 2014 — the largest ever Pink Dot event since the first in 200...
by Global Voices
0

 
 

We’re All Journalists Now: Press freedom, internet freedom, and the line between the two

Today is World Press Freedom Day.  As the IPF exists to provide a platform for free speech, it is an important occasion for us; we recognise the role that a free press continues to play in exposing corruption, keeping people i...
by Richard Scott-Jones
0