After weeks of protest, violence and crises, the Sri Lankans finally have their man. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned and, as the one held personally responsible for the months of fuel, food and medicine shortages, and the veritable collapse of the Sri Lankan economy, the delight felt by those citizens currently enjoying ‘palace life’ is […]
Sri Lanka: A Rock and a Hard Place Read More »
The last-minute, unexpected withdrawal of Kiribati from the Pacific Island Forum has caught the region by surprise. As nations from Palau to Polynesia prepare for the 2022 edition of the summit, Kiribati’s sudden exit – and the stated rationale – has thrown into disarray the ‘unity’ of the Pacific community, at a time where this
Kiribati: Pacific Grim Read More »
Finland and Sweden are set to become NATO’s youngest members following the June summit in Madrid. The fast-tracking of the two Scandinavian democracies is expected to further isolate Russia, officially designated ‘the most significant threat to international security’ in the latest Strategic Concept. Finnish and Swedish representatives were hesitant to accept a membership condition imposed
Global sanctions on Russia continue apace, and there are rare admissions from within the country that these are working. Transport Minister, Vitaly Savelyev, has indicated that current trade logistics have been ‘virtually wrecked’, and the news that McDonalds and Starbucks are to permanently leave the country is, to the ordinary Russian, just as disappointing as
The luxuries of avoiding sanctions Read More »
How quickly things change in politics. In April, Emanuel Macron was heralded as the latest saviour of Europe, having defeated the far-right challenge of Marine Le Pen for a second time and promising to remain leader of the fight against Putin – a statesman for our times. Now, he has lost control of the French
France: Liberty, Equality, Inadequacy? Read More »
While most of the world has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one region has been far less forthcoming than most in registering its opposition. This is Africa, where half of the continent’s representatives in the UN failed to support the initial resolution demanding an immediate end to the invasion and from which condemnation has
Africa and Russia: It takes two Read More »
Where does the soul of Russia lie? Some might say in its literature, with Chekhov, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy providing a formidable ‘reading list’. Others might speak for its music, with Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov among the foremost of classical composers. But, perhaps, there is a third answer, something inextricably bound up in the Russian soul that
Strongman of the Year: Kremlin Edition Read More »
A question: if money makes the world go round, what happens when one country is no longer ‘in the money’? Just as when a moving tectonic plate hits a stationary one: collision. For three months now, the world has been attempting to cut Russia off from a variety of global financial capabilities and services, intended
The invasion of Ukraine has been not so much a wake-up call as a repeated alarm – first Georgia in 2008, then Crimea in 2014, now Ukraine in 2022. On the third time, the world has realised that it can no longer press the snooze button on Russia’s aggression. But to suggest that this is
Wagner’s spin cycle Read More »
If irony needs physical form made flesh, there can be few better examples than last month’s findings of an official Commission report that the British Virgin Islands was suffering from poor governance and widespread corruption, having to be brought forward because the Islands’ Premier, Andrew Fahie, was arrested in the USA and stripped of his
Virgin on the ridiculous Read More »
