While the war in Ukraine rages through expressions of military dominance, elsewhere a far wider conflict is being waged by Russia against, basically, the entire world. As the shutters come down on Russian cultural, economic and political partnerships, Moscow is retaliating by fighting back. While Putin has escalated the war of words with his remark […]
Unrestricted Economic Warfare Read More »
As the eyes of the world are fixed on Ukraine, the obvious question would be: where next? But not necessarily in a sense of the continuation of Putin’s war further into the former Soviet states. His invasion is proof that no number of international systems and repercussions will ultimately stop one country invading another if
The Grains of Time Read More »
Just as the Covid-19 pandemic imposed the phrase ‘the new normal’ into peoples’ vocabularies, Putin’s war may yet reinforce it. An iron curtain of cultural boycotts and political opprobrium has already descended on Russia, with economic sanctions already being among the strongest, and most unified, in history. The operating environment – not only within Russia
The images, stories and eventualities coming out of Ukraine are almost too horrific to contemplate. Rocket strikes against non-military targets, indiscriminate bombings across business and residential districts of major cities, and the creation of almost half a million refugees in just one week make the picture clear. This is a nation in the midst of
Russia and Ukraine: Back To The USSR Read More »
Turkey is now officially known as ‘Turkiye’, in an extensive rebranding operation that will see the new name used in diplomacy, commerce and (ultimately) everyday life. From one side, this can be seen as the nation further embracing its cultural heritage and refusing to be constrained by Western naming conventions. From the other, it is
A Tale of Two Turkeys Read More »
France is to withdraw its troops from Mali, in the enforced culmination of a nine-year mission to help preserve security in the porous and febrile West African nation. Parallels can perhaps be drawn with last year’s international retreat from Afghanistan, in terms of a sudden and unexpected change in authority that hastened the departure and
Mali: The Imbalance of Power Read More »
The UK government is to scrap the ‘golden visa’ scheme, which permits foreign investors to make a substantial financial donation in return for access to a paperwork fast lane, in response to concerns that Russians are exploiting this. This is presumably ahead of announcing a new coat of arms, which will consist of a stable
When is a crime not a crime? When it’s a fraud. That at least appears to be the view taken by the UK government, whose Business Minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, made the claim last week in an interview claiming that crime levels had dropped by 14%… because fraud was excluded from those figures. Quite apart from
The Faultlines of Fraud Read More »
All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. But it is difficult to think of a moment in recent times when this company of players has been more divided, or when the stage has been so febrile an environment. Is this purely a question of our leading performers – strutting
“This Strange Eventful History…” Read More »
There can be few countries for whom the phrase ‘new start’ is more applicable, than for Tanzania. As the Covid-19 pandemic ripped around the world in early 2020, her President, John Magufuli, adopted a position of deeply religious opposition: claiming that prayer could drive the virus away, mocking masks and medical intervention as unnecessary in
Tanzania: A Diagram For Success In 2022 Read More »