By Paul Krugman – The New York Times We’re very close to becoming another Poland or Hungary Soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a friend of mine — an expert on international relations — made a joke: “Now that Eastern Europe is free from the alien ideology of Communism, it…
By Sir Arthur Richard Jolly BRIGHTON, UK, Aug 28 2018 (IPS) – Kul Gautam’s memoir is everything which one hopes for from a good biography. There are difficulties all along the way, obstacles and challenges overcome and a vision pursued with extraordinary persistence in spite of…
By Chris Patten* – Project Syndicate Authoritarian leaders worldwide are confronting mounting crises of their own making. But while Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin face slower-brewing challenges, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US…
By MICHAEL KRUSE* – POLITICO MAGAZINE He fought the law—and won. Could he do it again? n the year and seven months Donald Trump has been the president he has pummeled the Department of Justice on a nearly daily basis. He has put “Justice” in scare quotes on Twitter.
By Ivan Krastev* – The New York Times Donald Trump’s former Svengali is palling around the Continent with a far-right Hungarian prime minister. How does this end? “If there’s an explosion or fire somewhere, Steve is probably nearby with some matches,” one of Steve Bannon’s…
Editorial – The Observer* Leadership has been sadly missing, from the Genoa bridge collapse and Turkey’s financial plight to Trump’s US A pledge by Rory Stewart, the prisons minister, to resign if his new plan to combat drugs and violence in 10 target jails does not work stood…
Owen Jones* Criminalising help for refugees is a sign of Viktor Orbán’s growing authoritarianism. Europe cannot afford to ignore it It’s time for the European Union to kick Hungary out.
Sophie Pinkham* – The Guardian This irresponsible stunt has severely undermined both Ukraine’s credibility and that of honest journalism On Tuesday, the news spread quickly: Russian dissident journalist Arkady Babchenko had been shot three times just outside his apartment in…
Posted by Yves Smith* – Naked Capitalism Italian politics are messy even at the best of times. The battle over forming a government took a nasty turn. We’ll give a short overview and then make a few observations, in the hopes of eliciting informed reader input.
By Barbara Crossette* – The Nation Unlike Nikki Haley, his aim is destruction, not repair It did not take very long after the appointment of John Bolton as Donald Trump’s national security adviser for the United Nations universe—diplomats, the Secretariat, organization outposts…
