The Pedant General makes an observation on my posting about the Four Attributes of Economic Success: I think you have still missed one thing. Whilst the rule of law is the essential underpinning without which none of the four political aspirations can take root, the rule of law will not […]
As world leaders grapple with rival ideas for tackling the global financial crisis, keep an aghast eye on what the EU under France is up to in redefining European security. President Sarkozy and President Medvedev have come up with a proposal to hold a major OSCE summit in mid-2009 aimed at […]
The Guardian (Adrian Pabst) helpfully gives us one, by blowing thick layers of dust off the ideas of one Karl Polyani, a Hungarian who in the 1940s (says the Guardian) repudiated market liberalism and state socialism. What he advocated, according to this bewilderingly strange article, is this: Crucially, Polanyi’s vision […]
That Day by Day cartoon reminds me of a private meeting I had in 1986 with top KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky about a year after he was exfiltrated from Moscow by MI6. We talked about what Gorbachev was trying to do at that time to reform Communism, not least his campaign to […]
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urges rich Western countries to abandon their ‘unsustainable’ way of life, so as to respond to Climate Change. Hmm. China has long resisted calls to join rich nations in setting targets for emissions cuts, saying its relatively low per capita emissions and recent emergence as a […]
The core ideas from the Stalinist psychology proclaimed by the bland villain Ellsworth Toohey in the Fountainhead: Kill man’s sense of values. Kill his capacity to recognise greatness. Great men can’t be ruled … Don’t deny the concept of greatness. Destroy it from within. Set up standards of achievement open to […]
And here is Edward Lucas castigating the latest EU signs of ‘moving on’ following the Russian dismemberment of Georgia, not least the UK position: Britain’s decision to allow France to lead the European Union back into normal relations with Vladimir Putin’s ex-KGB regime in Russia is one of the most […]
Finally, the USA votes. As observed from the depths of Oxfordshire, England this campaign shows the strengths and weaknesses of US-style democracy in vast proportions. The strengths? A succession of epic battles – anyone remember Hillary? The leading candidates making it to this point have shown astonishing leadership, stamina and […]
The extra quality the USA brings to politics as to everything else is Motivation. That sense of mobilising can-do energy backed by wit and clarity. Here is Arnold Schwarzenegger, in lively and effective form ("Obama needs some meat on his ideas"). Hard to imagine a similarly feisty speech by a UK politician; […]
