The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is no longer united, as most recently illustrated by the vastly dissimilar tactics to control the Covid-19 pandemic taken by England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This follows the differences of opinion in each region concerning the disastrous Brexit decision to quit the European Union, as…
The U.S. is in a Civil War. It began four years ago after Donald Trump’s election and has finally boiled over into open warfare here in 2020. From the moment the protests against the killing of George Floyd were hijacked into looting and rioting I worried about this turning into something far greater, something with…
One of the many difficulties in interpreting the statements of United States President Donald Trump is to decide what category to put his many statements (and even more prolific tweets) in. Is it another thought bubble similar to his pronouncements on a cure for COVID-19 that was more likely to kill rather than to cure…
Both Trump and the EU are turning on China for very similar reasons but with different timescales ahead of them. The West still struggles with what it requires from China and whether it wants to get rich and become a big spender, or become poorer and flood western markets with cheaper and cheaper goods. Expect…
I had barely finished my rant against the British Government for showering new rewards on the Israelis (see ‘Do Palestinians’ lives matter?’) when the EU voted to do the same. The UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement signed last year comes into force next January. The Government says it loves this relationship and is committed to…
The 10th annual Strategic Dialogue between the European Union and China on June 9 can be regarded as marking the resumption of structured big-power diplomacy in the post-Covid-19 setting. It was both a symbolic and substantive event, preparing the ground for the forthcoming EU-Summit. At the virtual event on June 9, the EU and Chinese…
