Catalonia’s separatist campaign has dominated European headlines for the past couple of weeks, but it’s really the northern Belgian region of Flanders which will serve as a barometer over whether large chunks of the EU will fall apart into a collection of identity-centric statelets prior to the bloc’s reconstitution into a “federation of regions”. What’s…
With Catalonian President Carles Puigdemont stepping back from the brink in the midst of rising tensions in Spain over the region’s bid for independence, signing a declaration of independence but deciding to suspend its implementation, millions will have breathed a collective sigh of relief given the prospect of a severe response from Madrid. Though tensions…
Media on all sides surrounding the recent Catalan referendum for independence from Spain focused on Madrid’s security crackdown on voters. However, what is not being mentioned about Catalonia’s ongoing bid to achieve independence, who is leading it, and what their plans are for the region should they succeed, is just as important. Catalonia is one…
2017 minus 1936 = 81, an untidy number, not even a prime number. 1936 marked the start of the Spanish Civil War that resulted in a long hiatus for the Spanish left, as well as the failure of Weimar Germany’s socialists to prevent Hitler from remilitarizing Germany. Strikingly, 2017 sees the entry of the neo-fascist…
‘Every people has the god-given right to mismanage their own affairs’ Margolis Law #3 I’ve always been a rebel, revolutionary, iconoclast and all-around bad boy. Naturally, I have sympathy for most revolutionary movements. The problem is, many revolutions don’t make political or economic sense, but they do make one feel good – at least for…
Catalonia’s drive for “independence” has unleashed a chain reaction of viral social media support that’s frighteningly resurrected civil war-era rhetoric, but the most dangerous consequences of this domino effect are yet to come if the separatists are ultimately successful in their quest. The Nostalgia Narrative The Catalan “independence” cause has taken the world by storm,…
