Politics

By Lock Bailey One may criticise the United States' involvement in other countries and in other regions' affairs and do so justifiably. Yet often within the very same condemning breath one may also plead for the United States' involvement and intervention in another area of the world. The Civil War in Syria is one such tragedy that yells such ambivalent commands to the doorstep of the White House. The Syrian Civil War rolls steadily on - this month marks the third...

By Haridos Apostolides, US Correspondent  Hillary Rodham Clinton will run for President of the United States in 2016 OK. It’s not confirmed yet, but it does seem fairly certain; Hillary Clinton will run for presidency in 2016. There won’t, of course, be an announcement for another twelve months or so as the focus for now will most likely be on the midterm elections in November as the Democrats and Republicans try to regain control of the House and Senate respectively. Already,...

By Tomás McGoldrick, Ireland Correspondent The recent Vision Critical poll of people in what could be known as ‘rest of the UK’ found that 62 per cent wanted Scotland to stay in the Union and 38 per cent are happy to see Scotland go it alone. It would have been interesting to see results from Northern Ireland separately as politicians and the public there have started to wake up to the possible ramifications of Scottish independence. Some unionists have called Alex Salmond...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor As Viktor Yanukovych became the world’s most wanted man, the US declares Ukraine is “under new management.” But could this inflammatory language further damage relations with a wounded Russia? Ukraine's interim President Olexander Turchynov has warned of the dangers of separatism following the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych. Many in Ukraine's Russian-speaking regions oppose his overthrow and the installation of a more European-leaning interim administration. Yanukovych, like recently unseated Egyptian leader, Mohamed Morsi, was democratically...

By Luca Foschi “Plain living and high thinking,” declared Italy’s incoming Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, quoting William Wordsworth during his speech at the Democratic Party’s (PD) national assembly on February the 13th. He entered the rooms of Via del Nazareno in Rome as Mayor of Florence and Secretary General of the government’s ruling party, a position he gained with a landslide victory in December’s primary elections. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by”,...

By Pieter Cranenbroek, International Politics Blogger Margaret Thatcher may be dead but her legacy lives on. Good for her, bad for us. When she rose to power 35 years ago she was determined to reverse “the corrosive and corrupting effects of socialism”. However, it has become abundantly clear that her policies were the start of a liberal society that is exactly that: corrosive and corrupting. If we want to live in a fairer society, it is not just our political system...

By Nathan Lee, Politics and Finance writer  Was Margaret Thatcher demonised for the right reasons, why did people hate her, and to what extent did the unions warp our perception of the long-standing politician? Margaret Thatcher was born of a working class family, but died the most victimised member of its society in living memory. It is difficult to assess whether the recently deceased Baroness Thatcher was unfairly demonised throughout her time in Westminster. A Durham University research paper has...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor  “Thatcher, Thatcher life snatcher” might have been a more apt rhyme for the Iron Lady after research from Durham University revealed that Mrs T’s policies caused “unjust premature death”. Just to clear things up, she didn’t wield her own weapons against the general population (she had the police for that) but due to unnecessary unemployment, welfare cuts and damaging housing policy she forced people into early graves. The research shows that there was a massive...

By Nishad Sanzagiri The Aam Aadmi Party should stop playing ‘Aam Aadmi’ Politics It is all over national and international news: Arvind Kejriwal, the founder of the popular Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), resigned from his post as Chief Minister of Delhi as a result of the state assembly blocking an anti-corruption bill (Jan Lokpal), ending his short term of 49 days. Kejriwal had earlier mentioned that, if the bill wasn’t passed in the state assembly, then he’d resign. It can...