Of sacred cows and profane men
In India today, the national discourse is dominated by the cow. The cow has highlighted religious, regional, social and cultural differences. Some humans have been killed in the name of the cow.
Iran’s precision engineered elections
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s engineering of its so-called elections starts from the very day the Guardian Council announces the short list of candidates.
Something’s rotten in the United Kingdom
Our political system is ailing: a Brexit revolution showed how susceptible it is to elite takeover, how it is designed to ignore the hopes of the young and how it fails to offer genuine political options.
Adults in the Room, by Yanis Varoufakis
A lot, maybe the future of Europe, depends on how you read the opening conversation with Larry Summers in ‘one of the greatest political memoirs of all time.’ Theological review.
Old country, young president
The French have used their democracy to give this young man in an old country a chance to experiment with a new type of politics. But have we tried everything?
Thoreau and I
An essay from the late poet and environmentalist Wei An on a connection with the 19th Century writer spanning epochs and cultures. The essence of Thoreau is not in the initiation of a “return to nature,” but instead in his respect for “man’s perfection.”
Autocrats Have an Ally in Trump
In Saudi Arabia, the president ratcheted up his anti-Iran alliance with Arab dictators. Ironically, Trump is ratcheting up his anti-Iran alliance with Arab autocrats precisely as the Iranian people are sending much more conciliatory signals.
Why Turkification will never work
It is clear that a country as heteregenous and vibrant as Turkey cannot be held together by an autocrat who relies on a slim majority, no matter how fragmented the opposition is.
Nuclear waste: Planning for the next million years
On the 31st anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, there is still no consensus on what to do about nuclear waste.
Why universal basic income is a necessity
A speech given by Yanis Varoufakis to the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, for International Workers’ Day arguing that a universal basic income is now a necessity in our attempts to civilise capitalism.