The meaning of Dunkirk
David Elstein, director of three episodes of the seminal “The World At War” series, finds Dunkirk to be a powerful film but one shorn of historical context. Here he fills in the vital gaps – and finds some curious anomalies.
Hyper-political anti-politics
Are we standing on the brink of a new kind of nihilistic governmentality, where politics is turned into perpetual theatre, disconnected from any kind of coherent government programming?
Brazil in the labyrinth
As Brazilian politics increasingly escape rational explanation, both the left and and the right get lost in the labyrinth of history.
Dubai and Gwadar: economic war in the Gulf of Oman
The expansion of Gwadar port in Pakistan is a game-changing venture that would reformulate the economic agenda of the entire region.
Transition to clean technology
It wasn’t long ago – just last year, in fact – that a German car executive described Tesla Motors as “a joke that can’t be taken seriously compared to the great car companies of Germany”
Beat Box
Updated for August 2017. Every month we recommend a few classic music CDs that rarely see the light of day. This month sees: Incredible Bongo Band, Jesus Guerrero, Budos Band, Dead Combo, Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos, Ali Khattab and The Cairo Jazz Band get main billing.
Historical roots of China’s industrial revolution
The coal-fired machines and visions of industrialised landscapes by Qing reformers were harbingers of things to come, writes Peter Lavelle
Japan’s ‘glass ceiling’ and ‘sticky floor’
Although the gender wage gap in Japan has been decreasing over the last 15 years, it remains large. Both the ‘glass ceiling’ and the ‘sticky floor’ exist in the Japanese labour market.
Natural Rights in the Age of Domination
How was it that we came to view planetary resources as ours to conquer and mine? Who gave us the right to exploit and consume everything that has been put before us?
Behind The Saudi-Qatari spat
The sanctions on Qatar aim to force the government of Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to alter its foreign policy – particularly regarding its warming relations with Iran.