Tag: critical commentary

Putin enables the lifestyle of Russia’s elite – until they lose faith, there is little hope of peace

Olga Chyzh A year into its war, Russia is not any closer to accomplishing its objectives in Ukraine. And yet, to the surprise of western observers, neither battlefield losses nor economic misfortunes have softened its initial demands of demilitarisation and regime change in Ukraine. If there is one thing that’s clear, even in the proverbial fog… Read More Putin enables the lifestyle of Russia’s elite – until they lose faith, there is little hope of peace

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Formula Pinochet: Chilean Lessons for Russian Liberal Reformers during the Soviet Collapse

Tobias Rupprecht Journal of Contemporary History: Vol. 51, No. 1, Special Section: The Dark Side of Transnationalism (January 2016) Numerous references to the Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet run through Soviet and Russian political discourse from the 1970s to the late 1990s. Official representations of Pinochet, a carefully constructed bogeyman of Soviet domestic and foreign… Read More Formula Pinochet: Chilean Lessons for Russian Liberal Reformers during the Soviet Collapse

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More than a referee? Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar prying on House committees

The actions of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha could impede the independent functioning of the parliamentary committees Bharat Bhushan Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and Vice President (VP) of India Jagdeep Dhankar has done something unusual. In an unprecedented move, he has appointed eight officers from his personal office to 12 parliamentary standing committees… Read More More than a referee? Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar prying on House committees

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Food corporations paid shareholders $53.5bn while millions went hungry

Without food sovereignty, private businesses will continue profiteering at the expense of the planet Davi Martins Imagine being able to provide food, shelter, medicine and clean drinking water for the 230 million most vulnerable people on Earth, and still having a cool $2bn in spare change. That’s the equivalent of the entire economic output of… Read More Food corporations paid shareholders $53.5bn while millions went hungry

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The trouble with patriotism

Can patriotism be virtuous? Although philosophy has increasingly struggled to justify it on moral grounds in recent decades, patriotism remains a powerful source of self-identification and political participation. Simon Keller and Mitja Sardoč Mitja Sardoč: Despite its centrality in the pantheon of political ideals, patriotism remains a contested concept that continues to divide its advocates and… Read More The trouble with patriotism

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The Dollar and Empire

How the US dollar shapes geopolitical power Herman Mark Schwartz What does the US dollar’s continued dominance in the global monetary and financial systems mean for geo-economic and geo-political power? In a recent article, Yakov Feygin and Dominik Leusder question whether the United States actually enjoys an “exorbitant privilege” from the global use of the USD… Read More The Dollar and Empire

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Money as Empire?

Money and Empire: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar SystemBy Perry Mehrling. Reviewed by Herman Mark Schwartz Money makes the world go round, or as Karl Marx put it, Geldgespräche, Quatsch-Spaziergänge. How does this work at the global or international level? Perry Mehrling’s elegantly written biography of the MIT economist Charles Poor Kindleberger illuminates the relationship between… Read More Money as Empire?

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Cult over cricket

Narendra Modi posed for the cameras holding a photograph of Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi stadium… lets lose ourselves in this “bottomless sinkhole of North Korean narcissism” Mukul Kesavan It isn’t unusual for prime ministers of cricket-mad nations to sidle into the frame, to photobomb the cricket. During a Commonwealth heads of government meeting… Read More Cult over cricket

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