Anyone who has followed the chain of events in the UK ever since the vote in 2016 to leave the European Union has witnessed how this simple referendum has upended political life. You can easily see this by looking at the party conferences that usually go on in the fall: the Conservatives, having recently elected […]
Europe
Inequality and State Influence in the Russian Third Sector
Since 2012, several laws have been enacted restricting Russian civil society organizations (CSOs), specifically targeting human rights and other political groups, while favoring service-providing organizations. This method of both promotion and suppression results in a skewed civil society rather than a diverse, inclusive one. Background Russian civil society has been through many iterations since the […]
Southern Spain on Catalonia’s Continual Quest for Independence
In southern Spain, the one-year anniversary of the release of Catalonia’s unilateral independence referendum on October 27th—followed by mass demonstrations and police intervention—was met with a steady backlash against independentists through a variety of informal rallies and marches calling for Spanish unity. People took to the streets waving Spanish flags and calling for an end […]
Why has Europe Failed to Produce a Tech Giant?
If one takes a look at the Forbes Global 2000, a list of the largest public companies in the world ranked by various factors such as sales, profits and market capitalization, one sees many well-known names in the technology industry: Apple, Microsoft and Google, as well as Asian tech giants such as Sony and Tencent. […]
The Disaster of No-Deal Brexit
Every single day, Britain seems to be teetering closer and closer towards a cliff-edge. That cliff-edge is the ‘no-deal scenario’, which will happen if Britain does not secure an agreement to withdraw from the European Union by March 30, 2019. On this date, the UK will cease to be a member of the EU, and […]
And the Winner Is… Putin (Again)
Incumbent President Vladimir Putin clinched a resounding victory in the 2018 Russian presidential election earlier this year on March 18th, winning 77% of the vote. Unsurprising to experts and observers around the world, Putin’s landslide victory ushers the nation into another 6-year term with an all-to familiar leader at the helm. This electoral feat makes […]
Theresa May After Brexit: A Rock and a Hard Place?
On June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. For the United Kingdom, the Brexit vote represents one of the most cataclysmic shifts in British politics – the relatively stable years of David Cameron’s tenure as Prime Minister quickly shifted to a more uncertain future under Theresa May. Initially, May looked […]
The Collapse of European Far-Right Parties?
On September 24th, the 2017 German federal election took place as the people of Germany voted for their 19th Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, electing a Chancellor in the process. In the aftermath, Angela Merkel, after a hard-fought campaign, secured her fourth term as Chancellor. Nevertheless, her victory was bittersweet, overshadowed by […]
The Constitutional Crisis in Spain
The images circulating from Cataluña today are unnervingly reminiscent of another era. Not since the dissolution of Francisco Franco’s fascist state in the 1970s has Spain looked like this. Following orders from the central Spanish government in Madrid, hundreds of members of the Guardia Civil and Policía Nacional, helmeted and dressed in black riot gear, […]
Maybe Mélenchon: France’s Dark Horse
As the first round of the French presidential election draws near, it seems commentators everywhere are holding their collective breath. Most are all too willing to point out the close parallels between far-right candidate Marine Le Pen’s and Donald Trump’s populist insurgencies, but just as many are equally unwilling to believe the same could happen […]