From the federal United States to the hyper-centralised UK, and even in the tightly state-directed system of China, local government is increasingly constrained and hollowed out. The slow-building emergency in government debt is not only on a national level but on a local level too. Across advanced and emerging economics, local governments have taken on growing responsibilities without the fiscal tools to fund them, undermining service provision and political trust without tr

Where Donald Trump’s first tenure as President of the United States was concerned with making America great again, it is quickly becoming apparent he has broadened his horizons with his second innings. Growing weary of his global reputation as an obtrusive, childish bully, he’s spent the last year showing the world all he wants to do is bring about peace – granted, of course, he gets the credit. A big gold medal would be nice, too. This is, of course, referring to Trump’s ind

To describe something as a ‘crisis’ is to deem it an urgent issue. Whilst a range of dictionaries provide various definitions, they all hinge on a notion of temporality and immediacy. Many allude to a ‘point,’ ‘time’ or a ‘flashpoint.’ Indeed, the word itself stems from the Greek word for turning point, ‘krisis.’  I don’t often consult a dictionary to decipher the headlines. However, when dealing with an issue so entangled with history and the narratives that accompany it, de

The ‘ un-Blairing ’, or the death of (domestic) liberalism and (international) liberal interventionism, cemented the failure of the presupposed ‘ End of History ’. Not only did the Iraq war tear down broad, contemporary ideological unity, but it also tainted the reputation of the leaders who espoused it. George W. Bush Jr. doesn’t deserve much of a defence: he was a woeful President, perhaps saved from the dungeon of history only by today’s sheer absurdity , though that remai

In light of the public murders  of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the death of four detainees in ICE custody so far this year, US citizens are protesting across the country over flagrant abuses of power. It is not surprising that in the midst of this outrage, the subtle militarisation and ‘ICE-style’ marketing of immigration forces here in the UK has gone unnoticed by most. In October, the Conservatives pledged  to create a new

Earlier this month, Robert Jenrick was abruptly sacked by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch  after screenshots of the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice’s resignation speech were sent to senior figures in Badenoch’s office. Memories of the infighting that characterised the latter years of the previous Conservative government were immediately evoked, a period in which Tory MPs routinely plotted against their leaders, forgetting their duties to the public to instead resemble

It seems that the era of repetitive politics is over in Japan. Since her inauguration as the first female Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi has set a new path for Japan’s foreign policy. Her first order of action? A diplomatic firestorm with China. In her parliamentary declaration of last November, Takaichi underlined that any attempt of a Chinese blockade against Taiwan will signal an existential threat for Japan, precipitating the need for a collective self-defence st

Over the weekend, Keir Starmer had to once again confront a problem in the shape of Andy Burnham . The issue was not really a new one for Starmer. In fact, by this point, talk  of Andy Burnham angling for a seat in Parliament to challenge the Prime Minister has become a kind of political groundhog day. What was new this time was the fact that the problem before Starmer was no longer a hypothetical one, and Andy Burnham was - after months of speculation - attempting to make a

“When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you” is a line from Nietzsche , who warned that “whoever fights with monsters should see to it that he does not become a monster.” I recall this Nietzschean fragment as apposite to today’s Venezuela, and how tempting it is for those who struggle against domination to justify using the dominator’s tools. Venezuela is not only a tragedy for Venezuelans; it is a test of whether democracies can resist becoming what they

Relations between the USA and Venezuela experienced one of the most shocking fractures in modern diplomatic history this January when President Maduro was captured by US special forces and taken to New York. His midnight Caracas kidnapping has transformed tensions between the two countries from a classic diplomatic crisis into a global sovereignty and legal crisis, rendering it a pivotal test of the nascent multipolar world order, rather than a mere feud between strongmen. An

On December 1st 2025 Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, commonly known as ‘El Hishri’, was surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is to face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity in The Hague this year. The trial is a significant moment in the modern history of European-Libyan relations as it demonstrates that crimes - both contemporary and historical - of the greatest severity that are committed in Libyan detention centres are subject to internationa

Commonly known as the Western Anchor, Bulgaria has officially  adopted the Euro and become a member of the Eurozone. The European Central Bank (ECB) can finally welcome Bulgaria as an official member as of January 1, 2026, carrying the weight of the anchor to new and more democratic heights. Becoming a member of the European Union in 2007 , alongside Romania, further solidifies the formidable barrier that aims to contain the Putin War Machine in Moscow. Leaving the Lev behind

Only a select few would claim agricultural surpluses are a sexy topic. But in this arena the seeds have been sown for a potential backlash against the current US administration, as recently decimated international food aid policies were once a pressure release valve for tensions with the agriculture lobby over slumping crop prices – a problem faced by the US government again today.  Trump’s vision is of America as a producer, an export powerhouse, maker and grower of things t

If the previous decade permitted us at safe distance  to  pontificate  about Polycrisis, 2026 is the junctural year for communities to recognise their need to act. Risks are mounting, their potential impacts are becoming more severe. US users of social media sounded alarms concerning the prospect of a global recession all throughout 2025, particularly over Trump’s trade tariffs  and an alleged AI stock market bubble.  Neither prediction has definitively occurred (yet), but th

It was dusk by the time I pulled out of Hasankale station and continued my journey eastward, chasing the evening sun over the Anatolian plains. The family I had shared a cabin and spinach börek with for the past twenty-four hours had just disembarked, leaving their seats all but empty; a scribbled goodbye note and trail of filo pastry remained in their place. They had waved goodbye from the station platform, dwarfed by a banner displaying a face I was now familiar with. The s

Churchill may or may not have said – it’s an aphorism with cloudy provenance – that “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte may or may not believe it. After all, as American threats to obtain Greenland, a member of NATO via the Danish commonwealth, grow increasingly bellicose, the “Trump-whisperer” is all but silent.  Adopting a ‘nothing to see here’ attitude with almost mon

Donald Trump’s unprecedented attack on the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, has been met with an equally unprecedented defence composed of Ex-Fed chairs, central bank governors, and titans  of global finance. Central to this alliance’s criticism of Trump is an ominous warning of disaster to come should the Fed’s independence be violated. For example, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde emphasised the role central bank independence played as a “corner

In politics, particularly within the UK, our politicians , and those commentating on them, like to talk about putting ‘country before party’. Keir Starmer is no exception to this rule. In fact, the Prime Minister has become its embodiment. Since becoming leader of the Labour Party he has - when asked about his leadership style - often quipped that his Labour Party is a party focused only on the nation’s interests, that it is one disinterested in internal spats. In fact, this

I first became a cinephile at a time when going to the movies was impossible.  Like many other people, I kept myself busy during the COVID-19 pandemic by indulging in the best, and worst, movies that streaming services had to offer.  It was my first real involvement with the ‘canon’ of Hollywood productions. I sobbed at The Pursuit of Happyness , cried with laughter at Mean Girls , had my breath taken away by Top Gun,  and couldn’t refuse the offer to watch The Godfather  wit

The New York Times published  one of the finest long-form features in recent memory last week. The piece was a thorough chronicling of the US-Ukraine relationship and its evolution over the past 12 action-filled months. Despite the US’s off-the-cuff approach to foreign policy, the brazen contempt it shows Ukraine and the rest of Europe is consistently striking. Pressure is barely exerted on Putin, with any attempt to end his barbarous actions feeling futile. Everything is stu