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Category: Politics

Category Archives: Politics

10Apr/23

Good Friday Agreement: the early 1990s back-channel between the IRA and British government that made peace possible

April 10, 2023PoliticsBill Clinton, Brendan Duddy, British MPs, Creative Commons, Derry, George Mitchell, Harold Wilson, Ireland, Irish hunger strike, Irish Republican Army, Irish republicanism, Irish republicans, John Chilcot, John Major, London, Lynch, Martin McGuinness, Members of the Northern Ireland Forum, Niall Dochartaigh, Niall Ó Dochartaigh, Northern Ireland, O'Doherty family, Patrick Mayhew, Robert McLaren, Sinn Féin, United Kingdom, United States, William Whitelawadmin

Niall Ó Dochartaigh, University of Galway

In February 1990, in the midst of the Troubles, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness publicly invited the British government to reopen a back-channel used during previous phases of contact with the IRA in the 1970s and during the 1981 hunger strike.

If [the British government] think there is something to be lost by stating publicly how flexible they would be, or how imaginative, we are saying they should tell us privately … there is an avenue which they are aware of whereby they can make what imaginative steps they are thinking about known to the Republican movement.

It was a crucial early step on the road to the Good Friday Agreement.

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03Apr/23

Remarks by Vice President Harris and President Hichilema of Zambia in Joint Press Conference

April 3, 2023PoliticsAbuja, Africa, Annie Linskey, Beijing, Biden, BlackRock, China, Chris Megerian, Costa Rica, Countries, Donald Trump, Ghana, Hakainde Hichilema, Honorable Madam Kamala Harris, India, John Kennedy, John Lewis, Kamala Harris, Kenneth Kaunda, Lusaka, Martin Luther King, Masauso Mkwayaya, Michael Sata, Netherlands, Nigeria, Presidents of Zambia, Pretoria, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Stephanie Kunda, Tanzania, United States, Vladimir Putin, Washington, Washington, D.C., Zambia, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporationadmin

State House
Lusaka, Zambia

3:37 P.M. CAT

ZAMBIAN OFFICIAL: Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia; Honorable Madam Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States of America; cabinet ministers present from both countries; members of the press; distinguished invited guests; ladies and gentlemen: Welcome to the press conference being held here at State House this afternoon.

And to begin the process, I now have the singular honor and privilege to call upon the President of the Republic of Zambia to deliver his remarks.
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10Mar/23

NEW REPORT: Global Freedom Declines for 17th Consecutive Year, but May Be Approaching a Turning Point

March 10, 2023PoliticsAuthoritarianism, Civil liberties, Classical Greece, Countries, Democracy, Elections, Forms of government, Freedom House, Political philosophy, Politics, United Statesadmin

Global freedom declined for a 17th consecutive year in 2022 as 35 countries suffered deterioration in their political rights and civil liberties, according to a new report released today by Freedom House. A total of 34 countries made improvements during the year, however, meaning the gap between the numbers of countries that improved and declined was the narrowest it has ever been since the negative pattern began. The report suggests that the struggle for democracy may be approaching a turning point, and offers recommendations on how democratic governments and societies should work together to roll back authoritarian gains. Continue reading

04Mar/23

Bola Ahmed Tinubu: The kingmaker is now Nigeria’s president-elect

March 4, 2023Politicsadmin

Olayinka Oyegbile, Trinity University, Lagos

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Nigeria, has been declared winner of the country’s keenly contested presidential election.

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09Jan/23

Democracy under attack in Brazil: 5 questions about the storming of Congress and the role of the military

January 9, 2023PoliticsBolsonaro, Brasilia, Brazil, Countries, Creative Commons, Heads of state, Jair Bolsonaro, Jair Bolsonaro presidential campaign, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Luiz Lula Da Silva, Lula, Politicians, Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, Presidents of Brazil, Rafael R. Ioris, Sergio, Trumpism, United Statesadmin

Rafael R. Ioris, University of Denver

Thousands of far-right supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace on Jan. 8, 2023.

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09Dec/22

What is the Reichsbürger movement accused of trying to overthrow the German government?

December 9, 2022PoliticsAftermath of the Holocaust, Alternative for Germany, Antisemitism, Articles, Austria, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, Claire Burchett, Creative Commons, France, Germany, Heinrich XIII, Holocaust denial, Holocaust studies, Irredentism, Kaiser Wilhelm, Kaiser Wilhelm II, king's college london, Namibia, Neo-Nazism, Poland, Political ideologies, Politics, Reichsbürgerbewegung, Russia, Switzerland, The Holocaust, United Kingdom, United States, West Germany, Wilhelm IIadmin

Claire Burchett, King’s College London

Police have arrested 25 people accused of planning to overthrow the German government in a series of raids across the country.

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01Nov/22

70 years of data suggest the Conservatives will suffer a big defeat at the next election – here’s how I worked it out

November 1, 2022PoliticsBoris Johnson, Creative Commons, Elections, FiveThirtyEight, Harold Macmillan, Jeremy Hunt, Liberal Democrats, Margaret Thatcher, Mark Pack, Opinion polling for the 2010 United Kingdom general election, Paul Whiteley, Political ideologies, Political organizations, Political parties, Psephology, Rishi Sunak, Scottish Labour Party, Stuart, Tony Blair, United Kingdom, University of Essex, YOUGOVadmin

Paul Whiteley, University of Essex

With the UK’s new prime minister in office, it looks like the political turmoil of the last few months is likely to ease, at least for the time being. Rishi Sunak and his fellow MPs must put their political differences aside to focus on stabilising the economy and calming financial markets. But Sunak will of course have one eye on the next election, which he must call before January 2025.

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26Oct/22

Four scenarios for a world in disorder

October 26, 2022PoliticsAfghanistan, Antony Blinken, Australia, Barack Obama, Beijing, Berlin, Brazil, Cambridge, China, Countries, Creative Commons, David Bach, Donald Trump, G20 nations, Geography of Asia, Germany, Giorgia Meloni, Greece, Hungary, Inflation, Iran, Italy, Jair Bolsonaro, James Bond, Japan, John Hopkins, Member states of the United Nations, Mussolini, North Korea, Paul Volcker, Pierre Olivier Gourinchas, Political economy, Populism, Richard Nixon, Rio Tinto, Roberto Stefan Foa, Russia, Soviet Union, Stagflation, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine, Unemployment, United States, Viktor Orban, Vladimir Putin, Washington, World, Xi Jinping, Yaschaadmin

David Bach, International Institute for Management Development (IMD)

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s recent speech to the Communist Party Congress could be one of the most consequential of the decade. He told the audience – and the world – that his economic growth-crushing zero-COVID policy is here to stay, and that Beijing is more determined than ever to reunify with Taiwan, peacefully if possible and by force if necessary.

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25Oct/22

It matters that Rishi Sunak has become the UK’s first prime minister of Indian descent

October 25, 2022PoliticsAkshata Murty, British Asian, British Indian, Canada, Creative Commons, Economy of India, Government of the United Kingdom, Idi Amin, India, Indian people, Infosys, Kannada people, Kenya, Liz Truss, N. R. Narayana Murthy, Narayana Murthy, Narendra Modi, Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin, Oxford, Parveen Akhtar, Rishi Sunak, Southampton, Sunak, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Usha, Winchester, Yashviradmin

Parveen Akhtar, Aston University

Following his uncontested run at the top job, Rishi Sunak acquires the less-than-coveted title of second successive un-elected British prime minister to take office in 2022. However, coming from Punjabi heritage, he also takes on the more esteemed title of the nation’s first British Asian leader.

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25Oct/22

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak: who is he and how did he end up with the top job in British politics?

October 25, 2022PoliticsAkshata Murty, Boris Johnson, British MPs, Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Conservative Party, Creative Commons, Government of the United Kingdom, Leaders of the Conservative Party, Liz Truss, N.R. Narayana Murty, Oxford, Penny Mordaunt, Richmond (Yorks), Rishi Sunak, Sajid Javid, Southampton, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Victoria Honeyman, William Hagueadmin

Victoria Honeyman, University of Leeds

When Rishi Sunak lost to Liz Truss in the first Conservative Party leadership race of 2022, few were surprised. Many of the people given the chance to choose between the two candidates blamed Sunak for Boris Johnson’s downfall. They also preferred Truss’s “optimistic” economic policies to Sunak’s sombre assessment of the fiscal outlook. Where she promised generous tax arrangements, he argued that economic circumstances would be hard and taxes could not be cut in the short term. Indeed, he warned, they might even have to rise.

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