
Jerusalem and the New U.S.-Israeli ‘Special Relationship’
In December, the world saw a seismic announcement from US President Donald Trump. He declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel, a highly contentious statement given that Jerusalem is the focal point of three religions. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all have major sacred sites in Jerusalem, so by proclaiming Jerusalem to be […]

Strike back: is punching Nazis acceptable?
In January this year, a debate was opened when a video of Richard Spencer, a prominent American Nazi, being punched in the face by an anti-fascist protester went viral. While few felt sympathy for Spencer, a man who has called for “peaceful ethnic cleansing” and whose movement has been associated with sending strobe lighting to […]

Why won’t we talk about guns?
The 1st of October 2017 was a tragedy. There can be no denying. At least 58 lost their lives and 500 more were injured when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock interrupted a country music festival with a shower of bullets on the Las Vegas strip. Accompanying him in his Madalay Bay hotel room were a stockpile of […]

Is Cold War II brewing?
Is Cold War II Brewing? The Cold War was the period of hostility between the Western powers and the Soviet bloc countries from 1945 to 1990. Tensions between the USA and Russia were near boiling point. Battles between different ideologies took place across the globe. And the world teetered on the brink of nuclear […]

Elections: The Weakness of Democracy
In recent elections and referendums, we have witnessed a global change in the political tide; some of us may question the operation of democracy in our current societies. Democracy comes from the Greek (as the first Western democracy was from Athens) demos meaning ‘people’ and kratos meaning ‘power’, literally translating to ‘power to the people’. […]

Is the US on the Decline?
A key theme of the recently successful Trump campaign was monopolising upon the concern of American decline. The call to “make America great again” only resonated because it reflected a genuine feeling in the U.S. regarding domestic and international decline; there is a pervading sense that something has been lost. The majority of Americans now […]

Will Trump Really Change the World?
Donald Trump has long touted himself as the ultimate dealmaker (he even wrote a book entitled “The Art of the Deal”), but how will this self-professed talent affect the world? Trump’s largest obstacle most probably comes in the form of his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin. The US-Russia association is on a pivotal position between […]

Trump and Brexit
On November 8th 2016, many woke to the news that Donald Trump had been elected President of the United States of America under the electoral college system that the President-elect himself described as ‘phoney’. On one hand, the win was a promising one for the anti-establishment ideology, which had seen the triumph of those who Nigel […]

The Fate of Democracy
Through the outcome of the EU referendum and US presidential elections, 2016 has proven to be a year that introduced significant changes to international politics. These outcomes are both the result of public votes. Yet, do the results really reflect what the people want? The concept of democracy was founded on the principle of the […]

US Mid-Term Elections
Bad news for the Democratic Party and President Obama – the Republican Party has taken control of America’s upper legislative house, the Senate, and retained their lead in the House of Representatives. November 4th saw elections taking place for a plethora of different government bodies in America: all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, […]

“A Nation of Immigrants” – But For How Long?
On Thursday night, US President Barack Obama announced his new immigration policy. The decision has created an echo of controversy in the short time span since, especially from the Republican Party. The plan, which includes the decision to suspend the deportation of some unauthorised migrants, will protect millions of people from the threat of removal. It will […]