The new European Commission should learn from their predecessors
Ursula von der Leyen will take over the Commission Presidency from Jean-Claude Juncker on 1 November. This week she nominated her choices for positions in the various Directorates-General. Will her…
Iran are using dual nationals as political pawns, and we are letting them
Nine months ago, I wrote about British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe being falsely imprisoned in Iran; this week, she has been moved from her cell to a psychiatric ward. Nazanin…
The Europa League shows us how sports are always political
It is impossible to imagine sport and politics separately from each other. Even during the Ancient Olympic games the sport was considered not only as an entertainment, but also an…
The importance of voting in the European elections
On Thursday, people across the EU will have the opportunity to vote in European elections; the United Kingdom is included in this. Whether you want to leave or remain in…
The need for a new British military strategy
One of the necessary debates for a Post-Brexit World is the reexamination of the role that Britain seeks to play on the military stage of the world. The public needs…
Looking back down the Persian Path: In place of a conclusion
The fourth and final part of the Persian Path series, on Iran, its history, and dissidents. See here for the third part. This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the…
Coexistence is the tonic for a more tolerant society
This visual called ‘Coexist’ was created by a Polish graphic designer Piotr Młodożeniec back in 2000 for an international art competition. Since then, it has become a bumper sticker on…
Down the Persian Path: imperialism and hypocrisy
Part three of the Persian Path series, on Iran, its history, and dissidents. See here for the second part. Gazing upon the West’s actions and inactions concerning Iran makes for…
Genocide must never become a political plaything
24 April is marked with black in the calendars of Armenians all around the world. On this day, Armenians living inside and outside their homeland remember those who died in…
Down The Persian Path: The Path of Resistance
Part two of the Persian Path series, on Iran, its history, and dissidents. See here for the first part. ‘Why the fuck would you want to go to that bastard’s…
A glimmer of hope amidst the authoritarian resurgence
Last year’s authoritarian surge has spilt over into 2019; from Xi Jinping’s power grab in March 2018 to secure the presidency for life, ending any debate over China’s liberalisation, to…
AUMF is America’s blank cheque for war
Since 2001, the United States has been engaged in the nebulous War on Terror, a war with no clarity nor end in sight. The legal justification for this forever-war is…
Down the Persian Path: The Path of History
Part one of the Persian Path series, on Iran, its history, and dissidents. The regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran would not have approved of the medieval Persian poet…
North Korea needs to reform, but how?
Regime changes, from communism to capitalism, can take many shapes. In the best cases, we might see a peaceful transition into democracy in a way akin to the Velvet Revolution…
Laughing at Shamima Begum is inexcusable
When I think about the complex layers of Shamima Begum’s case, it sickens me that it, and she, is becoming the butt of a national joke. Yes, she was part…
Are small kingdoms more successful?
Once upon a time there was a pocket-sized fairy tale kingdom overlooked by student backpackers and glamorous globetrotters alike. Nestled between France and Germany, Luxembourg’s green pastures beckoned as my…
The new cold war: No thaw in sight
American economic dominance and military might have driven a phase of global growth unknown to mankind beforehand, and it believes that Asia remains within its sphere of influence. As China…
Travelling the Arab World: Lebanon
Sitting on the Mediterranean Sea and bordering Israel and Syria, Lebanon has an incredibly rich, but volatile history. The town of Byblos, just north of Beirut is one of the…
Should Argentina be hosting the G20 summit?
When President Macri won the bid for this year’s G20 summit, in 2016, shortly after being inaugurated, he could never have predicted the economic and political climate he would be…
Ireland: A place of ruin, prosperity and hope
In 1948, the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland) declared that Ireland, previously a part of the United Kingdom and under British occupation, would become its own Republic after ‘800 years’…
Is a country which has homophobic law, but is not at war, at peace?
In October the Asia Scotland Institute organised a talk by Noel Lateef, the head of the Foreign Policy Association (FPA) based in New York. The Association was celebrating its 100th…
Britain’s warped view of its past may ruin its future
Last week, I went to the British museum for the first time, which is kind of embarrassing because I love history and have lived in London for a few months…
Hong Kong must hold onto its freedom
Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Orient, ‘Asia’s World City’, whatever name it goes by, this former British colony is flourishing as an economic gold standard in China. Despite its…
The Chinese government ‘don’t see us as life’
I’m trying to become more active in the international Uyghur community, and through various online searches, attempts to purchase a book, and some good old fashioned Facebook stalking, I managed…
We must act now to help refugees
When Europe began to back out of its open-door policy in 2015, the world was forced to watch the refugee crisis develop into the biggest humanitarian catastrophe of the 21stcentury….
Travels around the Arab world: debunking myths
I often get asked why I decided to study Arabic at university and to this day I give the same ridiculous but truthful answer: I had been obsessed with the…
In Cyprus, food can be a symbol of unity
Last summer I experienced Nicosia for the first time. It is the world’s only divided capital, rent in two by a UN ‘Green Line’ enforcing partition of the unrecognised Turkish…
Where are you, Mr Hunt? Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe needs you
Since April 2016, I’ve completed my A-Levels, moved to Scotland, finished two years of university, and lived in three different flats. Since April 2016, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been detained in…
Saudi journalist’s disappearance in Turkey suggests oily US intentions
Jamal Khashoggi, advisor-turned-critic of the Saudi Kingdom, walked into the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul’s leafy Levent neighbourhood on the afternoon of 2 October. He had been called in for some…
Political polarisation holds us all back
In the weeks leading up to Brexit I didn’t see a single article on my newsfeed that suggested that the Leave campaign might win. Most of my friends are left…
Debt threatens to derail the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is often cited as being the brainchild of the current Chinese premier Xi Jinping, who first announced the project in Kazakhstan during 2013, where…
Brexit, to Nordic community, means the loss of ‘a neighbour’
While Theresa May grapples with the ever steepening slope of leaving the European Union, those over the sea in the Nordic regions are shaking their heads in disbelief. In August,…
There’s no such thing as society, my ass
One thing that Vietnam does fantastically well is community. There is an unspoken familiarity between people there. Even the way you address people (‘hey big sister’, ‘hey grandpa’) is predicated…
The Vietnam model is a cautionary tale for Kim Jong Un
Fifty years ago, this part of Vietnam was a pile of smouldering ash, levelled by American bombers. This month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was welcomed in the sprawling…
Money maketh man: the cash dictating Trumps policies
With the press recoiling from, and rightly hammering, Trump’s most recent shambles in Helsinki, the rest of us are just confused. The sit-com, that is contemporary US politics, is as…
Why won’t Trump stand up for the West?
‘They say they think it’s Russia, I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia’. That was Donald Trump, the leader of the free world, standing next to Vladimir…
There is no line between corporate and government power
Bechtel, a corporate dynasty that recently celebrated its 120th anniversary, has delivered some of the worlds most renowned and celebrated construction projects. Bechtel’s reach spans all five continents, including ninety-five…
Trump be warned: tariff hikes are a historically bad idea
This week Donald Trump criticised well-known US motorcycle firm Harley-Davidson over its proposed plans to shift production away from the US. Such a move was proposed to avoid the recent…
Why immigration is the EU’s Achilles’ heel
Since German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s controversial decision to throw the doors of Europe open to millions of migrants in 2015, a growing minority of pundits have postulated migration will be the…
The Modern BRICS: Is Russia geographically predisposed to aggression?
I tried, I tried and I tried. Believe me, my best efforts were exerted in attempting to write an article on Russian geopolitics without mentioning the World Cup yet it…
The world is the realist’s oyster
When it comes to understanding the world around us, we are our own greatest adversaries. The cognitive biases that lurk under the the film of ideology quietly obscure the clarity…
Trump’s progress with North Korea ought to be welcomed
Few can deny that negotiation is better than nuclear war, that friendly words are better than harsh ones, and that commitments to denuclearisation, whether holding water or not, cultivate a…
A cynic’s guide to the Singapore summit
Deals, Donald Trump firmly believes, are never win-win. They are zero-sum, with a winner (always Trump), and a loser (usually Europeans). But after re-emerging from his historic meeting with Kim…
Out of sight, out of mind: the drone debate
The MoD released a statement documenting the scale of Britain’s favour for unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) last month. The underreported statement was made in response to a freedom of…
Realpolitik: Iran, Iraq, and the Petrodollar
Following the announcement of US ‘snap-back sanctions’ on Iran, the European Union quickly pledged to mitigate the economic shortfall from frozen deals with Boeing, Airbus, Total and the like. Part…
Marina Nemat and political prisoners
In the lead up to interviewing Marina Nemat, I found myself recounting her story to anyone who would listen. For it really is, an unbelievable story. Imagine, you’re forced to…
US withdrawal on Iranian sanction program fosters international instability
In January 2018, Trump reluctantly signed the waivers which maintained the suspension of sanctions on Iran. This signature has not allowed for much time to relax as the waiver has…
Why Kim Jong Un won’t give up The Bomb
The world sure does turn quickly. One minute people are digging up Cold War-era bomb shelters in anticipation of WW3, the next Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, and his South…
Negative press ignores the necessity of the Syrian airstrikes
Commentary on the airstrikes which targeted the Assad regime early morning on April 14 has been, from right-wing to left-leaning British news outlets, overwhelmingly negative. The arguments against the strike…
The UN is failing Syria
With a return of international hostility that echoes that of the Cold War, the United Nations has once again highlighted its lack of capacity to deal with conflict. During the…
The UK was wrong to join in the Syrian airstrikes
With the debate surrounding Theresa May’s decision to join France and the US in bombing a series of chemical warehouses and key targets, there has been arguably more fire and…
May plans Syrian intervention whatever the cost
The chemical attacks that occured in Douma, Syria on Saturday were barbaric and deserve a response. But rushing into world war three on the heels of a deranged despot armed…
A knee-jerk ‘humanitarian intervention’ in Syria would be ignorant
On April 7th, 2018 a number of sources reported an alleged chemical attack on the rebel-held city of Douma in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta. Exact numbers of casualties are hard to…
Overseas aid is a Western wolf in sheep’s clothing
You can almost taste the irony. Oxfam, the unassailably moral darling of the charitable establishment, which has accused capitalism (from which it has profited substantially) of causing world poverty, was…
Triangular diplomacy or playground talk?
What does a 180 turn in North Korean diplomacy really mean? Over the last few months, we have seen Kim Jong Un display a willingness to open up to the…