Promoting democracy? The reality of British foreign policy in Kuwait and the Gulf
Why has our government been silent on the months-long shutdown of Kuwait’s parliament – and why do academics so often refrain from criticising countries in the region, asks IAN SINCLAIR
The welcome news that Cuba has finally been removed from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list is tempered by the fact that Donald Trump, the man who put it there, is returning to the White House, warns NATASHA HICKMAN
Thanks to impressive progress in Britain with wind and solar generation, clean electricity now costs a fraction of the price of gas — yet the current system keeps bills artificially high to protect fossil fuels, writes TOM HARDY
By spreading race-based conspiracy theories, the billionaire tycoon turned right-wing provocateur has been seriously undermining the case against those who really did let victims of the grooming gangs down, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Many Western countries are grappling with deep political instability. What are the causes of this, and what could be a possible way forward? asks MARC VANDEPITTE
KEITH BENNETT explains why, despite its present meagre economic outcomes, an honest and fruitful partnership with China is worth pursuing
Nick Wright talks to photographer and author JANINA STRUK
ON MAY 10 2024 the hereditary head of state of Kuwait, a close ally of Britain and the US, suspended the nation’s parliament.
Announcing the closure could last up to four years, in a televised address Emir Mishal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who will rule by decree during this period, said he would not allow democracy to be “exploited to destroy the state.” The political system would be studied and revisions proposed, he said, followed by “whatever decisions we might deem appropriate.”
As the Washington Post noted in a June editorial: “Such remarks sound worryingly similar to what any number of would-be autocrats have said when annulling election outcomes.”
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Ian Sinclair talks to BILL BREEDEN, a retired Unitarian Universalist minister living in southern Indiana, and a longstanding opponent of the death penalty in the United States
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