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| 1 |
ID:
135400
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| Summary/Abstract |
The 2014 elections are over and the Republican Party has emerged victorious. Beyond anyone’s expectations they have picked up eight new seats in the Senate (possibly one more after Louisiana completes a run-off), at least 12 more seats in the House of Representatives, and three new governorships. The vaunted Democratic voter-turnout technology was simply no match for a sour public mood. Two weeks before election day, when President Obama declared that his policies were on the ballot, even though his name would not formally appear in any state, he was surely correct. The election was all about Obama. Interestingly, Republicans only needed one message: ‘We are not the party of Barack Obama.’
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| 2 |
ID:
135401
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| Summary/Abstract |
Amid the buzz around new US and EU sanctions being imposed on Russia, sanctions on another country, on the other side of the world, were being gently lifted. In October, following elections, America and Australia removed all remaining sanctions on Fiji, which had included travel bans for top officials, an embargo on arms sales and limits on financial assistance.
The sanctions can be at least partly credited for holding President Frank Bainimarama, the retired rear admiral who seized power in a bloodless 2006 coup, to his promise of holding elections in 2014, albeit having failed to persuade him to move the timetable forward.
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| 3 |
ID:
135395
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| Summary/Abstract |
In a speech at the Tory party conference, George Osborne, the Chancellor, roused his supporters with a claim that by 2015 Britain would have the ‘lowest, most competitive business taxes of any large country in the world’.
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| 4 |
ID:
135397
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| Summary/Abstract |
International travellers, wherever they are from, use English these days – they just have to. There are two experiences they are all familiar with.
On the one hand, wherever you go, you get along with English. The English language has become the main tool of globalization. In transnational communication, in the worlds of business, diplomacy, education, the arts, sports and tourism, it is just expected.
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| 5 |
ID:
135402
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| Summary/Abstract |
Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and its perceived intervention in the eastern Ukraine conflict has led to it being hit with several rounds of western sanctions. More are in the pipeline with the United States and Europe developing a sanctions regime with multiple gears that can be engaged in reponse to Russia’s actions.
The targets of these sanctions are varied: individuals have been hit with travel bans and have seen their assets frozen; banks and companies with close ties to the Kremlin, have seen their access to longer term finance restricted; and sales have been restricted to parts of the economy, including the high-tech, military and oil sectors.
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| 6 |
ID:
135396
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| Summary/Abstract |
In October, the British Academy organized a symposium on the UK’s problem with language learning. The meeting was entitled ‘Born Global’ to reflect the fact that people born in Britain live in a country which aspires to be a key player in the globalized world. Yet in one important way they are marginalized by, and indeed alienated from, the world that surrounds them. They are essentially monolingual.
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| 7 |
ID:
135398
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| Summary/Abstract |
In his 2010 memories, Tony Blair famously disowned the freedom of information act, describing himself as an idiot for passing something so utterly undermining of sensible government, but how much weight does Blair’s comment really carry? As its tenth anniversary approaches, what should our verdict be on the act.
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| 8 |
ID:
135403
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| Summary/Abstract |
The Islamic Republic was born in if not out of an economic crisis, precipitated by softening oil prices at a time of massive government financial commitments.
The revolution merely accentuated structural problems that had been evident from 1977. There was little chance of recovery, however, as western-imposed sanctions after the November 1979 hostage crisis began to bite and the eight-year war with Iraq led to the establishment of a ‘war economy.
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| 9 |
ID:
135394
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| Summary/Abstract |
The crisis in Ukraine – the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March and the armed conflict in southeastern Ukraine – has been framed in various ways by external observers: as an ethnic conflict between ethnic ‘Russians’ and ‘Ukrainians’, as a civil war, and as a struggle between Russia and the West for control of Ukraine’s destiny.
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| 10 |
ID:
135404
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| Summary/Abstract |
In early 18th-century Aleppo there was a schism in the Greek Orthodox Church, and a new sect emerged called the Melkite Church, in communion with Rome. The Melkites, also called Greek Catholics, needed their own church, but it was illegal to build a new church in the lands of the Ottoman Empire; however, if a Christian church already existed, it was protected and it was forbidden to tear it down.
To build their church, the Melkites resorted to a trick that is practised to this day and that may help explain the complex phenomenon that we call Islamic State. The illegal new church was built in hiding, inside a hangar or a large barn, away from the eyes of the law and of rival sects. After a while the Melkites were betrayed and the barn had to be torn down, revealing a fully built church. Once it was out in the open, the church acquired legitimacy and permanency.
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| 11 |
ID:
135399
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| Summary/Abstract |
Portugal’s golden visa was born in October when the government, anxious to attract investment started a programme offering residence permits to the well – off.
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| 12 |
ID:
135393
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| Summary/Abstract |
When the newly elected Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, used his inaugural speech to thank his wife, Rula, for her support during the campaign, his words were greeted abroad as a revolution in the visibility of women in public life. In fact, Afghanistan has an almost century-old tradition of women’s empowerment, though that history may not make life easier for Rula Ghani.
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