Brexit Deadlock: What Next?
(Updated 17 January 2019 following the vote in Parliament on May's "Brexit deal" and her surviving the vote of no confidence on 16 January) Ten weeks to Brexit. March 29, the date of UK’s exit from the EU, is closer
Populism’s Promises: Are Populist Leaders Delivering on Them?
Populists make empty promises. They exploit people’s discontent, raise expectations but cannot deliver solutions. They claim to represent the “will of the people”. Yet they spread lies and accuse leaders of other parties, particularly progressive ones, to be the root
2018: A Watershed Year: Will 2019 Finish the Job?
2018 was a watershed year. The geopolitical table turned: The world changed from order to disorder. True, the ordered world we had known since the end of World War II till 2016 was far from perfect. It had many problems
Activist Films and Literature: Do They Inspire Action?
When you watch a terrifying or heartbreaking documentary, are you moved to do something more than just "share" the news on Twitter and Instagram? Participant Media is trying to discover what films work on the people's social conscience and what films
Gilets Jaunes Protests: The Roots of French Discontent
(article updated 11 December 2018, following Macron's speech to the nation on 10 December and 7 January 2019 after the increase in violence) "He deserves to have his head chopped off, symbolically," said Claudio, a 47 year-old mason and father of
G20 Surprise Show: Truce with China, Summit Shaped by Europe
The big news from the G20 meeting that just closed in Buenos Aires is the 90-day truce in the U.S.-China trade war that has rattled financial markets and threatened global growth. The smaller news is that Trump did not pull
Populism in Europe: Can the New Left Defeat it?
Trump is the face of populism in America and the midterms have shown that a Democratic “blue wave” could stop and even defeat it. How about populism in Europe? After the traditional parties on the left collapsed and the center
The Future: America vs. Eurasia
How will the future play out? Will Europe follow America’s example and sink into nationalist populism that will inevitably tear apart the European Union and open the way to Trump’s divide-and-conquer America First strategy? Will America’s trade war with China
Trump’s Hold on International Trade and Finance
The midterms handed the House to the Democrats but not the Senate, despite receiving some 12 million votes more than Republicans in Senate races. As a result, Trump’s ability to pursue his conservative agenda is largely crippled. But where he
Trump’s Midterms Strategy: Fear and Anger
Previous articles about why populism is dangerous have addressed the issue of austerity (here), the public health crisis (here), the false “migrant crisis” (here), and the propensity for war (here). This article explores Trump’s midterms strategy to drive voters to