The Perils of Party Politics in the Trump Era
The U.S. federal government is currently experiencing one of the longest closures in modern history. The partial shutdown has left thousands of federal employees and contractors in limbo; they are furloughed or forced to work without pay while awaiting a
What if Trump Wins the 2020 election? “America 2034”: A Cautionary Tale
Book Review and Interview with Author Jonathan Greenberg What if, after the political horrors and social cruelties of his first presidential term, Donald Trump should win the 2020 election? That is the premise of Jonathan Greenberg’s new book America 2034: Utopia
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
The Political Power of Co-Opting Women
The 2018 midterm elections highlighted the political power of women: Record numbers of women ran for office, winning more than 100 seats, and Democratic campaigns saw striking levels of activism from women volunteering for candidates who embraced progressive policies, including
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
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
China and South America: The Pacific Alliance
Since 2011, the South American neighbourhood has concocted a novel regionalist scheme, the Pacific Alliance (PA). Oriented towards motivating deeper trade and investment relations with Asia through intergovernmental understanding – while avoiding any sort of supranationality or requirement to (partially) give up sovereignty,
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
Anti-Establishment Nationalist Wave still Trumps Democrats
It feels as if the 2016 Presidential election was just yesterday but yet it is already November 2018 and the US midterms are here. Will they be a replay of the anti-establishment nationalist wave that trumped Hillary Clinton in 2016? Millions