debating progressive politics in Europe and beyond
Things have taken a sharp turn for the worse in Turkey and, unfortunately, it is becoming harder and harder to see how to pull back from the brink of disaster. At this moment the Prime Minister is addressing an AKP party rally in Kazlıçeşme in Istanbul. Yesterday, he gave a similar performance in Ankara. The [...]
Taksim Square has become possibly one of the most joyous places on earth at his moment. The atmosphere is charged with a palpable aura of hope and peace. In all my years of living in Istanbul, I have known Taksim, and the Beyoğlu area as a lively, colourful, but somewhat edgy, place. Normally, arriving at [...]
The Doha round of trade negotiations is deadlocked, despite eight successful multilateral trade rounds before it. Climate negotiators have met for two decades without finding a way to stem global emissions. The UN is paralyzed in the face of growing insecurities across the world, the latest dramatic example being Syria. Each of these phenomena could [...]
It has been a tumultuous few days and it’s not yet over but the first signs of victory are clearly presenting themselves. Yesterday the Prime Minister departed for a trip to Morocco and Tunisia predicting everything would be over by the time he got back. He may very well be correct but probably not in [...]
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government should end police violence and excessive use of force against protests across Turkey. Officials should uphold the right to peaceful protest and free speech. Police violently dispersed peaceful protests against government plans to transform Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi park into a shopping mall, triggering wider public protests across Istanbul that spread [...]
Turkey is up in arms! The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the destruction of a park. Coming right after breaking the ground for Istanbul’s controversial third bridge, going ahead despite widespread public opposition to the plans, accompanied by the full pomp and ceremony of an Ottoman Mehter band and pregnant with the [...]
The new Progressive Alliance was launched in Leipzig last week and as I know that there is a lot of interest in the new organisation and rather little information out there I thought documenting as much as possible here is a good idea. First, what is the new organisation all about? This is its mission statement: [...]
Watch Professor David Held deliver a lecture on his latest book entitled “Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation is Failing When We Need it Most” as part of the Castle Lecture Series, Durham University, on 24th April 2013. You can find more information about the book here.
As global capital becomes ever more powerful, giant corporations are holding governments and citizens up for ransom — eliciting subsidies and tax breaks from countries concerned about their nation’s “competitiveness” — while sheltering their profits in the lowest-tax jurisdictions they can find. Major advanced countries — and their citizens — need a comprehensive tax agreement [...]
How To produce socially just, sustainable and green dynamic growth for a Good Society. The near meltdown of the world economy in 2008 took most academics and decision-makers by surprise. Much of the early analyses concentrated on the “greed is good” incentive structures and “jenga leverage towers” of casino capitalism. However, the crisis was by [...]
Conservative populism is flourishing in America as rapid change and media hysteria cultivate the politics of fear. As must now be blindingly obvious to anyone following the international news, American politics is not like Western European politics. In the United States, popular outrage does not turn rapidly into responsive public policy. Governments do not move [...]
The ongoing weakness of America’s economy – where deleveraging in the private and public sectors continues apace – has led to stubbornly high unemployment and sub-par growth. The effects of fiscal austerity – a sharp rise in taxes and a sharp fall in government spending since the beginning of the year – are undermining economic [...]
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