US President Joe Biden has announced his campaign for a second term, 18 months before the 2004 election. His announcement follows that of former President Donald Trump in mid-November. This puts us on track for a predictable train wreck as both candidates are viewed by many in the voting public and in their own parties … Continue reading A Democratic Train Wreck – Biden versus Trump 2024
Governance
Democratic Institutions are Messy: Just Ask the US House of Representatives
Protect the rules of democratic institutions
The War in Ukraine and Climate Change
The G20 Bali Summit held 15–16 November 2022 has been called the “first global summit of the second cold war” (Foy and Ruehl 2022). It was the seventeenth meeting of Group of Twenty (G20), which was held in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. The reviews of this meeting suggest that it was a breakthrough in international … Continue reading The War in Ukraine and Climate Change
Twitter @Freedom of Expression
Twitter debates might put freedom of expression back on the agenda
Bad Prince Putin
Niccolo Machiavelli was not only one of the ancestorial-fathers of political science, but also remains incredibly relevant and insightful on so many topics of politics and power. In his discourses, advising the prince, he talks about a ‘bad prince’ in his reflections on republics, or popular governments, versus those governed by princes, who are hereditary … Continue reading Bad Prince Putin
Volker Schneider: a Professor’s Professor
I’ve returned from a Festschrift for Prof. Dr. Volker Schneider, who has moved to an Emeritus Professorship at the University of Konstanz in 2020. While a celebration of his retirement was delayed repeatedly by the pandemic, his colleagues moved ahead with an edited collection of papers for his Festschrift around the politics of the complex … Continue reading Volker Schneider: a Professor’s Professor
Text of PM Boris Johnson’s Resignation Speech
It was not easy to get the full text of Boris Johnson's resignation speech and in posts with the text, I most often found them filled with advertisements and plugs for their other news stories. Here is the full text he delivered outside Number 10 Downing Street on Thursday, 7 July 2022: "It is clearly … Continue reading Text of PM Boris Johnson’s Resignation Speech
Keep Standing with Ukraine
The Russian Federation’s unjustified invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine has galvanized individuals across the world to support the Ukrainian people. The words of Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy along with other passionate and articulate diplomats in Ukraine have reinforced worldwide outrage over this invasion that has underpinned efforts of the US, UK, and NATO countries … Continue reading Keep Standing with Ukraine
The Evidence and Legal Basis for Genocide Claims Against the Russian Federation
Report on genocide in Ukraine
The Americans are Coming – God Save the UK!
I am an American and have been living in Britain for decades, but my heritage is in the USA, where I was born. I know Americans well and have been joking about the hubris of my fellow citizens from my earliest days in the UK. Inevitably, whenever I meet visitors from the States coming to … Continue reading The Americans are Coming – God Save the UK!