My take on Power and International Law – UCLA
Here’s a provocative talk I gave last week at UCLA Law School about the role of international law in diplomacy. Short version: it is power that makes the world, not law. And international law is often, although not invariably, a function of power.
Continue reading My take on Power and International Law – UCLA
The Kurds’ Democratic Experiment: my oped in The New York Times
Thrilled that the New York Times has run my oped on Rojava – I think the first time that name has been mentioned there. They need the attention. Here’s the article in full:
The Kurds’ Democratic Experiment – New York Times, September 30, 2015
Continue reading The Kurds’ Democratic Experiment: my oped in The New York Times
Global Dispatches: Interview with CR (Podcast)
The Failure to Question the bombing of Hiroshima means that nuclear war is more likely
The Failure to Question the bombing of Hiroshima means that nuclear war is more likely
The New Yorker has reprinted this remarkable John Hersey essay about survivors from Hiroshima. Until it was published in 1946, the American public had very little idea of what had taken place.
Massive Mondragon shows that coops can work at scale
This is a good report on Mondragon, Spain’s massive coop in the Basque country. Teeth-suckers always argue that you cannot take coops to scale i.e. have big ones. Mondragon proves them wrong. It’s one of Spain’s largest companies, from buses to banking. The bosses are paid no more than eight times the lowest paid. Their philosophy is that jobs are more important than making as much money as possible. Radical. Buck’s report is about how Mondragon dealt with a part of its business that was failing. Read on. Continue reading Massive Mondragon shows that coops can work at scale
What showing up for Western Sahara says about Jeremy Corbyn
God, I’m enjoying seeing all the Blairite New Labour people writhing over Jeremy Corbyn’s success in the leadership campaign. I know Jeremy. He has been – by far – the most steadfast supporter of the liberation of the Western Sahara in the British parliament, for decades. I love him for that alone. The Western Sahara must unfortunately be close to the bottom of the list of fashionable international issues in the world. Continue reading What showing up for Western Sahara says about Jeremy Corbyn
The Mediation-Industrial Complex fails Syria
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Greece, Varoufakis and the danger to the European ideal
I recommend this profile of Yanis Varoufakis by Ian Parker in the New Yorker. Parker clearly spent some time shadowing Varoufakis, yet the portrait that emerges is not wholly flattering (but not wholly disparaging either). Parker adroitly uses the personality of Varoufakis as a device to tell the dismal story of Greece’s debt debacle, although – typically – there has been way too much attention on the man rather than the detail of the issue. Continue reading Greece, Varoufakis and the danger to the European ideal
Some thoughts on the Iran deal: don’t forget Syria
The reaction to globalisation – Stir magazine
”I see the desire for decentralisation and in some cases separation as a very natural and inevitable response to globalisation, where power has not only left people’s hands but also no longer seems to belong to national governments. Just look at Greece. Everyone feels a lack of agency over the circumstances that affect them and that matter to them. That desire to reassert agency and control will be manifested in many different ways. But the paradox is that decentralisation or separation, as in Scotland or Catalonia, will not really recapture economic agency. Continue reading The reaction to globalisation – Stir magazine