29 Sep, 2022
At the recent UN General Assembly, several countries accused the Russian president of imperialism (eg, 2022 invasion of Ukraine). It has been a long way for Russia: from imperialism to communism to nationalism and back to imperialism. I presume Putin will be proud of being called an imperialist. The countries accusing Russia of imperialism know what they are talking...
28 Sep, 2022
In 2019, my then-neighbour was sorry to hear about my imminent relocation. At her age (then 98), all her friends and relatives had already passed away. As a helpful neighbour, I provided some sense of security. A year before, she had expressed her regrets for outliving everyone. A few days ago, my mother suddenly said that she had never expected to reach 88 next...
27 Sep, 2022
The 1978 term "winter of discontent" is popular once again, for various reasons (eg, 2021 global energy crisis, 2022 food crises, 2021-2022 global supply chain crisis). Citizens blame their governments (eg, DutchNews). The EU blames the national governments for acting late or not all (eg, Wiley, T&F online). Balancing competition versus cooperation is hard. See...
26 Sep, 2022
For many years, I noticed this expression (above) on the wall of an antique shop, while heading for Zandvoort, a Dutch beach town. Daring to be different is, however, against human nature. Most of us strive for (social) conformity because a group offers (dis-) advantages (eg, Greater Good magazine). As a boy attending secondary school (ages 12–16), I did not dare to...
25 Sep, 2022
Geopolitical Futures title: Russian Options By: George Friedman Date: 20 September 2022 "Last week, I discussed the nature of tactical nuclear weapons. They are built for tactical effect, not strategic effect. Strategic nuclear weapons, such as the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, can devastate a large area, with both the blast and the nuclear...
24 Sep, 2022
Bloomberg + Washington Post title: Why Putin Can’t Tap Fascism’s Greatest Resource Bloomberg subtitle: Neither he nor Russia’s hard-core nationalists have come up with convincing arguments to persuade ordinary post-Soviet Russians to die in a discretionary conflict. By: Leonid Bershidsky Date: 21 September 2022 "The Bucha atrocities and more recent evidence of...
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