Sep 23Member-onlyWhy Francis Fukuyama remains relevantMore than three decades ago in the summer of 1989 a young academic and US State Department employee took to the pages of the ‘National Interest’ journal to ask whether the world was witnessing ‘The End of History?’. That provocative essay granted Francis Fukuyama his academic and popular notoriety to…Fukuyama7 min readFukuyama7 min read
Jul 19Member-only‘So tell me, why can’t we trust politicians?’The troubles with trust and ‘the truth’ in democratic politics — In a TED Talk on ‘Why democracy matters’ Rory Stewart tells a little joke. He recounts the story of a schoolboy: “let’s call him Little Billy” who is one day asked by his teacher what his father does for a living. The boy replies ‘my father plays the piano in…British Politics7 min readBritish Politics7 min read
May 11Member-onlyWhat can Clem Attlee teach us today?This year marks a hundred years since Clement Attlee was first elected to parliament in 1922. By 1935 he had risen to the party’s leadership in Westminster. Yet none of his contemporaries (or probably even himself) ever expected him to one day serve as Deputy Prime Minister during a world…Labour Party5 min readLabour Party5 min read
Aug 6, 2021Member-onlyIran under Raisi, what next?Hardliner? Compared to what? Elected? Elected how? — Back in June 2021, the ‘Islamic Republic’ of Iran held its thirteenth presidential ‘election’. Yet for the first time since the 1979 revolution and the founding of the ‘Republic’, less than 50% of Iranians turned up at the polls and many millions spoilt their ballots. In fact, the spoilt ballots…Iran5 min readIran5 min read
May 8, 2021Member-onlyLabour PainsIs there any hope yet for the Labour Party? — The local elections and the by-election in Hartlepool had been branded as a test if not a referendum on Starmer’s first year as Labour leader. Was his lawyerly or ‘forensic’ scrutiny of Boris Johnson getting through to the electorate? Most importantly, was his strategy of consensual accommodation of the Tory…Keir Starmer5 min readKeir Starmer5 min read
Apr 22, 2021Member-onlyThe tragic case of Iran’s RouhaniThe inevitable fate of any centrist leader? In about 8 weeks' time, the Islamic Republic of Iran faces an existential threat or a public display of a crisis of legitimacy. The country is set to have its presidential election (the 13th since the republic’s founding in 1979). Though what makes…Iran5 min readIran5 min read
Feb 4, 2021If Biden’s policy isn’t regime change, then he should help Iran’s reformers!Joe Biden faces a stark choice. By reviving the nuclear deal, he could put some wind under the wings of the reformers or he could just watch them be clipped further. — As Biden’s team was handed over the keys to the White House (and presumably given the wifi password), they speedily set out to (in their own words) “undo the damage done by Trump”, to rebuild the old alliances and ‘restore America’s place in the world’ (naively assuming that America’s decline…Iran5 min readIran5 min read
Jan 12, 2021What can lefties learn from Roger Scruton?There are no shortages of dead philosophers (or indeed just writers) whose books go unread, gathering dust on the library shelves or at second-hand bookshops. But what does a romantic ‘Trad Con’ philosopher has to offer to those whom he’d disagree with (and they with him)? Roger Scruton spent his…UK Politics5 min readUK Politics5 min read
Aug 30, 2020Building more ain’t enough!Lessons from around the world to help solve Britain’s housing crisis. — Recently a tweet by a DW Journalist picked up quite a bit of attention. And it was on the (quite frankly) dull topic of housing. It included two infographics comparing rent as a proportion of monthly earnings in London Boroughs and German cities. It showed that in every London borough…Housing Crisis5 min readHousing Crisis5 min read
Jul 25, 2020Blue Labour won the argument but it remains misunderstood!Since its short-lived ascent to influence under Ed Miliband in 2011, Blue Labour has come under strong attacks from both the left and the right of the Labour Party, ranging from Diane Abbot to Peter Mandleson. Perhaps opposition to Blue Labour is the only thing Momentum and Progress supporters have…5 min read5 min read
