“No European can be a complete exile in any part of Europe.” Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace (1796)It was a curious coincidence (or was it?) that on the same day that David Cameron dressed up as success what was clearly failure, the USA announced a quadrupling of its defence spending in Europe. It’sContinueContinue reading “Independence for Europe?”
Tag Archives: Defence
Infra Digging
Public opinion remains divided over the wisdom of bombing Syria. Much less so than the House of Commons, which this week allowed the red mist of ‘hitting evil hard’ to out-vote reasonable doubts over what military action can achieve without a lasting political solution in sight. Who benefits, besides the suppliers of Brimstone missiles atContinueContinue reading “Infra Digging”
Unenlightening Europe
Quelle surprise! As we noted in September, France was an easy target for terror. So, ten days on from the Paris attacks, how’s the reaction unfolding?Canadian blogger Vlad Tepes sums up the polarisation:“The most important thing you can do when people you don’t know are murdered by Muslims in an act designed to promote theContinueContinue reading “Unenlightening Europe”
Jeux Sans Frontières
Events in Paris this week have exposed Europe’s anxieties to the full. Let’s consider some of the possible reactions. On the far Right, and among the not-for-prophet movement generally, this is I-told-you-so time. Even those who disagree with the politics must find recent analysis strikingly prescient. And at least it’s an opportunity to highlight someContinueContinue reading “Jeux Sans Frontières”
The Eastern Question
“‘Fighting’ was one of the most honourable words in the vocabulary, ‘the real, highest, honestest business of every son of man’, as Thomas Hughes put it… Of course, the fight had to be for a good cause. But one of the effects of imperialism had been to imbue very large numbers of people with aContinueContinue reading “The Eastern Question”
Bailing Out
‘A message from 10 Drowning St’. That was the headline in Metro on Wednesday. And the message is that it’s all under control, apparently. Though not before time. Metro also reported that residents in Somerset, who have faced the floods for weeks, said that recovery efforts only intensified after the crisis got closer to London. ContinueContinue reading “Bailing Out”
Thin Red Line In The Sand
In our massively over-centralised world, subsidiarity mainly means moving power back towards the individual and to the most local communities wherever possible. But not every time. It’s also about co-operation in place of competition. It’s always about doing things at the right level, the smallest level that works. The level at which global security worksContinueContinue reading “Thin Red Line In The Sand”
The Evil Empire
Incredibly, in the USA it’s actually a crime to use basic computer skills to access military information that isn’t adequately protected. We say ‘information’ rather than ‘secrets’ because to call something a secret and not put in place the means to keep it so is wishful thinking and a little bit laughable.Laughable? It’s very seriousContinueContinue reading “The Evil Empire”
Ardent for Some Desperate Glory?
George Galloway’s sensational win in the Bradford West by-election ought to be a wake-up call to all who have swallowed the line that there is no alternative to austerity at home and the waste of lives and treasure abroad. A one-off, it may be, but it demonstrates what can be done with sufficient commitment. GallowayContinueContinue reading “Ardent for Some Desperate Glory?”
Peace & Goodwill?
This September, those who died in terrorist attacks on U.S. cities were commemorated, ten years on. Although the death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan combined is over 300 times the death toll of 9/11, few words were spared for the victims of those U.S.-led crusades for oil, unleashed under the pretext of fighting terror, withContinueContinue reading “Peace & Goodwill?”
Wessex Regionalists 