Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
On neutral and forbidden zones. Where there is no jurisdiction, or where neighbouring states agree to disagree over sovereignty. Common in science fiction, rare in real life. Kuwait used to have two, bordering Iraq and Saudi Arabia
Interesting take on Japan's political future. "As Europe and the United States cope with their difficulties, and as problems in China, India, Russia and elsewhere emerge more clearly, Japan is very likely to join a renascent West"
"The transition in progress represents more than just the end of the post-1945 era of American global dominance. It also represents the end of the era of Western dominance over world events that began roughly five hundred years ago"
Kenyan writer's sharp, entertaining attack on the West's view of Africa. Watch out Jeffrey Sachs. "We will never look like what CNN wants us to look like. But that's fine - we can get online now and completely bypass their nonsense"
Compared with the Global War on Terror, the Cold War was almost cosy. It made sense. "Who had the best symphony orchestras? Ballets? Chess masters? Decathletes?" We don't even understand Al-Qaeda's game, let alone how to win it
Privacy, piracy, security, sovereignty. Just some of the battle lines drawn in the war over the Internet. And part of wider questions of freedom and control. Later this year, the key UN treaty will be revised. Here's what's at stake
If you favour putting the arms race into reverse, chew on this: Formal arms reduction treaties can create perverse incentives and even be worse than doing nothing. Reductions happen more effectively if negotiators butt out
A typically weird and wonderful Curtis blogpost, lavishly illustrated with video and all but uncategorisable. Here is your chance to discover the links between yoga, Barbara Cartland, and the modern history of Iraq
America. "From Nuremberg on, no country has invested more in the development of international jurisdiction for atrocity crimes. And no country has worked harder to make sure that the law it seeks for others does not apply to itself"
"There is always a sacred object: The nation, the people, the race. Rather than seeing the history of politics as the movement from the religious to the secular, I see politics as a shift in the meaning of the sacred"
Regrettable headline, interesting premise. If Germany leads the EU, what will European foreign policy look like? It will become more sympathetic towards Russia. It will promote trade more readily at the expense of human rights
A first-timer's impressions of Davos. People – right, left, uninvited or participant – like to project onto Davos their fears and fantasies about the way the world works. Mainly though, it's an exercise in corporate speed-dating
Anonymous Former Intelligence Officer, on negotiation
"Know what you want - and remember that whatever your bottom line is, there's always another line below that"
