• OPINION

  Anti-Trump op-ed boosts democracy

  News, John Lloyd, Published on 10/09/2018

  » The good news was well disguised in the anonymous cry of warning against the "amorality" of Donald Trump. A senior administration official, writing as an unnamed columnist in The New York Times, described how he and like-minded colleagues "are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of (the US president's) agenda and his worst inclinations." The message is that democratic habits -- and, crucially, civic decency and responsibility -- can, in step with free journalism, win out over degraded administrations.

• OPINION

  Europe struggles over Trump plan

  News, John Lloyd, Published on 07/08/2017

  » 'We have to understand, that we Europeans must fight for our own future and destiny," said Angela Merkel. This was the German chancellor speaking to a crowd of supporters in May, after a testy few days of a G7 summit that included reports in German news media that Donald Trump had called her country "very bad" for selling so many cars to the United States -- and which saw the US president emerge as the only G7 dissenter on combating climate change.

• OPINION

  Trump's Iran nuclear decision strains US-Europe ties

  Oped, John Lloyd, Published on 14/05/2018

  » Does Europe still have a partner, a big brother across the water? One which can be a scold, a nag, an annoyance, a puzzle -- but which has always been there for it? A partner that is also a protector, with a military and security network of unrivalled power and reach? Is the United States still that partner?

• OPINION

  Trump tweets show disturbing side of social media

  News, John Lloyd, Published on 06/02/2017

  » Last March, three months before Britons voted to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union, then Prime Minister David Cameron asked Daily Mail proprietor Lord Rothermere to fire the newspaper's editor, Paul Dacre. The press baron, descendant of the family which did more than any other to create the British tabloid press, refused, and did not even tell Dacre of the request until after the result of the referendum. The incident, reported by the BBC, has not been denied by any of the parties involved.

• OPINION

  Beware the online culture warriors

  News, John Lloyd, Published on 22/10/2018

  » The news media in the Western world remains dominated by newspapers, magazines and broadcasters still known as the mainstream. The most vivid proof of their continued reign over public opinion is in the figure of US President Donald Trump, whose repeated attacks on "failing" publications like The New York Times and the Washington Post as "enemies of the people" is a backhanded tribute to their continued power.

• OPINION

  Is populism a disease? Or a cure?

  News, John Lloyd, Published on 29/10/2018

  » Populist nationalism is here to stay. Many still believe it a phase which, like surliness in adolescence, will pass and be succeeded by orderly, thoughtful maturity. But they will find that the political world, already changed, will disappoint them. Liberalism, however defined, is not politics' default position: mainstream politicians are in a fight ring facing young contenders buoyed by a string of victories.

• OPINION

  Sometimes 'safe spaces' harbour hidden dangers

  News, John Lloyd, Published on 08/10/2018

  » Few great social changes are wholly positive. "Safe spaces", for example. Most popular in universities, they're meant to provide a feeling of security for those who feel vulnerable, a place where students can avoid issues that might cause them distress.

• OPINION

  Britain's current mess extends well beyond Brexit

  News, John Lloyd, Published on 13/11/2017

  » Britain -- ever-ready to boast stable politics and a faultless, often-called "Rolls-Royce" civil service -- is in a mess. Between scandals over sex, secret meetings, political donors and the royal family, the government is melting down.

• OPINION

  Expect 2019 to test global stability

  News, John Lloyd, Published on 03/01/2019

  » The resignation of US Defence Secretary James Mattis stands not only as a radical disassociation from the actions of the president he served, but as a foreboding for the future, a warning for 2019 -- and beyond. And, for all the assurances the world is getting better, such as Steven Pinker's Enlightenment Now, there are huge geopolitical challenges to face and master to make that optimism real.

• OPINION

  Midterms resonate across Atlantic

  News, John Lloyd, Published on 12/11/2018

  » One of the major political messages of the US midterm elections has been that rural voters dominate the cities. While the Democrats made enough gains in urban areas to take control of the House of Representatives, Republicans were able to expand their majority in the Senate, where each state gets two senators regardless of population size. In an election where neither side can claim a sweeping victory, President Donald Trump's party did as well as it did because the small towns and the more sparsely populated rural areas of the United States are still, in the main, Trump country. Meanwhile, Democrat votes pile up in the cities, uselessly, from an electoral point of view.

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