Showing 1 - 10 of 21
2019 ushers in era of state control
News, John Lloyd, Published on 07/01/2019
» A signature theme of the new year is the possibility of a malign confrontation between the world's greatly enhanced capacity for electronic surveillance and the weakening of democratic control. The antidote to that risk is the democratic spirit and civil freedoms -- both of which are suffering worldwide. These are not dead, but they are unwell, at times untended.
The torture of Theresa May as Brexit drama unfolds
News, John Lloyd, Published on 17/12/2018
» Now is the time for all good citizens to put their elected politicians on the rack. Torture is what tyrants visited -- and, often, still visit -- upon real or presumed enemies among their own people. But subjecting their leaders to prolonged public humiliation has come to be a default position among democracies. None knows this better than the United Kingdom's Prime Minister, Theresa May.
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.
No 'third way' in a polarised Britain
News, John Lloyd, Published on 01/10/2018
» The British prime minister and the leader of Her Majesty's opposition gave speeches on the same day last week, outlining their vision for their country's economy -- and by implication, its society. They had little in common.
Building peace requires pragmatism and patience
News, John Lloyd, Published on 24/09/2018
» Doors are slamming all over the Western world; we shall not see them opened again in our life. This sentiment -- borrowing and adapting a remark attributed to British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey on the eve of World War I (his phrase had lamps going out in Europe) -- seems to me at least as defensible as Grey's prophecy.
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.
Imagining a post-Putin Russia
News, John Lloyd, Published on 27/08/2018
» It's not the week to say it, but Donald Trump has a point. It isn't original and what it proposes will be hard to do, yet when he says that "getting along with Russia is a good thing", as he did before his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month, he isn't wrong.
Three liberal prophets of doom
News, John Lloyd, Published on 31/07/2018
» Liberal democratic institutions and states are under sustained pressure, from outside and from within. The question now is how well liberal and democratic defences can withstand the onslaught.
In times of trouble, Meghan radicalises the royals
News, John Lloyd, Published on 21/05/2018
» In at least one thing, in its present time of troubles, the United Kingdom remains pre-eminent. At 92, Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-serving head in the world, both of a state and a royal family whose magnificence and capacity for display easily tops anything else in the West. Though far outranked in wealth by the Sultan of Brunei, 71, and in both wealth and power by King Salman of Saudi Arabia, 82, she has a firm base of popularity. Good for her; a problem for her successors.
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?