Global Political Insight

On 4th August, the world marked 100 years since World War I, a conflict that resulted in 16 million deaths. A century later, a new conflict is brewing, this time between Russia and Western countries, with Ukraine being the hotspot of military activity. Ever since a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest broke out in […]

Unbeknown to most people, there exists a particular – and slightly peculiar – research domain in the discipline of consumer behaviour called; The Socio-Cultural Patterning of Consumption.  It addresses the question of how systematic consumption behaviours are precipitated by institutionalised social structures.  A nexus of these social structures is; Social-Class.  The provenance of this now […]

At first glance, UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules seem to be the solution to protecting football and making the sport more competitive. From an economic point of view, however, this does not seem to be the case – according to a working paper from Nicolas Petit, a competition law academic from the University of Liége, FFP implementation is […]

In 2016, the world’s fastest growing economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, commonly abbreviated as the ‘BRICS’ countries, with South Africa being the latest addition to the group, will set up their own Development Bank. The Development Bank will focus on BRICS infrastructure projects and will serve to support the blocs’ economies. The […]

The date on which Scotland will decide its faith in the 307 year old union is approaching fast. Despite that, neither the nationalists nor pro-unionistic British government are making any dramatic moves, keeping their best cards hidden. The recent stipulation of Alexander Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland, that Scotland will keep its pound, mildly […]

The crash of MH17 that took place on 17 July was a stark reminder of the horrific incidents that can occur during a civil war. Unfortunately, rather than contemplating on how to end the Ukrainian crisis and ensure that similar future catastrophes do not happen again, the Ukrainian government and separatists blamed each other for […]

The year 2008 proved to be a landmark in Europe’s economic meltdown, a year in which policy makers began to realise the true losses on loans advanced by banks across peripheral Europe. September 30th, also known as “Black Monday” to the Irish population, proved to be a day of disaster. When the Irish government gave […]

Following the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, much has been said about Russia’s “isolation” from the “international community.” Russia’s relations with the West, and particularly with the U.S., have clearly undergone a dramatic deterioration over the past six months. Russia has recently been subjected to a previously unimaginable litany of trade sanctions, asset freezes, and visa bans. However, the West is only one part of the […]

On Thursday the 26th of June, Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, announced a plan to curb the issuance of mortgages in the UK, by imposing two sets of rules.This comes as a reaction to the rapidly growing prices of UK and especially London property markets. Carney’s plan might work in terms […]

It has been reported and confirmed over the last few days that rebels who refuse to accept the legimiacy of the new Western puppet government of Ukraine have left the city of Sloviansk. The Western media quoted Ukrainian President Poroshenko as saying that Ukrainian troops had “liberated Sloviansk from terrorists”, and that it was “the […]

New findings published by Kaspersky Lab, concerning the widespread state deployment of digital surveillance tools used in some countries to spy on political dissidents, journalists and human rights advocates, place a further question mark over the western liberal agenda. The issues surrounding the collection of public data have been at the forefront of political debate […]

Almost four years into his leadership of the Labour Party, and with just 10 months to go until next year’s election, Ed Miliband has yet to persuade the electorate that he has the personal qualities needed to lead Britain. As a result, Labour is only narrowly ahead of the Conservatives, instead of enjoying the double-digit […]

While press freedom rankings determine national and international media policies, it is not always clear as to how objective these rankings really are. A new DW Akademie publication takes a closer look. Every year organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House publish their respective press freedom rankings. They usually cause an outcry, especially from countries […]

For the first time since the end of World War II, the total number of refugees in the world has risen above 50 million, according to figures released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The sharp increase in the total number of refugees was in large part the result of the ongoing Syrian […]

The latest Global Peace Index has found that this year, the world became slightly less peaceful, continuing a 7-year trend. The decline was driven by global events that include tensions in the Ukraine, the ongoing conflict in Syria, civil war in South Sudan and a broadening and increased intensity of terrorist activity in many countries […]