‘Poetry makes nothing happen,’ said the poet W. H. Auden. How wrong he was.
My essays, On Art and War and Terror, now available in paperback, are dedicated to … Read the rest
Date archive for: May 2011
Yesterday evening, Radio 4’s Four Thought – which you can listen to here – featured a lecture about a teenager from Hull who back in 2003 had taken to writing … Read the rest
According to a 2009 Eurobarometer survey 62 per cent of Britons believed that ‘the giving and taking of bribes, and the abuse of positions of power for personal gain’ was … Read the rest
Taiwan’s Central Election Commission (CEC) announced on 19 April 2011 its decision to hold next years presidential and legislative elections concurrently for the first time.
Ostensibly made to save money … Read the rest
Most analysis of the recent elections in England and Wales focused on the fortunes of the three main parties – but they saw the BNP perform very badly indeed.
Drawing … Read the rest
As it increases its influence in the developing world, China now faces the same kind of challenges as are confronted by Europe.
The ongoing conflict in Libya is such an … Read the rest
I recently upgraded from acetate overheads and marker pens in my lectures to the wonders of Powerpoint presentations. Feeling smug whipping out my laptop and beaming the slides through the … Read the rest
Analysis of the elections held on May 5th demonstrates that those politicians and journalists living in the Westminster village still have a lot to learn from Europe about coalition politics.… Read the rest
According to Ipsos MORI 75% of Britons believe that immigration is a ‘problem’ while Islamophobia appears to be on the rise.
The three main parties have sought, in their different … Read the rest
Some people might say that politics contains enough fantasy without further confusing the situation by combining the study of politics with that of fiction. Yet, more than ever fiction can … Read the rest