United Kingdom

By Jonathan Parry | – The week-long blockage of the Suez canal by the Ever Given container ship has reminded us that the canal, though immensely important to the world’s commerce, is also very vulnerable. Since its completion in 1869, it has symbolised global interconnectedness. But it has also demonstrated how fears, rivalries and bottlenecks […]

Climate Crisis

Scotland is First Industrialized country to generate 97.4% of Electricity From Wind and Solar

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In 2011, Scotland’s government, urged on by visionaries like Richard Dixon, set itself the ambitious goal to get 100% of its electricity from renewables by 2020. At that time, it only only got about a fourth from clean energy sources, and a lot of that was hydro. The report card […]

European Union

Brexit deal done: what’s in it and where next for the UK and EU?

The Conversation

By Andrew Glencross | – To misquote Shakespeare, our Brexit negotiating revels now are ended. The tempestuous talks did not lead to a dramatic walkout, even if at times the UK government gave the impression this was a feud worthy of the Montagues against the Capulets. The negotiators ignored the background noise and succeeded in […]

Banking

Top Ways British Trumpism, a.k.a “Brexit” Will make Britain Poorer and Weaker, but also more Muslim

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Boris Johnson’s government has achieved a relatively “hard Brexit” at the last minute, reaching a deal on its departure from the European Union. This is a triumph for British Trumpism, and it is no wonder that Trump himself was a cheerleader for it. It is economically a bad deal for […]

Islam

Lady Zeinab: A British Aristocrat embraces Islam in the Shadow of European War

Shalom Goldman

Middlebury, Vt. (Special to Informed Comment) – In 1934, Lady Evelyn Cobbold, a Scottish aristocrat and traveler, wrote that with the tightening of Nazi rule over Germany, many in England sensed that a European War was looming. Among the British elites ‘rumors of war’ were discouraged; the trauma and losses of the 1914-18 World War, […]

Climate Crisis

Europeans express relief, hope for climate cooperation after Biden win

Clean Energy Wire

By Kerstine Appunn, Charlotte Nijhuis, Benjamin Wehrmann and Julian Wettengel | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – European leaders, researchers and media commentators breathed a collective sigh of relief following Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential elections and expressed hope for a new partnership on combating climate change. The news fuelled expectations that […]

Israel/ Palestine

To what extent did the spycops target Palestine solidarity groups?

Asa Winstanley

( Middle East Monitor) – This week the Undercover Policing Inquiry [in Britain] finally got underway, albeit in an unusual, coronavirus-restricted virtual fashion. There has been a delay of more than five years since it was first formally announced by then Home Secretary Theresa May. The inquiry is investigating the deployment of undercover police officers […]

China

Trump walks Alone: Former US Allies Britain, France, Germany join Russia and China in Forcefully Rejecting Trump Iran Sanctions

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – LeMonde reports that France, Germany and Britain have rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to reimpose UN Security Council sanctions on Iran that were revoked in early 2016 with the signing of the Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA). Their joint statement said, “France, Germany and the […]

Donald Trump

Despite Saudi Atrocities in Yemen, Trump and Boris Johnson are Addicted to Arms Sales to Riyadh

Sandy Milne

Tokyo (Special to Informed Comment) – “There is not a clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL [International Human Rights Law].” So says the Honorable Elizabeth Truss MP – the UK’s top exports expert, and wolf in […]