There have been penalties for those who looked the other way when Epstein was convicted of child sex offences and decided to maintain relationships with the financier — but not for the British ambassador to Washington, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
Governments' infantile responses to crisis are perturbing
The Covid-19 responses of Western governments have lacked focus or cohesion. That does not bode well for tackling climate change or the next pandemic, writes MARC VANDEPITTE
Labour’s new Treasury unit will ‘challenge unnecessary regulation’ by forcing nominally independent bodies like Ofwat to bend to business demands — exactly what Iain Anderson’s corporate clients wanted, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
DR DYLAN MURPHY looks at a Big Brother Watch report which exposes the government as an enabler of DWP secret spying on benefit claimants
The EU faces a critical choice: will it remain in the shadow of an increasingly unreliable US ally, or will it forge its own path in a multilateral world where co-operation with China is essential, asks MARC VANDEPITTE as leaders meet for the EU-China Summit
A lot of discussion about how the left should currently organise – including debate on whether the Green Party is a useful vehicle for advance – runs the risk of refusing to engage with or learn from the reasons the left was defeated previously, argues KEVIN OVENDEN
For Egypt trade trumps the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians, but how long can the country’s ‘misleaders’ – and others in the region – continue their indifference against the popular will of their own people, asks ROGER McKENZIE
A YEARNING for instant gratification is usually associated with young children. They cannot think in the long term and have yet to develop impulse control. Postponement is unknown to them; they want to get everything as soon as possible.
We see the same tendency painfully at work in dealing with the Covid crisis in the West. Sanitary measures cannot be undone soon enough. Every now and then the end of the pandemic is announced. Last year premature easing in the fall and Christmas season inevitably led to new waves of contagion, resulting in tens of thousands of preventable deaths.
The explanation probably lies in the fact that our democracies are based on electoral success. A politician’s horizon does not extend beyond the next ballot, not a long-term goal.
More from this author
Trump’s economic adviser has exposed the actual strategy: forcing other countries to provide financial support for US hegemony
Under Trump, the hunt for migrants has reopened — resulting in a mass deportation of innocent Venezuelans to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador. MARC VANDEPITTE tells the story of 24-year-old barber Francisco Casique whose tattoos and country of origin were enough to make him disappear behind bars without trial
Behind the war fever, there is more than just the alleged threat of Russia; economic decline and the struggle for geopolitical dominance play a crucial role in the increasing militarisation of our continent, writes MARC VANDEPITTE
MARC VANDEPITTE looks at dangerous developments in a war that has killed millions, but attracts little attention in the West
