Britain must prepare for a global food crisis | Dominic Lawson
If the British government is serious about “levelling up” and intends for this to be a real policy rather than a slogan to be regurgitated by a thousand midwit journalists, it should develop our agricultural sector as a priority. This will be the job of permanent experts, not politicians, who are far too dependent on five year plans and the minutiae of the media cycle to push for any policies which will cost in the near term but benefit us further down the line.
Ukraine and British Grand Strategy | Dominic Lawson
Asked several months ago whether Putin would order an invasion, I would have said no, but the scale of the forces arrayed on the Ukrainian border and the long list of demands publicly issued by Moscow, most of which NATO cannot accept, suggests that Putin has not found an offramp and may now believe that a short sharp attack against Ukraine to preferable to a slow degradation of Russian influence over the country
The McNamara fallacy is the West’s major Achilles’ heel | Daniel Hardaker
Due to the ease at which the training can be gamed, and the vagueness of its messages, the majority undertaking the training will not pay attention to the videos. Not, however, that doing so would make behaviour any safer. Nonetheless, the psychology of ‘completing’ safety training leads one to neglect intuition and alertness in favour of trusting in the machine, with predictable consequences. The whole network of data, checklists, and quotas creates an illusion, an alternate reality that does not correspond to the six inches in front of one’s nose. It drags both the individual and the society into a make-believe much more absurd than that which is frequently the target of derision by those driving the new world forward, religious devotion. As Western society becomes drowned in surplus information and metrics, the effect increases.
Africa in the world to come | Dominic Lawson
Now, the Trans-Saharan trade routes are re-emerging in the modern world, and the pioneering groups who are forging them are international criminal syndicates. The new trade routes which run throughout the region link a vast informal economy of drugs and weaponry. After the toppling of Qaddafi and the transformation of Libya from relatively well functioning to “Somalia on the Mediterranean,” replete with terrorism, slavery and disorder, the region is also a major transit route of illegal mass migration into the European continent.
Trump’s unlikely torchbearer | OC Comment
With regards to China, Biden has achieved “essential continuity” with the Trump administration’s policy... It is no surprise that Toshihiro Nakayama from Keio university describes this approach as adding “smartness to Trumpian toughness”. The wording is key; instead of reversing or replacing Trump’s policy direction, Biden is bringing his experience and tactfulness to bear on essential Trump-era objectives.
Britain goes to the Pacific | Dominic Lawson
In 2018, the UK became the second Western nation after the United States to train soldiers on Japanese soil. At present, Tokyo is forbidden from commanding a standing army with expeditionary potential as an US-sanctioned punishment for her previous empire building. This is coming to an end and is bound to change soon, especially as China continues her ascent.
Romney’s family benefits: surprisingly social, and surprisingly conservative | OC Comment
All in all, the Romney plan is able to square conservative ideals and welfare practice. Though in some areas it reverts to outdated liberal solutions, this plan provides a useful “first draft” for future conservative efforts in addressing the popular demand for a welfare state by shifting the focus to marriage and the family.
‘Know thy place’ - explaining what happened on Capitol Hill | Joseph Robertson
The gathering, whether they were incited or not, had ascended to challenge (metaphorically speaking), that very cornerstone of the Capitol. They challenged not just the base level of democracy but the very top of the pyramid.
Regardless of who members of the American Republic support in their political aspirations, regardless of happenings in the subcurrent of the general population, one must remember that any challenge to the most elite level of power, whether by optical assault or by physical approach, will surely be met with the severest penalties, carried out in the broadest of daylight.
Could CANZUK afford Britain cultural and economic security in times of vulnerability and multipolarity? | Laura Sánchez Pérez
CANZUK could act decisively using collective diplomatic clout spanning three continents with extensive global support, without being encumbered by the EU’s bureaucratic impotence or the corrupting effect of Chinese wolf warrior diplomacy on the UN member-states. For too long, Britons took for granted that the United States would protect the Western world order – and much more importantly – help Britain protect and advance its interests on the international stage.