Monthly Archives: December 2008

Who is Barack Obama?

“If Illinois isn’t the most corrupt state in the United States, its certainly one hell of a competitor”, said FBI agent Robert Grant at a press conference this week (December 9, 2008.) He was talking about investigating Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s attempt to” sell “ Barack Obama’s Senate seat, a manoeuvre which vividly illustrates the political cesspit out of which the president — elect has come, though he apparently was not involved in this scandal. Continue reading

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Stalin’s Successors – The Dangers of Russia’s Monopoly of EU Energy Supplies

There’s a fuzzy perception of Russia today as being like a teenager “going through a bad patch.” Squabbling with its neighbours, inclined to throw its weight about,  not fully reconciled to the loss of the Soviet Empire, overkeen on the trappings of wealth, but nothing it won’t – given a bit of time – grow out of. Having observed the fall of communism with some relief,  many Western observers have been prepared to indulge the Kremlin’s post-Soviet antics, “throwing shapes” while it adjusted to a new reality. Continue reading

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