Vladimir Putin’s ongoing attempt at bringing a definitive resolution to the “Ukrainian question” is raising, once again, the inconvenient question of Russia’s difficult relationship with the world around it – a question that predates Putin and will likely outlast him.
Continue reading Beyond Putin’s war – The inconvenient “Russian question”
It looks increasingly likely that Vladimir Putin may not just be pursuing the neutralization, demilitarization and “denazification” of Ukraine, as he claims, but a more definitive resolution of what some in Russia refer to as the “Ukrainian question”.
Continue reading Putin’s war and the resolution of the “Ukrainian question”
Banning Russia-backed media/propaganda outlets is fully justified and legitimate, yet will only marginally decrease the level of ambient confusion that prevails in the West. Junk information has become as prevalent and inescapable as junk food, and it is here to stay.
Continue reading Propaganda and confusionism in the era of junk information
We are still in the early stages of an unfolding tragedy and it is too early to draw firm lessons from what has been happening so far, but it looks increasingly likely that Vladimir Putin may have overplayed his hand.
Continue reading Has Putin overplayed his hand?
This is Putin’s war. This is not just Putin’s war on the independence of Ukraine. This is Putin’s great war of revenge.
Continue reading Putin’s great war of revenge
New Year predictions are getting more and more popular. In a world that is growing ever more complex and confusing, we seem to be increasingly eager to get some hints about what lies in the fog just ahead of us. Yet what we need is probably less to get some clues about what might be coming up next than to acquire a more acute consciousness and comprehension of the road we are travelling.
Alors que le nouveau président de la République entame son mandat, l’attention se focalise sur sa volonté de « rénovation » et de « recomposition » de la vie politique française. Plus fondamentalement, c’est pourtant plutôt à une tentative de « restauration » du régime politique du pays que se livre Emmanuel Macron, une tentative vraisemblablement appelée à tourner court.
Is the current ‘populist’ surge across the Western world a sign that we have entered a ‘crisis of complexity’? I discuss this with Markus Völter from omega tau podcast.
It has been a year since David Bowie’s death. And what a year it has been…
Continue reading A world with #NoPlan – Remembering #DavidBowie, one year on
L’élection « surprise » de Donald Trump pour succéder à Barack Obama à la Maison Blanche fait vaciller les bases du système politique américain et de l’ordre international. Mais la révolte anti-élites qu’elle symbolise et qui se répand à travers le monde occidental signale aussi que la démocratie, en tant que système de gouvernance des sociétés humaines, est peut-être entrée dans une phase de déclin et de décadence prolongée.
Paul Arbair 