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Gazprom as Policy Instrument
A consistent challenge in international relations is the calculus of national power. Publications such as Military Balance have long made calculations based primarily on military considerations such as the numbers of tracked vehicles, infantry units, aircraft, naval vessels and other tangible assets. More
Interstellar Rights
The exploration of space is now shifting the paradigm as recent innovations put in light incredible discoveries. The space economy is undoubtedly the most captivating industry of the future. As it develops, dependence on satellite-based services considerably increases. Everything from weather forecasting, navigation and positioning application, the synchronization of transactions, of databases and financial markets, to telecommunications, television, and disaster management depends on satellite-based capabilities. New products and market segments are rapidly being developed, such as smaller, more affordable satellites. The competition between companies (and states) grows as well, as new opportunities emerge, such as global broadband, space tourism, colonization of planets, and asteroid mining. More
Some Thoughts on COVID-19 Pandemic Shock
On the nature of COVID-19 pandemic shockWe think the COVID-19 pandemic shock “verifies” the following features:the shock is atypical: it has the particularity that it bypasses the standard “path” – that is, it does not affect the nominal flows of the economy (especially the financing or re-financing mechanisms) – but directly affects the real economy:
the reduction/limitation of economic activities involving human agglomerations (in order to avoid the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus) has led to a decrease in the labour factor in the production function, thus to a decrease in domestic supply; More
The Rise of Islam and American Policy in South Asia
The challenge of Empire to traditional constitutional order occurs when the first response to acts of terror increases the powers of the State. The Patriot Act and the attack on Iraq by the Bush Administration empowered a "war faction" in the American President’s Party and millennial fundamentalists who saw these acts in term of the “Last Days”. That places President Donald Trump in a position to increase his Imperial powers when confronting a rising Islam. Thus far, President Trump has chosen to withdraw American troops in Afghanistan and Syria. The real test is in relation to the Islamic regime in Iran. More
Toward Understanding the Balkan Economic Thought (I)
The notes that follow are a preliminary summary of our observations and studies in the field of Balkan economies and economic thinking as well as of scholars engaged in the subject of economic traditions in the Balkan region. The main characteristics of economic thinking in the Balkans set forth below must not be regarded as established definitively but rather as the first approximation towards the elucidation of the Balkan type of economic thought (BET). More
From the Queen to the Tsar: on Trump’s Travels to Europe
An eventful week passed from July 12 to 17 as US President Donald Trump made two high-profile visits to Europe: one to the United Kingdom where he met with the British monarchy and government officials, and one to Helsinki where he met with Russian President, Vladimir Putin. These events occurred in a complicated geopolitical context: on the one hand, it appears we are witnessing a paradigm shift in US-EU relations, with increasingly divergent viewpoints on a number of key issues, most notably security in Europe’s Eastern flank and the Middle East; on the other hand, the suspicions of Russian involvement in the US elections in order to skew the votes in Trump’s favour are still alive in the eyes of certain US officials and part of the American electorate. More
Wisdom and Perseverance
These days mark the National Day celebrations as my country, the United Arab Emirates, strides forward with wisdom and perseverance, following in the footsteps of its founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, under the leadership of the President, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his brothers their Highnesses the members of the Federal Supreme Council, Rulers of all the emirates, and through the hands of its loyal daughters and sons, pillars of the country’s growth and development, attaining developmental, cultural, economic, political and social achievements. More
The Market for Ideas: Supplying and Demanding Thoughtfulness
It has been three years since our project – The Market for Ideas – took shape. We have tried to present our readers with interesting ideas from a wide variety of fields and penned by a wide variety of others. To the best of our abilities, we have tried not to turn this journal into a publication by Romanians for Romanians, only in English, which would be snobbery, but a shared space in which Romanian issues could be presented alongside more general considerations for the edification of a diverse and educated, but non-expert audience. The figures back us up, both on Facebook and on the website, where Romanians are still a plurality, but no longer the majority of our readers. Hopefully, we have not driven any of them away; instead, we rather managed to interest some people in our corner of the Internet, which is a difficult thing to do in a world given to shallow and homogenizing diversity. Facts and figures: TMFI is being read in 188 jurisdictions all over the world and its writers come from more than 50 countries. More
Pandemic: Of Words, Beasts, and the Gates of Peace
The world is facing a pandemic. People are looking for ways in which to minimize its effects and defeat the virus. Some are taking all the necessary precautions. Some are treating the situation lightly. Some are panicking. And some… are spreading false information and fueling animosity.Of fear and consequencesOne of the most dangerous issues during this time of crisis is misleading information. It changes people’s behavior, and people’s behavior is the only way in which the spread of this virus can be halted, and, vitally, the way in which society’s future after this pandemic can be guided, for better or worse. More
Charter Cities: Vernian Fantasy or Human Reality?
In 1895, the French novelist Jules Verne launched one of his many visionary ideas that either became reality or something future next generations are expected to achieve. Propeller Island follows the story of four musicians whose services are demanded on Standard Island, a floating fabricated island which is the home of Milliard City, the capital city inhabited only by remarkable and eccentric American millionaires and wealthy and adventurous Yankees who gathered into what can be considered a self-governing city-state. Notwithstanding the particular adventures of the quartet, the requirement of being a millionaire and certain technologies which facilitate life in the fictional Milliard City, the idea of an independent city, built from the ground up in this way, with its own jurisdiction and socio-economic system, may not be so ahead of our times. History is littered with city-states and there are some still existing today, but since all land outside of Antarctica is claimed by sovereign entities, it seems impossible to create such a city by design. Standard Island is still unrealizable for us and, while we applaud Verne’s imagination, we should turn to the closest form of organization that could resemble this island – that of the charter city. If fully realized, the masterminds behind this audacious project can end up with their own novel and with the satisfaction of having advanced the good of humanity, as the objective of charter cities is declared to be. More
“Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree”… I Forgot My History
It is strange for any of us who live in relatively free societies to picture oppression. It is probably why most of us have an insatiable desire for dystopian television productions. The hair raising, mind and heart stimulating stories take us to a place with which we are not familiar, a place which makes us wonder “what would I do in this situation?”. Many of us are quick to point out that we would always do the right thing. But, just as one can watch surfing on TV, believe it to be fun, and then hate its difficulty when they try it out themselves, TV productions, or even books, do not really test our stamina and mettle. Spectatorship is a sport filled with experts and critics, after all. More
Toward Understanding the Balkan Economic Thought (II)
The notes that follow are a preliminary summary of our observations and studies in the field of Balkan economies and economic thinking as well as of scholars engaged in the subject of economic traditions in the Balkan region. The main characteristics of economic thinking in the Balkans set forth below must not be regarded as established definitively but rather as the first approximation towards the elucidation of the Balkan type of economic thought (BET). More
