Corruption
Euronews – Ex-MEP Maria Arena charged with membership of criminal organisation
The latest development in the ‘Qatargate’ scandal which rocked the European Parliament in 2022. Read the full article HERE.
Articles by Ben Wray
EU politics
Harrison Stetler – France’s Parti Socialiste Agrees to Bad Deal With Macronists
‘On Thursday, France’s Parti Socialiste refused to back a motion of no confidence in François Bayrou’s government. It sold out its left-wing allies for feeble concessions, renewing the party’s dismal record of tailing neoliberal centrists.’ […]
Geopolitics
Maha Hussaini – How I survived Israel’s genocidal war as a journalist
A Gazan journalist’s story of defiance. Maha Hussaini is an award-winning journalist and human rights activist based in Gaza. Maha started her journalism career by covering Israel’s military campaign on the Gaza Strip in July […]
Geopolitics
Marco Carnelos – Why Trump should break with Biden’s containment strategy toward China
The US cannot seem to envisage a world which doesn’t include American global hegemony. Marco Carnelos is a former Italian diplomat. He has been assigned to Somalia, Australia and the United Nations. He served in […]
Finance
Michael Roberts – Inequality in the 2020s
The most important inequality for capitalism is the concentration of capital, with just 737 firms owning 80% of global wealth. Michael Roberts is an Economist in the City of London and a prolific blogger. Cross-posted from Michael […]
Economics
Adam Tooze – A “house of cards”? Russia’s war economy in 2025.
Commentators in The FT are desperate to wish into existence a financial crisis in Russia, but the reality is that Russia is surviving Western sanctions. In Adam Tooze’s ‘Chartbook’ Substack. Read the article HERE.
Austerity
Politico – EU goes easy on France’s Bayrou as he tries to plug €53B black hole
Yet more evidence that the EU’s ‘budget rules’ are wholly political – when it’s government’s Brussels doesn’t like, they are iron-clad, when it’s government’s Brussels does like, they are broad guidelines. Read the article HERE.
Geopolitics
David Hearst – Gaza ceasefire: After 15 months of brutality, Israel has failed on every front
Whatever way you look at this tenuous ceasefire, Netanyahu hasn’t achieved any of his goals in Gaza. David Hearst is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye. He is a commentator and speaker on the […]
Geopolitics
Paul R. Pillar – The Gaza ceasefire likely won’t last
A level-headed analysis of the political forces at play in reaching a ceasefire agreement, and the limited possibility that it will stick in the medium-to-long term. Paul R. Pillar is Non-resident Senior Fellow at the […]
Geopolitics
Trita Parsi: Biden worked ‘tirelessly around the clock’ — to prevent a ceasefire
Biden is now up there with George W. Bush as one of the great monster’s of American military history. Trita Parsi is the co-founder and Executive Vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. […]