by Adrian Duncan | Aug 23, 2015 | Adrian’s Articles 2015
You shouldn’t get the wrong idea about Vladimir Putin. Russians love him, and that’s good. Isn’t it? The most reliable poll in Russia from the Levada Center measured his popularity at 83% after the annexation of Crimea, whilst back in 2013 it was at a record low of 30%. (Note 1)
It seems fair to conclude that there is a universal sense of having been sidelined or humiliated in Russia, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and of being treated like a second-rate nation. The recent prominence of Putin on the world stage, which has come with his military adventures into Ukraine, has raised his esteem in the eyes of the ordinary Russian because they want to feel their country is glorious again. …Read More
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 21, 2015 | Adrian’s Articles 2015
Could the Republicans possibly be better placed ahead of the November 2016 presidential elections? The Democrats have been severely damaged in the 2014 mid-term elections, when they lost control of the Senate and when the Republicans won another 25 seats in Congress to have an unassailable majority. After two terms of a Democratic presidency, USA will – according to historical election patterns – be turning towards Republican leadership. The 2016 presidency is theirs to win. But that could depend on whom they choose as Republic candidate out of the multitude of hopefuls – 38 have declared their candidacy at the time of writing. …Read More
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 12, 2015 | Articles
It would be a strange thing if you could predict the result of elections. All that rushing around canvassing voters, all that money spent on adverts, all the passionate debates – these would be unnecessary. Fortunately polls and pundits (and astrologers) get their predictions wrong all the time, so elections continue to make life interesting. How fascinating it is, for example, that in the USA there is an almost exact split between two parties – Republicans and Democrats. The difference between these voters is so deeply rooted that half of them disapprove of even having a relationship with someone supporting the opposite party. (Note 1) And it is probably the same story for supporters of the Labour and Conservative parties in Britain. Somehow our political values resonate with the core of our being.
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by Adrian Duncan | Aug 10, 2015 | Adrian’s Articles 2015
Planets and Sign Borders
Throughout history, countries have vigorously protected their borders, and travellers had to have their papers in order if they wanted to leave one country and enter another. It is always a nervous process, as anyone who has entered the USA from abroad will know. You’ve travelled far, and it would be an expensive experience to be refused entry – and I know people who have been. Similarly, if you are a refugee from Africa or Syrian, the act of entering a European Union country is even more nerve-wracking, and thousands of people lose their lives trying to do so. …Read More
