Globalisation

Afghanistan, “forever wars” and the reality of Empire State Britain Gerry Hassan The National, 31 August 2021 The news of the past couple of weeks has been filled with the humiliation of US and UK forces in Afghanistan alongside the humanitarian tragedy unfolding before our eyes; an upsetting wake-up call to those who have become normalised to the permanent war machine of the West and the 20 years of “forever war” in Afghanistan. Rather than reset their assumptions, the war elite have looked on aghast at the decision of US President Joe Biden to withdraw from Afghanistan – abiding to

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Breakaway: The rise and fall of the European Super League Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, April 21st 2021 What has been the big media story so far this week? Not COVID, not Boris Johnson’s many scandals, or even the George Floyd trial in the US. Rather, by far the biggest story media-wise has been the announcement of the European Super League – with some of the continent’s biggest football names announcing their intention to join together in a league which would make them an even more out of touch elite, before the fans rebelled and the powers to be had

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After the COVID recession: The age of conservatism is coming to end Gerry Hassan Sunday National, August 16th 2020 This week the scale of damage done by COVID-19 to the UK economy was confirmed as much more serious than previously thought. The drop in GDP for the second quarter of 2020 was 20.4% - the highest on record for a quarter - contributing to a 22.1% fall in the first six months of the year, plus a significant rise in the claimant count to 2.7 million people and a dramatic fall in employment. But this is nothing compared to

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There is an Alternative: Another World is Possible Gerry Hassan Sunday National, March 22nd 2020 The world is in flux, filled with uncertainty, confusion, panic and fear where many, if not all, of the assumptions that have defined politics are now open for challenge. Many things are still unclear but one certainty is that the dominant global economic model of recent decades is now being openly questioned. The Financial Times Sebastian Payne talked this week about ‘the ideology of last week’ –meaning the assumptions of the past four decades politically. There are still numerous voices clinging to the wreckage of

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History in the Making: The End of the Era of Neo-liberalism – in the UK and Globally Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, November 27th 2019 This, we are continually told, is meant to be a seismic, even historic election - usually referring to the fundamental implications of Brexit. What is seldom addressed is that this election also signifies far-reaching change in another aspect of politics. This is the confirmation of the jettisoning of the economic assumptions which have defined UK politics for the past 40 years - sometimes described as neo-liberalism. This shift is a continuation and reinforcement of a change

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The Price of Scottish Independence: Scotland and the UK according to the Free Marketeers Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 13th 2012 It is a sign of the times, and of its importance as an issue, that the global player which is ‘The Economist’ has Scottish independence as its cover and main feature this week, declaring, ‘It’ll cost you: The price of Scottish independence’. Their cover, leader, main UK article and a secondary piece, tell something about ‘The Economist’s’ view of Scottish independence, the UK and the world, each of which I will examine. ‘The Economist’ takes a dim view

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A Global Scot of Ideas: The Influence of Tom NaIrn Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, March 24th 2012 The United Kingdom this year will showcase itself to the world hoping that the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and London Olympic Games lift the domestic gloom, aid business and bring the tourists flocking. One man who has spent his life cutting through the national mystique, hyperbole and veneer of tradition is Tom Nairn who later this year turns 80. Nairn has over his rich intellectual life written on numerous aspects of British society; the nature of the union, the symbolism of the monarchy

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Fear of a Red Planet: The World in 2050 Today! Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, January 8th 2011 The future is going to work out fine. Beyond the crash, uncertainties and ‘unknown unknowns’. We have it from no less an authority than HSBC and their ‘The World in 2050’. It is going to be alright for the world, for the West and Britain, which is despite all the problems and competition still going to be a Top Nation in 2050! Forty years on world economic output will have tripled, food and water scarcity will be avoided and Malthusian predictions proved wrong

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