March 26, 2020
With his hand on a gold-embossed copy of the Russian constitution, Putin was sworn in for the fourth time in 2018, when he promised to serve the Russian people faithfully. Today, he is trying to alter and shape that same constitution to suit his own interests and cement his power, possibly in perpetuity. Putin has backed a proposal by a member of Russia’s ruling party to amend the constitution in a way that in effect “resets”...
March 24, 2020
On the 21st April 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian and complete political outsider, was swept to power in the Ukrainian Presidential elections. He comfortably beat his incumbent rival Petro Poroshenko by gaining 73% of the vote. Around the world, this election marked the beginning of a crackdown on widespread corruption and signalled a glimmer of hope for war-torn Ukraine. However, it now seems like the light is go...
March 17, 2020
In 2003, when Roman Polanski won the Academy Award for Best Director for his film The Pianist, he was met with thunderous applause and a standing ovation, even from long time #MeToo activist Meryl Streep. Despite what the whole of the film industry knew of Roman Polanski’s history of sexual assault, he was still given massive approval by his peers. Granted, The Pianist is a masterpiece of cinematic achievement, but his win cre...
March 1, 2020
“Paris mayoral elections have become elections of mass destruction”. Serge Federsburch used these words to describe the mayoral elections of Paris that will occur in March. Despite Federsburch being himself one of the candidates from the right independent party Aimer Paris, he compared the current situation to a platform for people to sabotage themselves in a criminal manner. This statement has been made in light of the scanda...
February 19, 2020
Italy is famous for its turbulent politics, for how parties and governments come and go at the whim of the country’s proportional system. Regionalism also plays its part. Not so long ago Matteo Salvini’s League was a party solely for the interests of the country’s north, whilst the south saw the bulk of the Five-Star Movement’s rise. These populist outliers successfully upturned Italy’s politics, forming a coalition government...