What Aristotle might say about Christmas consumerism

The juxtaposition of old ideas, modern resources, and paradoxes in human behaviour can be fascinating. This Briefing looks to these sources for the light they shed on Western materialism; more especially, on how and why many in Britain and the West, despite acute financial pressure, still choose to celebrate Christmas lavishly … if not excessively! […]

Continue Reading

Mystery, crisis and history – on Hindu identity and modern Indian politics

Speaking of Russia’s intentions in 1939, the British parliamentarian, soldier, and best-selling author, Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), famously observed: ‘I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.’ Commentators today on Putin’s […]

Continue Reading

‘Asian Values’ and ‘Human Rights’ – Can they be reconciled?

‘Church-State’ relations are inherently complex; perhaps especially so in a world now sensitized, in deep, divisive, and dangerous ways, to a nation’s distinctive cultural and spiritual identity and the rights of a person to believe, or not believe, in a certain way. The separation of ‘church’ (qua religion and/or spirituality) and ‘state’ in the Indian […]

Continue Reading

On ‘new gods’ and old idols: Faith, power and the pathology of aggression

I am delighted to introduce the work of our outstanding Argentinian Associate Dr Pablo Baisotti. Pablo is a historian and social scientist (with an MA and PhD from the ancient University of Bologna, Italy), whose multidisciplinary approach to Latin America studies sheds important light on contemporary global issues. There is much here to make one […]

Continue Reading

Pakistan: On flooding, faith and the fallout from geopolitical folly

Pakistan is a wonderful, but vulnerable country. Internal politics, religious extremism, and ecological risk plague its life and its international profile. My focus here is on the crippling effects of the recent floods that brought havoc, heartache, and the loss of life to many inside and, I should stress, outside the country. For, Pakistan is […]

Continue Reading