What is the driving force of Nigerian politics and business?No part of the Nigerian elite has any faith or confidence in the future of Nigeria. Any person from abroad of Nigerian ancestry with visions for its future will be punished until they squeal in pain. For our elite, even believing in Nigeria’s future is an offence. This goes way back. I remember speaking to the editor of Abiola’s paper. I mentioned that I had a proposal that would turn…

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Alex Mercouris and Alex Christoforou, on their platform The Duran, make some fundamental errors in their evaluation of the future options for the US. They argue that the US has nothing to fear from a reduction in their status. They also claim the `US was responsible for moving manufacturing to China and away from the US. These are two fundamental errors: firstly, the movement of manufacturing to China was not a move away from the US. The original competition…

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Western commentators, particularly critical ones, are finding explanations of US policy to be puzzling. They then drift to suggestions that the US policy elite have lost their senses. This is always a poor option. What is the cause of this misunderstanding? It arises from thinking that these recent US policy actions are devoted to the external world. In fact, these actions are primarily designed as internal political actions. Pelosi on Taiwan: these actions are designed to prevent subsequent administrations…

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We are often asked how Africa, with so many bright and intelligent people, can be so badly governed. This note is a brief essay on thinking carefully about this issue. Our first port of call is to understand that the damage done by an institution is not directly related to itself but to the context. An institution may do more harm than ever intended, particularly if by accident, the ability to reform escapes the community. Our first post-war generation…

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Cynthia Miller-Idriss has recently addressed in Foreign Affairs (8 July 2022) the issue of mass shootings. Rather than focusing on the availability of arms she has indicted extremism as an immediate influence but identified mental health as the long time underlying context: ‘The alleged Buffalo shooter was referred for a psychiatric evaluation after telling his high school classmates he wanted to carry out mass violence, but he was released. When he graduated from high school two weeks later, investigators…

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https://cardozo.yu.edu/sites/default/files/styles/scale_850x850/public/2020-04/KATE_SHAW_480-ret-flat-crop-8×8-HI-RES.jpg?itok=WgRhWvvd There was a popular phrase in the UK from 1980’s – ‘the loony left’. This was directed at the far left, such as members of the Trotskyite movement. However, the strange behaviour of what passes for a left in USA can be described as fairly ‘loony’, and, ironically, these persons and views are part of the Democratic mainstream. GUN CONTROL Somehow the American left have bought the idea that the availability of guns causes school massacres. This is…

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‘ ‘… it is not a matter of belittling Ancient Egyptians, it is known of course they did not have any mathematics… ‘ Alicia Maravelia 17 June 2022 Maravelia made a presentation on ‘Of Eternity, Everlastingness and Stars’1. Among her primary claims were that:  All mathematical astronomy began with the Greeks. She reads back into Ancient Egypt from the views of modern physics and views from the religion of Christianity and Judaism, seeing Ancient Egypt as a precursor; With…

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In an FT  interview on 9 May 2022 with Henry Kissinger  ( Note1  ) Kissinger let the cat out of the bag. Eighty per cent of the Russian population lives in the European part and much of the Asian part of Russia was acquired recently he said. Here  Kissinger is taking 1600’s as ‘recent history’. This suggests that he is seeking to get the Russians to see themselves as ‘European’ not Asian. On the basis that Russia is mostly…

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Western views of sex There is an important misunderstanding when there is a discussion about sexuality. Given the weight and power of western media western views of certain matters become dominant and understood as primary.  How does this affect people from other cultures? What happens is that people from other cultures try hard to make sense of western views of sexuality and re-interpret them and so begins a trail of misunderstanding. https://imgix.ranker.com/user_node_img/22/425448/original/alessandra-ambrosio-photo-u179?auto=format&q=60&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&dpr=2&w=375 Image from Ranker.com of Alessandra Ambrosio It…

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Sergey Karaganov was interviewed by Bruno Macaes for The New Statesman ( 2 April 2022) see Note 1. Karaganov speaks with the fluency and calm assurance of someone closely connected to power. His tone is factual and if anything a little weary of his audience as if to say ‘I have told you this before but you won’t listen.’ He outlined Russia’s concerns and objectives in simple language with exquisite brevity. Unlike so many commentators in the West he…

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