The new issue of EAST Global Geopolitics is on sale at newsagents from March 1st.
Prisoners of Destiny, editor-in-chief James Hansen finds the hand of geopolitical fate in many of the issues touched upon in our latest edition.
Britain, an island both physically and metaphorically, seems never to be certain whether it is part of the European Union, while Europe itself appears unable to discard its historical doubts about Turkey, whose citizens still require a visa to travel within the EU.
Germany, after 90 years, is still tormented by the collapse of the Mark during the Weimar Republic. France instead can’t seem to give up its dream of an African empire, much the way Iran hasn’t forgotten its own Imperial Persian past.
Looking to the future.
The recovery is on its way, but it’s not under our belts yet warns Sir Suma Chakrabarti – Chairman of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – in his interview with East.
Turkey is now giving voice to the Kurds by legalizing three dangerous letters of the alphabet – q, w and x – while savage undersea combat between dolphins and killer drones looms as a real possibility in a future war.
An Indian space mission is on its way to Mars, while neighbouring Pakistan hosts the world’s hottest Stock Exchange.
As ever, Japan is pushing the limits of the future: on the one hand it explores the use of frozen energy, fire ice mined from the sea bottom, to power its industries. On the other, the country’s population tests the dangerous abstinence of life without sex.
The Japanese are no longer copulating… Most seem to think it’s simply not worth the trouble, but it’s tempting to blame PowerPoint. Some experts think the popular presentation software poses a danger to world peace. Lord Chesterfield though reminds us though that laughter is, well, no laughing matter. Decent people limit themselves to a polite smile.
