Rashmee Roshan Lall
Make America Maoist Asap
Under Trump, a cultural shift is underway in America, a bizarre witch hunt that’s following Mao’s cultural revolution template to a T
5 Things Trump Made Great Again
Europe: it wants to be strong * Beards: they are anti-Don fashion statements * Royal pretensions: he talks & walks like he’s king * Nukes: unlike US, they don’t abandon you * Doomsday sci-fi: what it imagines is what you feel
Germane: Trump 2.0 Zeitgeist
That the incoming German leader spoke of ‘independence’ from the US shows Europe can’t any longer be only a lifestyle superpower. But acquiring hard power quickly will be hard
Why We Shouldn’t Cancel Good Art By Bad Boys
Neil Gaiman, literary rock star, is accused of sexual & emotional abuse by 8 women. Truth is if we only permitted art by artists with unimpeachable moral standards, our libraries & galleries would be bare
Don’t Go? It’s Westland
Next year will see a decade-long anti-immigration sentiment in US & Europe get full play. Never mind only around 4% of world population are immigrants. Never mind sensible immigration solutions
British Raj is so yesterday
India’s no longer hassled about the Empire. Or bothered about the Commonwealth. The now inverted trade equation between India and post-Brexit Britain is satisfying enough
End of one Europe? Oh Mein Gott!
Fellow Europeans to Indian tourists & students will all be affected by Germany suspending Schengen rules for entry. Bigger implication is, like in US, the danger to the liberal project from far-right
Colour-coding Kamala? Get in line
Harris is comfortable carrying a heritage that’s from two very different countries in different hemispheres. That a White man wants to restrict her identity tightly, has a long history
Who will fix not-so-Great Britain?
Starmer’s big majority won’t help him run a country with soaring public debt and stretched govt finances. He’s supposed to be a technocrat. But, remember, so was Sunak
The white & wrong of UK’s Rishism
No British politician of a party seen to be losing has got it like Sunak. But this racism has worked subtly, through dog whistle or sneer. Britain may have moved forward on race question but it still matters
Britain’s poor little Rishi Rich
UK’s first Indian-origin PM, almost certainly headed for a poll drubbing, had a chance to make a mark. But he saw 10 Downing Street as just another job and mucked it all up
Is ‘the West’ worth saving? Is the idea delusional?
There’s hand-wringing on everything from Ukraine to Israel. A realistic take would show where others see hypocrisy, Western countries perceive virtue. That won’t work anymore
Tale of not-so-great Britain
UK’s decline through its spy thrillers: Suave James Bond told the story of British confidence. Sloppy Jackson Lamb tells the story of British failings
Europe’s Other War...On The ‘Other’
Continent fears barbarians are at the gate. The truth is migration there is mostly legal. But perception has overwhelmed reality & politicians are merrily playing along
What Britain’s Braverman, US' Vivek Ramaswamy say about brown leaders in the West
What do Britain’s Braverman and America’s Vivek Ramaswamy say about brown leaders in the West? They can be as majoritarian as a white. And tickbox diversity can be pretty shallow
Who’s that trying to act big on Gaza?
Britain’s grandstanding on Gaza is silly. And British politicians should remember London engendered the Middle East conflict
Kiss and yell: A dreadfully familiar story, from Spain
Like champion footballer Jenni Hermoso, most women have stories about their moment of triumph being derailed and tarnished by some man’s inappropriate words or gestures
The Saudi shimmy: Oil’s well with football
Petrodollars flowing to football isn’t novel, but European jibes betray an outdated mindset. Stars like Ronaldo, Neymar playing in the conservative kingdom could have a transformative impact
Europe: Heat is real not renoir
Europeans still imagine summer as their great artists’ romantic depictions. Coping with scorching temperatures will require them to change what they eat & drink, what they wear and how they live
On race, France is now Americanised
With a George Floyd moment eroding French claims of colour-blind universalism, the charged issue of racism has finally broken out of long institutional silencing