The resurrection of ISIS: causes and consequences of renewed instability in the Levant

On 21 January 2021, a double suicide bombing in Baghdad claimed the lives of more than thirty people. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, their first in Baghdad since 2018 and, as such, a deliberate statement of their resurgence in the region and renewed challenge to the international order in the 21st century. 21 January […]

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Lessons for life: on Rugby, Brown, bullies and the power of small things

In Big is Beautiful: Debunking the Myth of Small Business (The MIT Press, 2018) authors Robert Atkinson and Michael Lind reject prevailing wisdom and provocatively reclaim size as a significant factor in business success. To some, COVID-19 has justified that claim, with small businesses struggling to survive and on-line giants gorging themselves on the profits […]

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Shifting Sands in the MENA Region: A decade on from the Arab Spring

Ten-years ago last December, the 26-year-old market-stall holder Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight in Sidi Bouzid, a town in central Tunisia. It was an act of utter desperation and bitter frustration at the corruption which had wracked his country for more than half a century. Like a match to dry kindling, Bouazizi’s self-immolation triggered bushfires […]

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The changing of the guard: on Downton, democracy and the last days of Trump

‘Precision drill and bands playing stirring music all combine to make Changing of the Guard one of London’s most popular attractions’ epitomising ‘the pomp and military ceremony for which Britain is famous.’ So, states one enthusiastic tourist website. Buckingham Palace’s website is predictably more restrained and precise: ‘Changing of the Guard is one of the […]

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