Karl Marx’s prediction was that capitalism would lead to the numbers of wealthy property owners (the bourgeoisie) becoming smaller and smaller, while everyone else sank into an immiserated proletariat, which would eventually revolt to overthrow its masters and introduce a new socialist order. During the century after his death, his analysis was invalidated by two...Read More

In his recent testimony to the House of Lords, Sir Ivan Rogers, former British Permanent Representative to the European Union, criticized as premature and ill-prepared the Prime Minister’s triggering last March of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. This is unfair to Theresa May. No different date for the beginning of the Brexit negotiations could...Read More

The statements and exchanges at the conference regarding relations with the West were of the “he said, she said” variety that have become so drearily familiar over the years. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.Read More

The ongoing impact of the financial crisis upon the global economy and the concomitant shift towards more regionally-oriented patterns of trade have greatly increased the cogency of the case for more effective policy cooperation at a European level. But that case had already been well-established by the rise of the new emerging powers over the...Read More

Brexit is the source of a great deal of uncertainty as far as the exit agreement is concerned. The British government has announced that it will trigger the procedure provided for by article 50 TEU on 29th March, but the commercial aspect of the negotiations is still subject to several strategic factors. Moreover, Theresa May’s...Read More

The outcome of the recent referendum on the question of Britain’s membership in the European Union has many important implications. These range from the exact modalities of Britain’s future relationship with the EU and other EU-member states, the free movement of labour on the continent, the continued stability of the UK housing market, financial services...Read More

The collapse of the Shanghai stock market at the end of August (a downward correction of 37% since 12th June) has brought back to the fore the inherent weaknesses in China’s current economic development. The country’s decreasing growth to 7% over the first six months of the year (with an annual forecast of 6.7% for...Read More

Since Prime Minister Modi took office in May 2014, India has embarked on a number of measures to encourage the development of the country’s economy and the streamlining of its indigenous defence capabilities. Probably the most prominent reform has been the raising of a foreign direct investment cap from 26% to 49% since August 2014,...Read More

Atlanticists on both side of the pond have used the current standoff with Russia over Ukraine to reassert the centrality of NATO and of the transatlantic partnership. Continued interest in a united and purposeful West is a good thing, but the conceptual basis of the transatlantic relationship is outdated and in urgent need of overhaul....Read More

This final report of a series of conferences organised jointly by the Federal Trust and Global Policy Institute working in partnership with the Representation of the European Commission reviews the European policies of the Coalition government during its third year in office. The report stresses the overriding importance of developments in the Eurozone both for...Read More