By Khaled Diab A sudden lurch from ignoring or underplaying the threat of right-wing extremism in America to treating white crusaders like jihadis and QAnon like al-Qaeda will set off the insurgency timebomb rather than defuse it. New Jersey National…
Tag: covid-19
Ancient Egypt: A pyramid scheme that worked
By Khaled Diab Spanning some three millennia of recorded history, Ancient Egyptians built a state to last. What was behind this success and what can we learn from it? Quite a few surprising lessons, in fact. Image: Gaurav D Lathiya,…
Moria and the smouldering ruins of Europe’s humanity
By Boštjan Videmšek in Lesbos The refugees and migrants who survived the fire at the Moria camp in Lesbos find themselves in an even worse predicament as authorities repeat the same dire mistakes. Thursday 8 October 2020 Safia R (not…
Lost in ‘know-ware’ land
By Christian Nielsen It is the cypher of the age, the new C-word that the know-ware machine must not detect lest it conjures up undesirable meanings, and undesirable consequences. Friday 2 October 2020 There are so many powerful things going…
Belgium’s endless identity crisis
As it stumbles from one political crisis to the next, Belgium faces a profound existential threat. But can the slow disintegration of the Belgian state be reversed and, if so, how? Friday 25 September 2020 Back in 2011, Belgium…
Billionaires and the welfare of nations
By Khaled Diab The super rich are leaving only the scraps for everyone else to fight over, which is fuelling a mounting wave of intolerance as minorities and migrants are scapegoated for falling wellbeing. For the welfare of all, we…
Robust health systems are society’s first line of defence against pandemics
Belgium has long been written off as a dysfunctional and failing state, yet its response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been surprisingly functional and successful. This highlights how effective healthcare acts as society’s immune system. Wednesday 6 May 2020 With its chronic, record-breaking inability to…