Golden Apple Awards 2020 – Page 9

The British Black Power Movement

By Malick Nythern Doucoure

Growing up in multicultural suburban London as a black male in the early 2000s, Race was never a concept at the forefront of my mind. It was only after an instance of what I believe to be racial prejudice, in which I was suspected of shoplifting and invasively physically searched – bearing in mind the fact that I was aged only 11 – that I started to wonder if my race affected people’s attitude and behaviour towards me. Being a rather peculiar and curious 11 year old, I went home that day and went down a rabbit hole of researching racism and its causes, optimistically – and foolishly – thinking I could ‘cure’ people of it.Continue reading “The British Black Power Movement”

Two Months Later: What Has Trump Actually Done?

By Thomas Sherlock

No matter your political leaning, it’s safe to say the election of Donald Trump caused an almighty stir. From protestors literally wailing at his inauguration to his backers celebrating, everyone had expectations of a Trump presidency. Two months in, what has he actually done? In short, not much.Continue reading “Two Months Later: What Has Trump Actually Done?”

A (sarcastic) critique of “Identity Politics and the Political Spectrum”

By Peter Marshall

ONLY A SITH DEALS IN ABSOLUTES

-Obi Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

There comes a point when using the wholly academic Wikipedia to make a point becomes as bad as the Reductio ad Hitlerum fallacy (saying “Yeah, but Hitler thought/did that”). Mr. Ivlev wrote a Despatch Box article on the 9^th of March criticising identity politics (or the politics of the “Social Justice Warrior”) and how it is neither left or right, but a liberal agenda. The intention of this article is to go through the article and criticise the wholly inaccurate portrayal of the many concepts Mr. Ivlev explores.

Continue reading “A (sarcastic) critique of “Identity Politics and the Political Spectrum””

Balkans: The Spectre of War

By Héloïse Bertrand

In the Western Balkans, the inter-ethnic tensions since the explosion of the former Yugoslavia in the 90s have not vanished despite almost twenty years of relative stability. Worried about Trump’s tumultuous rise to power and the Eurosceptic wave engendered by the Brexit speculative phenomenon in the United Kingdom, the West has completely overshadowed the tensions in this region that, in Churchill’s words, “produce more history than they can consume”. Why are we seeing these nationalist tensions again in the region? Could the unstable situation degenerate again today? Are the Balkans becoming the new arena of the arm wrestling game played by the great powers of this world?Continue reading “Balkans: The Spectre of War”

Keep Calm and Carry On

By Megan Harris

At first I thought it was some sick joke, created by my colleague to wind me up as I was leaving our Parliamentary office early for the afternoon.

I told him to not be so stupid and to stop playing games, but panting- he had just sprinted up three flights of stairs- he insisted this was not a joke. Any doubts I had vanished when another colleague came crashing through the door.

The police had shouted at staff to get inside and undercover. Gunshots had been fired on the Parliamentary estate. That was the extent of our knowledge. Continue reading “Keep Calm and Carry On”

The Fall of an Empire

By Daniel Atherton

Comparing the demise of the European Union to the collapse of the Roman Empire.

“A rising power on the peripheries in the North East, an overreliance on imported labour, a faltering economy, the rise of an inhumane enemy from the Levant, overexpansion, political instability, corruption within constituent members, the loss/lack of a uniting identity, mass migration including refugee influxes, and the weakening of central authority.”

Evan Andrews, The History Channel

You’d be mistaken for presuming that the above text is describing the demise of the European Union. You’d be wrong – but forgivably so.Continue reading “The Fall of an Empire”

The Politics of Fear is everywhere – how can we stop it?

By Emma Temple

If there is one thing that binds together humans, politically or otherwise, it is a resounding fear of the unknown. Fear is the ultimate mechanism for control and as such is a primary feature of the discourse both within international relations and domestic politics. To combat this requires a significant overhaul of not only the way in which political debates are conducted, but also the way we as individuals choose to prioritise our political concerns.Continue reading “The Politics of Fear is everywhere – how can we stop it?”

Russian Israelites, Are They Voting “Right”?

By Yury Polyakov

The voting patterns among the Russian-speaking people in Israel. Part 1.

The Russian Speaking Israeli people have voted differently in all Israeli General Elections. The primary reason for several switches from one side to another was that the Russian speakers were vulnerable to propaganda. Not all Russian Speakers are ethnic Jews because the non-Jewish family members could migrate to Israel alongside their Jewish spouse. Thus, this article will cover the issues in both Jewish and non-Jewish circles inside Israel.Continue reading “Russian Israelites, Are They Voting “Right”?”

On Gun Rights, Liberty and Revolt

By Vladimir Ivlev

Joe Average is your typical upstanding citizen living in the safe cradle of his imperturbable suburbia. No kids, no wife, no valuable possessions, no ambitions, and a daddy complex. Joe looks at his fellow citizens engaging in political discourse, imminently changing the channel to the 9 o’clock preview of the new Gilmore Girls season with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s™. Joe Average is content with his uneventful life. A contention that annoys the philosophy undergrad. Through a cruel karmic trick Joe is suddenly transported to a low-scale apartment, a dead-end job, a market clerk spouse and 2.5 kids. With his bank account drained and his relationship with his father normalized, Joe, realizing the predicament he is in, screams out loud “Is this my life now?”.

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2017 Dutch Election: ‘politics for everyone’?

By Yury Polyakov

The Western World followed the capitalisation and democratisation processes that created the common ground for a normative basis of the regional European interest. Despite the active role played by the anarchists and the left, European countries sustained democracy and parliamentarism as shared ideals, whereas communism secured its strategic location in the Soviet Union and its influence sphere. The Netherlands obtained the essential element of all democracies – free and fair elections. This country formed a system with universal rights in 1917. However, the social transformations of today are global, and they shed light on the most sensitive topics that nobody wanted to discuss publicly in preceding decades.

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