As long as nations are dependent upon other nations to provide energy, their energy security will always be under threat. Only through using renewables can nations ensure their own energy security. Energy security can be defined as the association between national security, and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Energy security is not…
Category: International Relations
In defence of Euroscepticism
The last time the public had a vote on our relationship with the rest of Europe was in 1975. At the time this was a vote simply over whether or not we should join a ‘common market’ which is quite difficult to vehemently oppose. However, not only has the EU evolved into a political federation, but no-one…
Democracy is failing
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter” – Churchill Democracy is a political system that aims at providing a government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation, usually involving periodically held free elections. Democracy was a good idea, however…
Banning Trump is like bandaging a broken leg
Here in the UK, MPs are debating whether or not to ban Donald Trump from entering our nation. Aside from blatantly preoccupying itself with the affairs of a nation across the Atlantic, what irked me even more was the illiberal views of what should be a liberal parliament. Donald Trump is not my cup of…
The rise of China and its consequences
“China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move the world.” – Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon was correct with his prognosis made over 200 years ago – China is no longer sleeping she is awakening, she has not yet fully awoken and thus is yet to reach full economic and…
2015: The political year reviewed
As the year is drawing to a close, it is only right that we look back and reflect on everything that has happened since January. In the runup to the general election, there was a tense time where the hot political issue being debated was how political issues should be debated. Cameron refused to take part without…
Should the UK stay in the EU?
Hey! I’m Shrey and I will be heading up the Economics section for Pertinent Problems, in addition to writing for my own, personal blog. I’m looking forward to hearing and engaging with your thoughts! In the wake of David Cameron’s spectacular announcement regarding the 2017 EU referendum, the debate regarding the UK’s European Union membership has…
Syria is a lost cause until its underlying issues are addressed
When the government tells you that we can destroy Daesh by bombing them, do not take them at their word. Think about how Daesh came to exist. A group of dissatisfied Muslims who were not happy with the way the West had interfered in the Middle East and created chaos by setting up a group…
Airstrikes in Syria are wrong
Imagine you’re a teenage Syrian. You’ve been displaced from where you used to live, separated from your friends, and uncertain about what the future holds. Life in a refugee camp can barely be called a life. News arrives that the bodies of your parents have been found; they were “collateral damage” in what was an…
Paris is the tragic symptom of a wider problem
The deplorable events which took place last night need no restatement. They were repugnant and any kind of point these terrorists wished to project was automatically discredited by the sheer massacre they inflicted on over a hundred innocent civilians. But upon further inspection there was no statement worth hearing from these people. After all, this is…
The Iran deal is progressive, not regressive
Last week’s United Nations General Assembly epitomised current relations between the USA and Iran. The handshake between Barack Obama and Mohammad Javad Zarif was the first between a US president and Iran’s top diplomat since 1979. But whilst it marked an historic step forward in Western-Iranian relations, it was nonetheless met with hostility from religious…
There is no remedy in sight for Syria
As I write this, Russia is not only conducting airstrikes against ISIS, but against the enemies of Bashar al-Assad. Considering the UK, US and many other countries don’t think Syria has a future under his regime, it was no surprise then to hear that Barack Obama condemned Putin’s move as “a recipe for disaster“. America’s…
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