As Montesquieu published his Persian Letters in 1721, he caused much excitement. A book in which two persians, Usbek and Rica, are travelling through Europe and writing to their fellows ´bout everything they saw. No mischief was left behind. Their bright observations hit a nerv in french society and Montesquieu, who later formulated the seperation… Continue reading Vietnamese Letters
Tag: Shortessay
The new America
The new US-president has signed a great deal of new executive orders, with whom he is able to launch new laws without nedding the congress. Adding to that, he attacked allies of Iran in Syria and exacerbated the rhetoric against Russia and China. Does this sounds familiar to you? The similarity towards the first weeks… Continue reading The new America
The USA stepping down
While the USA had to combine all its forces in the first decade of the new century to fight its wars in the "Broader Middle East", China gradually rose to become the Americans' new adversary. Obama reacted to this development and initiated the "Pivot to Asia", the strategic realignment with a focus on the Asia-Pacific… Continue reading The USA stepping down
The USA stepping up
After Britain, France and also Israel had to withdraw from the Sinai, there was no longer any doubt about the new pecking order in the Middle East. The time of the European colonial empires was over, the Cold War the new reality, with the USA and the Soviet Union as its main protagonists. That was… Continue reading The USA stepping up
Russia to the Russians?
If it´s true that demographie is the fate of the people, Russia is looking for a taff century ahead. With a population of some 145 million people, the state has to manage the by far biggest country on earth. Despide that, during the last century, Russia had to pay a huge price in the currency… Continue reading Russia to the Russians?
The new NATO
High-ranking representatives of the USA and China are currently in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss future relations between the two countries. Will there be a new cold war? Or does it already exist? And if so, what needs to be done to prevent an escalation? While France and Britain have already sent their navies into Pacific… Continue reading The new NATO
Decentralised Currencies
There´s a hell lot of money-talk going on all over the world right now, conserning the aftermaths of the pandemic. And one of these talks will soon be about the standing of the dollar as the global currency. Today, this role is safed by the fact that the international trade on oil is payed in… Continue reading Decentralised Currencies
Bangladesh
I remember reading a report in National Geographic magazine over a decade ago. The subject was Bangladesh and its problems, namely rapid population growth and the challenges of climate change. Ever since I read the article, I always saw this country as a kind of early warning system for the general development of humanity. If… Continue reading Bangladesh
Lebanon in free fall
The situation for Lebanon's inhabitants is getting worse. Inflation in the country has reached a new, historic high, with one American Dollar now worth 12,000 Lebanese Lira on the black market. By 2019, as the real value of the currency has increasingly decoupled from the officially stated one, it was around LL 1,500. To this… Continue reading Lebanon in free fall
First Talks
Turkey has faced increasing isolation in recent years, at least in relation to its immediate neighbours and the surrounding area. The most painful alienation may have taken place in the case of Egypt. As the most populous country and historical powerhouse in the Arab world, the country is of paramount importance in the region. And… Continue reading First Talks
Simon Dierich 