There is much talk about values and frequently comparisons between Western and Eastern values.  There is at least universal agreement on one value, as spelt out below: Buddhism “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” (Udana-Varga 5.18) Christianity “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.” (Matthew [...]

“By May 1928 the basic principles of guerilla warfare…had already been evolved; that is, the sixteen-character formula: The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue.” (Mao Zedong, 1936). This post is inspired by the columnist Gwynne Dyer. “The ability to run away is [...]

Daniel Bell, in the Globe and Mail of 19 February 2010 wrote an interesting article about the revival of Confucianism.  Only recently, the Chinese Communist Party approved a film about Confucius, starring the handsome leading man Chow Yun-Fat. Bell’s addressing Confucian values in practice is particularly interesting.  Confucian intellectuals have put forward political proposals that [...]

Two items struck me in tonight’s newscasts. Lufthansa pilots are striking for four days, costing the company €100 million.  They are demanding a 6% pay increase and that pilots in Lufthansa’s foreign subsidiaries be paid at their rates.  French frefinery workers are striking against Total’s decision to close a refinery. Whatever the facts behind these [...]

Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, wrote on 19 February to foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton complaining about the manner in which way Joao Vale de Almeida was recently appointed ambassador in Washington (see post dated 19 February).  Bildt asks how the appointment was made, pending adoption of new rules governing the procedure, but with [...]

Reproduced below is the review in The Economist of 4 February 2010 of my BICCS colleague’s new book: China and India: Prospects for Peace. (Columbia University Press; 234 pages; $37.50 and £26. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk) FOR a book about two countries whose most recent war was five decades ago, “Prospects for Peace” seems a quirky [...]

I have in previous blog posts, strongly disagreed with criticism of Baroness Ashton.  The nomination of Joao Vale de Almeida to succeed John Bruton as EU ambassador in Washington is, however, worrying.  I believed that Hermann Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton were the right appointments but not necessarily for the right reason.  She was right [...]

Further to the post of 25 January, Baroness Ashton is still under attack for not going to Haiti, notwithstanding  that the UN had requested that dignataries do not visit the island, so as not to disrupt the emergency aid activities.  She stated  then that Development & Humanitarian Aid Commissioner, Karel De Gucht, would go when [...]

The EU has failed its first test of external unity under the Lisbon Treaty.  It is normal for governments to address messages of congratulation to heads of government/state after being democratically elected or confirmed.    Such messages are usually synchronised in the EU, and this was agreed last week by EU ambassadors in Kiev in the [...]

With the above words, Peter Mandelson, former EU Trade Commissioner and now UK First Secretary of State, concludes a perceptive op-ed in today’s New York Times. Lord Mandelson identifies a mismatch between our expectations of China and China’s own assessment of its role and responsibilities. Today’s Chinese leadership is defined by two decades of Chinese [...]