Teflon de Pfeffel Johnson

Waxwork of Boris Johnson on display at Madame Tussauds, Marylebone, London, England.

Theresa May was gone within 6 months of having won a vote of confidence by a greater margin than Boris Johnson (63% vs. 59% support). But under the Tory Party rules, he cannot now be challenged in a vote of confidence for another 12 months, regardless of how badly the Tories do in the meantime. That is, of course, unless the Tories change their rules, something the threatened to do in the case of Theresa May. A large majority, c. …

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Irish Neutrality and military alliances…

nato, flag, compass rose

The Irish Times recently published my letter on Neutrality and military alliances. In this post, I reprint the letter as well as expand on the topic. A chara, – It has often been noted that generals tend to fight the battles of today with the weapons and strategies of the last war. Russia may be finding this out to its cost in Ukraine. Critics of Ireland’s policy of neutrality and relative lack of military capability tend to call for us to …

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The external influences on Northern Ireland’s political future…

globe, map, countries

The debate about the constitutional future of Northern Ireland tends to revolve around internal factors like demographic trends, relative economic advantage, and the dysfunctional state of current political arrangements. But Northern Ireland doesn’t exist in a vacuum and may also be subject to the influence of trends in global, European, British and Irish politics and economics more generally. In this discussion, I want to focus on these external factors, and their influence on Northern Ireland, rather than on the economic, …

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