The Common Agricultural Policy Stands in the way of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030
If the European Union is to be ambitious in pursuing its Green Deal it must dramatically reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which is currently a major contributor to biodiversity loss in the EU. While the EU proudly advertises its “Farm to Fork” and Biodiversity strategies for 2030, the proposed…
An EU Army: Future or Falsehood?
A year after Emmanuel Macron proclaimed NATO was 'brain dead', recent significant developments in EU defence cooperation raise the question of whether an EU army is on the cards in the foreseeable future. Since its origins, European integration has been geared towards an 'ever-closer union'. A joint military seemingly appears…
Trouble in the East: The Future of European Relations with an Assertive Turkey
In recent years Turkey has shown itself not to be the friendly neighbour many in Europe had hoped for. Growing tensions and geopolitical rivalry between Turkey and the EU have exposed fissures within the bloc – and threaten Ankara’s relationship with it. Amongst the multiple crises the European Union (EU)…
Yet another Common Agricultural Policy Reform? The False Promises of the European Green Deal
In her 2020 State of the Union address of 16 September, Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen called for a more ambitious EU environmental policy and the reinforcement of the European Green Deal. One of the areas covered by this new green agenda, is the Common Agricultural Policy. I argue…
Chlorinated Chicken and Beyond: Brexit and Food Policy
Since ‘Leave’ won the referendum, there have been advocates for a close trade relationship with the USA. This raises questions about the future of Britain’s food and animal health policy now that it has left the EU and the Single Market. ‘Chlorinated chicken’ became the flagship issue, but it does…
Ending coercion against freedom: Bridging laïcité and religious literacy
Samuel Paty, History-Geography and Citizenship middle-school teacher in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, was murdered on October 16 2020 a few days after showing students Charlie Hebdo’s caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a class on free speech. The attack is a socking reminder of the decade old tensions affecting French society. Islam has…
Excluded at the ballot box: what stops people voting around the world and how to fix it
A first-time voter at the 2012 US presidential election. Larry W. Smith/EPA As the US election campaign nears its end point, one thing about the result is certain: a lot of people won’t vote. Turnout at the 2016 US presidential election was only 60.1% – even without a pandemic. In 2020 there is…
What does ‘decolonisation’ mean? A critique of the discourse of decolonisation in the Political, Social and International Studies department at UEA
Calls for ‘decolonisation’ has become stronger—or, to put it another way, “trendy” (Adebisi, 2019)—over the past few years within higher education in the UK and beyond, driven by student activism and campaigns such as ‘Rhodes Must Fall Oxford’ (ignited by the movement that began at the University of Cape Town,…
Blank spaces: reflecting on (my) teaching silences and exclusions
What would your lecture slides look like if you removed male authors? Professor Lee Jarvis had a look at his to find out. Like many of my colleagues, I have spent the last few weeks preparing for, and thinking about, my teaching for this semester. This year I’ll be delivering…
No Deal Brexit Risks Queues at the Border and Food Shortages, New Academic Report Finds
The most immediate and visible impact of the UK failing to get a deal with the EU will be seen at the border, with risks of queues and shortages of food, a new report by academic think tank UK in a Changing Europe finds. Prof Hussein Kassim is a professor…