Arab nadir and clueless hegemons
“This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper,” wrote TS Eliot in 1925, probably responding to the profoundly unsatisfactory aftermath of the First World War (...
In whom do we trust?
Tributes following the death of Katie Cleridou showed respect and affection for her strong character, her honesty and sincerity. How many political figures in the world deserve that kind of ...
Invade Venezuela first!
Q: Why do some Canadians want Trump to invade Venezuela?
A: Because if Trump invades Venezuela first, he’ll get bogged down in that war and never get around to ...
What do the Greek Cypriots do now?
Federalism is back on the agenda after the election of Tufan Erhurman as “TRNC president” by a landslide comparable to the resounding approval Turkish Cypriots gave the UN-EU sponsored bicommunal ...
What Happened to Latin America?
Javier Milei, the Elon Musk wannabe who became president of Argentina two years ago chainsaw in hand, is now in deep trouble with the voters, and the mid-term elections are ...
Zeno of Citium: From ancient Larnaca to the world of philosophy
Walking through the old town of Larnaca, with its narrow streets, bustling seafront and echoes of centuries of trade, it is easy to forget that this city once produced one ...
The Nobel peace prize? Maybe next year, Don
If you are anything like me, the name of the person who won this year’s Nobel peace prize will not come automatically in your head. And no, it is ...
Foreign direct investment: Cyprus can turn challenges into opportunities
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a key driver of economic growth, technological advancement, productivity increase and international competitiveness.
For small countries like Cyprus, it offers essential capital, specialised knowledge and ...
Urgent need for property tax reform
There are compelling reasons why the property sector in Cyprus should be subject to greater taxation and, moreover, should be a key part of the forthcoming tax reform.
Firstly, in ...
UK’s government had no choice but to drop China-spying case
Abandoning a criminal prosecution is as controversial in England as it has been in the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) where there is a proposal to transfer the prosecutorial function of ...
Where have all the children gone?
In Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, under crime and punishment, I find ‘The righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked.’ And, ‘Let he who would lash the ...
The coming crash
“The thing that comforts me,” said Jeff Boudier at Hugging Face, the leading open platform for AI builders, “is that the internet was built on the ashes of the over-investment ...
Gaza: The 20-point Plan
When a bad man does a good thing, we should honour him for it even if his motives are selfish.
Donald Trump is only trying to ‘bring peace to the ...
Chevron priorities and implications for Aphrodite
In recent interviews Mike Wirth, Chevron’s CEO, detailed the company’s priorities and plans for the foreseeable future. He said “so long as the world is using oil and ...
Reactions to the upcoming EU budget are mixed
Currently, a controversial discussion is taking place concerning the EU budgetary framework for the period 2028-2034. This topic will certainly be a key priority in the coming months, which coincide ...
Creeping towards a Gaza peace deal
At last, there is a glimmer of hope of reaching an end to the killing in Gaza. Following the UN General Assembly last week there has been an incredible amount ...
Spiralling foreign purchases of Cyprus properties
Data for the years 2022 to 2024 and the first seven months of 2025 indicate that the purchases of Cyprus real estate by foreigners are rapidly increasing.
This frenzy in buying Cyprus properties ...
Might be time for permanent residents to apply for citizenship
If elected to government Reform UK said it would deprive millions of foreign nationals living in UK of indefinite leave to remain (ILR) which is the right of permanent settlement ...
Are vegetarians killers?
A gentle friend has a small farm he loves, and one of his prime pleasures is talking about how he’s improving it, and the affection he has for the ...
Can Ukraine Win?
Last February, Donald Trump and his heir apparent JD Vance launched a televised frontal attack on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the White House, telling him that Ukraine had “no ...
The militarisation of the Cyprus problem
In a move that echoes one of the most perilous moments in its recent history, the Republic of Cyprus is acquiring the Barak MX, a sophisticated integrated air defense system ...
How the West lost America
For some time, I have been trying to understand how the West managed to lose its key champion: the United States. By “the West,” I mean the group of countries ...
In a war of attrition, Ukrainians are likely to be more patient in adversity
Last February, Donald Trump and his heir apparent JD Vance launched a televised frontal attack on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House, telling him that Ukraine had “no ...
Trump’s Nobel obsession and the UN he scorns
Even allowing for his hyperbolic style, US President Donald Trump is not the peacemaker he boasted in his UN General Assembly speech last week nor is the UN as ineffective ...