Catastrophe and Renaissance
Humanity is now facing extraordinary and terrifying dangers. Contrary to its soporific bromides, government is making it worse. But, in fact, this moment offers an opportunity for something better.
Carne Ross
Understanding power, conflict, and the systems beneath the news
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Latest posts
How Power Works: what connects the Ceuta 'crisis', Nolan's Odyssey and Morocco?
An illegal occupation that the world ignores, that's what
How Power Works: Saving Humanity from AI
AI may turn out well, it may end civilisation as we know it. No one really knows. And the current avenues to mitigate the danger will not work, including those proposed by AI leaders.
On being bipolar
The experience and politics of a common disorder
"There We Are Human Again" - early reader reviews
"This book could change your life. It will certainly touch your soul."
How power works: day-by-day, state surveillance becomes more intrusive
Why does the state want to control us, and why do we allow it?
How Power Works: US/Iran - Endless conflict
The almost-unbelievable US/Iran MoU stores up all kinds of problems for the future
The Nuclear Peril 2
A growing risk that is not getting the necessary attention
Why did I write my book?
'There we are human again: a diplomat's journey to anarchism' is published next week
Join me on TikTok for a Livestream, 8 June 7pm UK time
Come join me!
How power works: An earthquake shakes British politics
Support for the governing party collapses, politics fragments, but the real reasons behind the widespread public anger are neither admitted nor addressed
NATO in trouble
Trump is laying waste to the promise of mutual self-defence, what next?
How Power Works: Iran: a master class in how not to negotiate
Trump shows us the 'art of the deal' - some art, some deal
How Power Works: Iran Negotiations
A quick read on what's going on
How Power Works: The strange 'special' and not-so-special relationship
Trump's destruction of the UK/US relationship reveals Britain's profound dependence on the US, but also opens the way to a more independent and imaginative foreign policy
How Power Works: Rape by the state
The extraordinary and shocking crimes of the 'spycops' reveal deeper truths about the state
Iran War: when 'talks' are not talks
When is a negotiation not a negotiation, some definitions
How Power Works: Iran and the deeper forces driving US military action
The military-industrial complex remains in full swing, but there are other hidden factors that increase the propensity to use military force
How Power Works: Iran - how governments justify war
We can all agree that Trump or Netanyahu are monstrous, but why do we give them - or rather states - the right to kill in the first place?
How Power Works: What the Bombing of Iran Reveals
Each week I look at one major international event and try to explain the structures of power behind it — the actors, ideologies and assumptions shaping events
US/Israeli attacks on Iran
All prediction is foolish, but some more general inferences can already be drawn, including about the crazy, chaotic and dangerous nature of our state-based world today