Amsterdam, a.d. V Kal. Iun. MMDCCLXIX A.U.C., A couple of months ago I predicted that Trump would not win the Republican primaries. I was fully convinced that Trump's competitors would coordinate their candidacies in order to prevent a Trump candidacy. In other words, I thought that as soon as became clear who would be the... Continue Reading →
Quo Vadis, Europa? (Or Eurosceptic’s Thorny Relation with Reality)
Leiden, a.d. IV Non. Mai. MMDCCLXIX A.U.C., A few weeks ago, on the 6th of April, the Netherlands held a referendum about an association agreement with Ukraine. After a half-hearted campaign by the Dutch government, some 61% of the 32% who bothered to show up voted against. Putin had a great day. While sharing the... Continue Reading →
Erdogo, Erdobegone, Erdogan
Leiden, a.d. III Non. Apr. MMDCCLXIX A.U.C., Yesterday Chancellor Merkel decided to let public prosecutors prosecute the German comedian Böhmermann for this rather juvenile poem, at the request of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, AKA The Mustache, AKA Sultan Erdogan. The poem discusses how Erdogan bombs Kurds, locks up journalists, shuts down free speech, and worst of... Continue Reading →
One, Two, Three, Four, Can I Have a Little More?
For political scientists something very exciting is going on in Spain right now. But, I think it is also interesting for people who are generally interested in how politics and societies work. Spain traditionally had a two-party system at the national level, so a system in which only two political parties have a real chance... Continue Reading →
The Coal Fired Power Plant Quagmire
Leiden, a.d. XVI Kal. Feb. MMDCCLXIX A.U.C., A few weeks ago the Dutch lower house (Tweede Kamer) decided to start phasing out coal fired power plants (CFPPs). Three energy companies, who recently built three CFPPs immediately threatened to sue the Dutch government for €6billion. This provides a good example of an issue I discussed in an... Continue Reading →
BOO EU, LUV PUTIN
Leiden, a.d. VI Ian. MMDCCLXIX A.U.C., Four days ago the Telegraph published an article in which several European populist parties are accused of being supported by the Kremlin. The organiczars organizers of the Dutch referendum on the association treaty with Ukraine are among the accused (more on this topic). Accidentally, two weeks ago I wrote this draft: "For... Continue Reading →
The Referendum and the EU’s Democratic Deficit
Leiden, a.d. IX Kal. Ian. MMDCCLXVIII A.U.C., On the 6th of April the Netherlands will hold a referendum on the ratification of the association treaty between the European Union and Ukraine. I personally think this is a total non-issue, being used to actually discuss the decision making processes of the EU, something the organizers have... Continue Reading →
GroenLinks and its Failing Strategy
Leiden, a.d. XV Kal. Dec. MMDCCLXVIII A.U.C., Today the UN Conference on Climate Change has started in Paris. In expectation of this, last week the Labour party (PvdA) and 'Green Left' (GroenLinks) announced a plan to cut CO2 emissions by 95% compared to 1990 by 2050. This would be a major change to the current Dutch environmental policies, because... Continue Reading →
Background, Salafism and Free Will
Leiden, a.d. III Id. Nov. MMDCCLXVIII A.U.C., For both practical as well as academic reasons I want to know why some people become fundamentalist muslims, and why a subset of those people decide to murder innocent people. The practical reason is of course that once we understand why people make these decisions, we could hopefully implement policies that... Continue Reading →
We All Stand Together
As you probably know already, last night Paris was shaken up by several terrorist attacks. When talking with a friend living in Paris, we noticed how similar our reaction was. Of course the terrorist attacks themselves scared us, especially her: "Hearing about these things always makes me angry but having it happen so close actually mostly... Continue Reading →