Author Archives: bernardporter2013

The thing that might finally turn his transatlantic fans against Trump – the rest of us are against him anyway – is his contemptuous dismissal of the contributions of European armed forces to America’s wars in recent years. ‘The problem … Continue reading →

If you could choose, which national leader would you rather have? Both speeches – Trump’s and Carney’s – were delivered to the Global Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, only yesterday. Is there any chance that rather than America’s annexing Canada … Continue reading →

Reading the papers today, everything is ‘Trump’. It’s difficult to get away from him; even Prince Harry (in Britain) and the Epstein files can’t compete. I imagine he’s loving this – even the bad publicity he generates, however much he … Continue reading →

Everyone now knows what they maybe didn’t know a week ago, about Greenland, and Trump’s designs on it. They may however wonder why tiny Denmark presently has (partial) control over this vast but sparsely populated island. The Danish connection goes … Continue reading →

This worries me. What if Trump is proved right? What if his tariffs are successful in bringing manufacturing back to America; if he is instrumental in bringing peace to Ukraine, Gaza and South America; if he builds his luxury condos … Continue reading →

That was Donald Rumsfeld’s proud claim at the height of the Iraq war in 2003. Of course it’s untrue. The Americans have always ‘done’ empire, from their very first days as a Republic, and throughout their periods of supposed ‘isolationism’, … Continue reading →

Has anybody else come across this unusual short story by EM Forster, originally published in a university magazine in 1909? I think it’s Forster’s only foray into science fiction: a dystopian story set in a world where the middle classes … Continue reading →

I’ve been trawling through history – or as much of it as I know – to find if there has ever been a madder, more stupid and more corrupt national leader anywhere in the world, than Trump. Any ideas? (Most … Continue reading →

Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (dramatic version) is a sell-out again this year at the Folkoperan in Stockholm, performed in English and with the text interspersed with English carols. We took Kajsa’s family to it this afternoon – my Christmas present … Continue reading →

He’s at it again: using Sweden as an object lesson in the dangers of foreign immigration. ‘So, Sweden was known as the safest country in Europe, one of the safest countries in the world. Now it’s known as a very … Continue reading →