The Economist: Tocqueville Road Trip Episode 6: Capital of an Empire (subscriber only) In 1832 Alexis de Tocqueville arrived in Washington. President Jackson was president at the time, which is ironic because Trump has often expressed his admiration of him. The presenter, John Prideaux describes Jackson’s approach as protective of decentralization, but he was no dictator. He then speaks with Stephen Cash, a member a group called the Steady State, a network of intelligence community veterans who see Trump as heralding ‘competitive authoritarianism’. Prideaux is rather more sanguine, confident that the checks and balances of the system will come into play. So Prideaux decides to move on to Florida, a new centre of power where he talks with Alex Bruesewitz dubbed ‘one of the world’s most influential rising stars’ by Time Magazine, and a friend of Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump. Tocqueville had commented how presidents had royal prerogatives, which they didn’t have to use, but Prideaux notes that during the time he had spent making this podcast, Trump had started excusing himself and his family from scrutiny of their tax affairs, tried to sue the IRS and Taxation Dept, knocked down the East Wing of White House, and wanted to build a triumphal arch and have his face on the currency- in other words, Trump IS using the royal prerogatives available to him. Nonetheless, Prideaux remains optimistic about Democracy in America. (He’s deluded, I reckon). This is the final episode.
History Extra Did Britain Really ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ During WW2? Well, until September 1938 people didn’t really take notice of the news that was coming from Europe. The pro-war consensus firmed up after Chamberlain admitted that appeasement wouldn’t work with Hitler. Handbooks were distributed that encouraged volunteer effort and 400,000 volunteers duly signed up. By April 1939 compulsory measures were introduced and in 1940 the Blitz began. In May 1940 a coalition government was formed to distinguish itself from Germany. Nonetheless, there was griping about the conditions in the air raid shelters, and people did flee to the countryside, even though the government tried to discourage this. There was skepticism, not about the war itself, but about the government response. Unlike in WW1 where the armed forces were the main people in peril, now fighting soldiers could be bereaved when their families died back ‘home’. Generally, there was well-meaning patriotism, and little of the cynicism and distrust that I think you’d see in the same situation today.
The Daily When AI Comes for Your Purpose in Life I read about how AI had solved one of mathematic’s long-standing problems. In this episode Steven Strogatz, a professor of mathematics at Cornell University, talks very emotionally about his mixture of excitement and grief at this news. It seems to me that humans are attracted to ‘problems’ not necessarily for the answer, but for their own intrinsic challenge that calls on insight and struggle. After all, who wants to do a crossword that has already been filled in?
The Documentary The politics of water: Iraq and Turkey
Two rivers helped build civilisation. Now they are at the centre of a geopolitical struggle that casts a shadow over the future of the Middle East. For centuries, the Tigris and Euphrates carried goods, armies and ideas, shaping some of history’s greatest empires. But today, a toxic mix of climate change, outdated irrigation methods and conflicting national interests is pushing these rivers to the brink. As Turkey’s vast dam projects reduce downstream flows, Iraq is being forced into negotiations that go far beyond water, touching on security cooperation, trade routes and energy. The Global Jigsaw tells the story of how water became a geopolitical bargaining chip.
Iraq or Mesopotamia is thought to have been the site of the Garden of Eden but it’s not that anymore. Both Turkey and Iraq have faced droughts, and Turkey has responded by building 800 dams which has reduced the flow of water by 1/3. The lessened water supply has affected the extraction of oil, and so diplomacy is now weighing up “oil for water” deals. It has been said that the wars of the 21st century will be about water, and you can see why.
