London: 30th January 2017
This is my first Letter from London. The idea is to give African Leadership’s distinguished readers a snapshot picture of what’s happening in British politics. All the views I express are my own, but I hope that my 50 years of studying and observing British and European politics, being an activist and knowing some of the players, will add some authority to what I write. My column should also help inform African politicians, diplomats and businesses by, I hope, delivering insights of value.
I won’t be right all the time. In the business of the analysis of contemporary politics, nobody is ever 100% right. This has always been true, though never more so than now. Great political earthquakes have shaken the world’s oldest democracies in recent years. The Right has been in the ascendency. Social Democracy weakened. The post-World War 2 structures and organisations that brought rules-based order to the management of global affairs no longer walk so confidently on the earth. Nationalism and protectionism challenge globalisation as the dominant political and economic forces of our time. Voter behavior has become far less predictable and more volatile. Global communications are almost as much in the hands of citizen journalists Tweeting news and views as in those of the great global news media empires.
In writing these Letters from London I’m trying to make sense of a staggeringly complex world and frame some big issues that need often to be tied down, nailed to the floor and carefully examined. And see it all from a London standpoint, but with a view to Africa.
To read my first post, CLICK HERE.
Martin Roche is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, where he read politics and International relations.He began his working life on a daily newspaper in Scotland and has since written for many newspapers, magazinesand radio stations in the UK and internationally. As a communications consultant, he has advised political andbusiness leaders in over 20 countries.
martinroche1@talktalk.net
@cluthaman
