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Ballots & Bullets | School of Politics & International Relations, University of Nottingham Posts

Mohammad Bin Salman’s Ambitious Moves: Order or Disorder in Saudi Arabia?

Mohammad Bin Salman’s Ambitious Moves: Order or Disorder in Saudi Arabia?

Published by Editor on December 11, 2017

Written by Khurram Shahzad Siddiqui.

A headstrong 32 years old Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman known colloquially as MBS caught the attention of international media in April 2015 when King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud made him the defence minister and Mohammed bin Nayef (MBN) as a crown prince, making him first in line to the throne of Saudi Arabia. The first step MBS took as a defence minister was to make a pan-GCC coalition with other Arab states and launch air strikes on Yemen in March 2015 after Saudi backed President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi was forced into exile by the Houthi rebel movement. This was the first move by MBS to show his authority to the other powerful princes of the House of Saud, like Prince Muqrin, Director General of Al Mukhabarat Al A’amah (Saudi Intelligence Agency) and Mohammad bin Nayef (MBN) crown prince, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior of Saudi Arabia and chairman of the Council for Political and Security Affairs. By this move MBS flexed his muscles to the Arab World in order to make Saudi Arabia a key regional player and conveying a direct message to Iran of his power.

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Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton is just a historical safe space

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton is just a historical safe space

Published by Editor on December 5, 2017

Written by Steven Fielding.

That most peculiar of demographic groups – left-wingers and liberals who like musical theatre – has keenly anticipated the opening in London’s glittering West End of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit Hamilton. Reader, it is here! Those who can afford to travel to the capital and have enough cash left over for the price of a ticket, are apparently in for a treat.

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What’s going on with Brexit and the Irish border?

What’s going on with Brexit and the Irish border?

Published by Editor on December 5, 2017

Written by Edward Burke and Connal Parr.

As Brexit negotiations reach a critical juncture, the question of what to do about the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland – the only point where the UK will continue to meet the EU – has become critical. Here’s what you need to know.

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Hurricane Matthew: Haiti faces yet another challenge to ‘build back better’

Hurricane Matthew: Haiti faces yet another challenge to ‘build back better’

Published by Editor on November 24, 2017

Hundreds of people are now known to have died when Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti with 145 mile-per-hour winds on October 1. The poorest country in Matthew’s path, Haiti was also the hardest hit. Poor coastal communities have been devastated; villagers have lost their crops, their animals and their homes. A combination of poverty, hazardous and insecure housing and weak governance left Haitians vulnerable to the elements.

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Populist and Extreme Parties: To Ban or Not To Ban?

Populist and Extreme Parties: To Ban or Not To Ban?

Published by Editor on October 31, 2017

Written by Fernando Casal Bértoa and Angela Bourne.

Extreme, populist and anti-systemic parties are on the rise! Only this year elections in the Netherlands and Bulgaria and Germany returned excellent results for radical right parties (e.g. Party of Freedom, Alternative for Germanyor Ataka). Even in usually quiet Liechtenstein The Independents (DU), a right-wing populist party, managed to obtain more than 18 percent of the votes. In France, Marine Le Pen came second in the presidential elections. Last Sunday the Freedom Party of Austria got more than 20 percent of the vote, and in countries like Greece or Slovakia support for neo-Nazi parties (i.e. Golden Dawn or People’s Party Our Slovakia) reach a notable 7 percent of the electorate.

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The Missed Opportunity to Diffuse the Conflict with Catalonia

The Missed Opportunity to Diffuse the Conflict with Catalonia

Published by Editor on October 10, 2017

Written by Simon Toubeau. 

The scenes that the Spain and the rest of the world witnessed during last Sunday’s independence referendum in Catalonia brought to light what ensues when each party to a territorial conflict are equally assertive in their demands and resolute in their strategy.

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For the Catalan and Spanish government to negotiate, the EU must be involved

For the Catalan and Spanish government to negotiate, the EU must be involved

Published by Editor on October 9, 2017

Written by Simon Toubeau. 

Unless the Catalan and Spanish immediately open channels of dialogue about the constitutional future of Catalonia, the scenes witnessed last Sunday may only be a mild precursor of things to come. But for this dialogue to take place, the EU must be actively involved.

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Labour in Brighton: it’s not a cult, it’s too big for that now

Labour in Brighton: it’s not a cult, it’s too big for that now

Published by Editor on September 28, 2017

Written by Tim Bale .

If you’ve ever been to a party conference – maybe any conference actually – you’ll have experienced that disconcerting feeling you get when you walk out of the building it’s being held in and re-enter the real world.

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Lessons from history for Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘government in waiting’

Lessons from history for Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘government in waiting’

Published by Editor on September 28, 2017

Written by Steven Fielding.

History, as Henry Ford once claimed, is bunk: and that is what many Jeremy Corbyn supporters now believe. Prior to the 2017 election, Corbynites were told by supposed experts like myself that, as Tony Blair had it, when a traditional left-wing party competes with a traditional right-wing party the traditional result will follow: defeat for the left.

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Our Friends in the North: Nicky as Jeremy Corbyn

Our Friends in the North: Nicky as Jeremy Corbyn

Published by Editor on September 25, 2017

Written by Steven Fielding.

When Peter Flannery’s Our Friends in the North was broadcast in 1996 TV critics fell over themselves to praise the series. Tracing the lives of four young working-class characters from 1964 to 1995 the nine-part series aspired to say something significant about the politics of those times and explain the sad state of mid-90s Britain. Subsequently showered with awards Our Friends in the North remains one of the most highly regarded of television dramas.

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