Europe, France, Government, Islamic State, Society, Terrorism

Europe and Islamist attacks

TERRORISM IN EUROPE

Intro: President François Hollande of France may think that declaring war on the extremists will shore up his own fragile political position

THE INSTINCTIVE RESPONSE on horrors such as those that have taken place in France and Germany in recent days is to look for a pattern, a narrative that might go some way to explain the inexplicable.

The brutal and bloody murder of an 86-year-old priest in Normandy invites such thinking, since it follows years of attacks on Christians in the Middle East: first by al-Qaeda and then by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Is radical Islam seeking a war with Christianity?

The very suggestion or notion of such a conflict between faiths would delight followers of ISIL, but it is hard to reconcile with that group’s dreadful persecution of fellow Muslims. ISIL has killed many more Muslims than it has Christians or Jews.

Or are the Islamists targeting Western liberal values more broadly, seeking to reinstate the Islamic Caliphate that once existed across the Middle East and parts of Southern Europe?

If so, that end has been poorly served by the enormity and mayhem in Normandy and Bavaria, lands that were never home to Muslims in the middle ages and which have only come to have Muslim residents as a result of those liberal Western values.

Seeking some kind of explanation for the evil that has been perpetrated is perfectly natural, but we should not impute too much calculation or design to those individuals who carry out such heinous crimes.

Whilst we may look for explanations the truth is there is no rationale or logic, nor any coherent argument in explaining away why Europe is suffering such appalling atrocities on its streets. These are the acts of inadequate and disturbed individuals with a nihilistic desire to destroy anything that challenges them and their ill-formed and warped idea of the world.

We must harden our defences against such acts, but we should be wary of the idea that those acts represent a clash of cultures – for that suggests some sort of parity between irrational extremist ideology on the one hand and a civilisation of shared traditions developed over thousands of years on the other.

President François Hollande of France may think that declaring war on the extremists will shore up his own fragile political position. Such a response, however, also risks validating the arguments of Marine Le Pen’s National Front (i.e. that the French establishment has failed to face up to the existential threat of terrorism).

Security and intelligence operations should be reviewed in the face of these latest attacks, particularly as the numerous intelligence agencies that operate in France are highly dysfunctional and disjointed. Great care must be taken not to dignify the attackers or their pathetic dreams of grandeur. They are murderers only deserving of contempt.

Standard
Britain, Economic, Government, Politics

UK Economy: Growth stagnation following Brexit?

UK ECONOMY

Intro: Whichever way we measure it, economic growth in the UK is not looking particularly good

It would not be unassuming to believe that the UK citizen has become confused or for admitting to bafflement at the array of economic data that has been released regarding the impact of the vote to leave the European Union.

The most recent came at the end of last week from the IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index which indicates that Britain’s decision to leave the EU has led to a ‘dramatic deterioration’ in economic activity, not seen since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

The data shows a fall in both manufacturing and service sectors and is described as the first significant set of data measuring business reaction to the referendum result. The figures displayed in PMI surveys are generally viewed as being reliable and an authoritative indicator of economic predictions.

This outlook came just after the IMF’s World Economic Outlook report slashed its growth forecasts, saying its prediction for the UK in 2017 was now a 1.3 per cent cut, down from the 2.2 per cent.

But there have been contradictory statements. The Bank of England admitted it saw ‘no evidence’ of a sharp economic slowdown and positive employment figures in the UK showed record numbers of people in work.

And perhaps in a desperate attempt to glimpse and portray a silver lining, it was reported that Britain was undergoing a staycation boom, with the tourism industry in particular set to reap the benefits of millions of people now choosing to holiday at home rather than travelling abroad thanks to the weakness of pound sterling.

The first point to consider is that predictions are just that, a prediction or an estimate on the economic outlook. And indicators only say how people think they might act; in these uncertain times such sets of data are more of a gamble than ever.

It is probably much better to concentrate on what has actually happened, although it is still very early to see all the consequences and implications coming through in the data.

In the first half of 2016, figures show that the global economy did better than expected, with stronger than forecasted growth in the Eurozone area and Japan, as well as a partial recovery in commodity prices.

The fall of the pound has already had an effect, making companies in the UK more attractive for takeover by foreign firms. ARM Holdings, one of the UK’s biggest technology companies, based in Cambridge, is to be bought by Japan’s Softbank in a £24 billion deal. Stirling-based Supaglass, the UK’s largest independent glass wool maker, is set to be purchased by one of Russia’s largest roofing and insulation groups in a deal reputedly worth around £8 million.

According to figures compiled by the chief statistician in Scotland, there was no growth in the Scottish economy in the first three months of this year. Overall, however, UK GDP grew by 0.4 per cent over the same period.

The expression ‘swings and roundabouts’ could have been coined to describe the economy. It undoubtedly varies and no-one can be certain of any set of predictions: many factors which will affect the British economy are beyond are control and not affected by Brexit at all.

Notwithstanding, though, any reasonable prudent or objective view would have to conclude that the prospects for UK growth are not looking particularly good either for the short or medium-term.

Standard
Middle East, Turkey, United States

Turkey’s failed coup raises concerns for the west…

TURKEY

News of a failed coup attempt in a NATO member country bordering the European Union would surely merit loud expressions of relief. Relief that the death toll has stopped rising from the 290 fatalities already recorded.

With almost every passing hour since last Friday’s putsch searching questions continue to arise over the nature of this coup attempt and what the resulting arrests of 6,000 people, including senior army commanders and some 3,000 judges, now means for the country and for geopolitical stability across the region.

Whether Turkey can now be considered a functioning democratic state within its own right must now be open to question in the wake of a remarkably swift and sweeping series of arrests of government critics. Not only have few dissenting voices been spared, but the imagery used by the country’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to describe them suggests an orchestrated retaliation altogether better organised (and more vicious) than the coup attempt itself. Mr Erdogan has wasted no time in expressing vitriolic language, declaring: ‘We will… continue to cleanse the virus from all state institutions, because this virus has spread… (and) has enveloped the state.”

USAF

A US aircraft takes-off from Incirlik air base, a strategically important base for raids against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Such use of language, combined with the seizure and arrest of so many members of the country’s judiciary, suggest that President Erdogan is making full use of the opportunity to move against anyone he considers an enemy.

He has also taken advantage of the opportunity to accuse the American-based Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen, of being directly behind the plot and is demanding his extradition. No evidence has yet been furnished to support this demand and Mr Gulen strongly denies any involvement. The attempted coup, however, as mystifying in its origins as in its failure to succeed despite a notable mutiny of army personnel and air power support, has been swiftly seized upon to buttress Mr Erdogan’s position and to provide the pretext for further measures and reforms to tighten his already extensive grip on power. Autocracy is what Mr Erdogan ultimately craves.

Among the arrests was the military commander of Incirlik air base in the south, a strategically important site used by US-led coalition jets for raids against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It is said he and 10 other soldiers had been detained for their role in the coup.

In addition, 50 senior soldiers were detained in the western province of Denizli. Those arrested in the immediate aftermath of the failed coup included the commander of the Third Army, the commander of the Second Army and the former Chief of Air Staff.

One of the country’s most senior judges, Alparslan Altan, was among thousands of the senior judiciary taken into custody. Quite how Turkey can comply with US President Barack Obama’s stricture that it should remain within the rule of law is moot.

The putsch has created problems for western powers dependent on Turkey’s co-operation both in military actions against IS strongholds, and in curbing the flow of migrants into the EU. The country is also a putative EU member; and, it is widely thought that in order to secure Turkey’s continuing co-operation in migrant control its application for full EU membership has proceeded this far.

Standard