Biden builds back the idea of infrastructure much better
by Rashmee
Posted on April 14, 2021
/ TAKE UP ONE IDEA Joe Biden’s plan for America is about the remaking of a whole concept. What constitutes infrastructure? Is it just bridges, airports, rail routes and highways? Or is it something else as well – a country’s human resources? The way people learn to think, to be change-ready, how healthy and happy … Continue reading “Biden builds back the idea of infrastructure much better”
Read MoreJoe Biden’s plan to build…hope
by Rashmee
Posted on April 3, 2021
/ FAITH, HOPE… Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan is America’s first major fiscal investment plan in a half-century. It’s about building concrete things, yes, but also about building hope. Hope that America will once again have world-beating infrastructure, an eye-popping technological network, high-speed trains and wifi-ready airports – things that the world has long been used … Continue reading “Joe Biden’s plan to build…hope”
Read MoreWhat might the big Biden controversy be? White French cuffs?
by Rashmee
Posted on March 23, 2021
/ POLITICS & AMERICA As usual, Ed Luce of the Financial Times put it best (paywall). Writing about the state of Washington in March 2021 – two months after Joe Biden took control and after six weeks of his own book leave – Mr Luce described it as follows: “People don’t talk about the president … Continue reading “What might the big Biden controversy be? White French cuffs?”
Read MoreThere may be room for experienced optimists yet in the Middle East
by Rashmee
Posted on March 9, 2021
/ POLITICS & AMERICA A former Israeli prime minister once said that in the Middle East, a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience. It’s a clever but dispiriting observation. I wonder what he would make of recent indications that Turkey’s president may be ready to mend ties with Arab countries and thereby turn its … Continue reading “There may be room for experienced optimists yet in the Middle East”
Read MoreIt’s not about ‘will’. Can Joe Biden succeed as president?
by Rashmee
Posted on January 29, 2021
Here are the two questions everyone’s asking: ** Will Joe Biden succeed as America’s 46th president? ** Can Joe Biden succeed as America’s 46th president? The first question is ultimately unknowable. Who knows if Mr Biden will be able to restore order to his country’s politics and take America back to the superior position it … Continue reading “It’s not about ‘will’. Can Joe Biden succeed as president?”
Read MoreHorsing around and exhortations: World to Biden’s America
by Rashmee
Posted on January 28, 2021
In the blissfully quiet first week of Joe Biden’s presidency, there’s been a lot of horsing around as well as more serious exhortations from around the world about the United States. Mostly it’s about the challenges faced by the country. Donald Trump isn’t always mentioned by name but he hangs – like a pall – over … Continue reading “Horsing around and exhortations: World to Biden’s America”
Read MoreLike an abused partner, the BBC still trails tearfully after Mr Trump
by Rashmee
Posted on January 22, 2021
The BBC was at it on Inauguration Day. Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day. ‘Newsnight’, the BBC’s flagship news and current affairs TV programme, flew Emily Maitlis into Washington, D.C. There, Ms Maitlis, a forensic interviewer, sat in a blue coat and matching scarf and spoke to the following people on Mr Biden’s Inauguration Day: ** Dwight … Continue reading “Like an abused partner, the BBC still trails tearfully after Mr Trump”
Read MoreSlash and burn: Trump’s pyromaniac foreign policy moves on his way out
by Rashmee
Posted on January 20, 2021
Until the end, Donald Trump has remained true to himself (as well as the most churlish portrait of him). On his way out of the Oval Office, he’s lit wildfires of various sorts in the foreign policy sphere. It’s obvious that he wants to make life even harder for incoming President Joe Biden. (‘Take that. … Continue reading “Slash and burn: Trump’s pyromaniac foreign policy moves on his way out”
Read More1/6, 9/11 and the threat of terrorism
by Rashmee
Posted on January 17, 2021
Could 1/6, the day of the Trump-incited US Capitol siege, be the harbinger of a 9/11-type attempt to attack America? I ask this in light of a fascinating piece I read the other day. Ed Luce, US editor of the Financial Times, quoted former FBI counter-terrorism agent Ali Soufan’s warning that January 6 could be … Continue reading “1/6, 9/11 and the threat of terrorism”
Read MoreAmerica then and now through the actions of one company, Airbnb
by Rashmee
Posted on January 14, 2021
It was Morning Brew, the smartest and sassiest business newsletter in the world, that pointed out the difference between America then and now through the actions of one company. Airbnb. America then? The before times, ie 2009, during Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration. It was a pivotal moment, says Morning Brew, for Airbnb’s cofounders, Brian Chesky, Joe … Continue reading “America then and now through the actions of one company, Airbnb”
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Rashmee has lived and worked in several countries in the past decade, including Afghanistan, India, Haiti, Tunisia, the UAE, US and UK