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Qatar’s Pernicious Adventures

A successful campaign to host the World Cup in 2022 was meant to be the crowning sports achievement for Qatar, writes International Affairs analyst Jonathan Manthorpe — but it is not turning out that way. An excerpt of Manthorpe’s new column: From being the poster boy for a modernizing Middle East, the filthy rich Gulf state of Qatar has become a menace. Next month the governing body of international soccer, FIFA, will receive a stack of evidence that Qatar splurged $5 million in bribes and other inducements to win the contest for host nation of the 2022 World Cup, the biggest and

The Value of a World

The world’s ecological and atmospheric infrastructure — from ocean currents to mango forests, the jetstream to wetlands — contributes at least $1.50 to human economic wellbeing for every dollar that we mark in the official economy of goods and services, new research has found. What does this matter? A lot, it turns out, as Chris Wood writes in his new Natural Security column. An excerpt:  If you have ever spent a night under the canopy of stars undimmed by city lights, in a place where the only sounds are those unmade by man that have whispered and lapped and knocked and called

The Philosophy of a “Soccer Fanatic”

In  June, the largest global audience in history will tune in to watch the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, a quadrennial carnival rivalled only by the Summer and Winter Olympics. Many will live and die by the progress of their teams, with hearts-in-mouths and lumps in throats. Tears, shrieks and all the rest will combine into smorgasbord of emotion that only soccer can induce. What is it about the game that gives it such widespread appeal? Against the backdrop of club football, Sheldon Fernandez searches for the answer …. An excerpt of his new piece in F&O’s Think-Magazine section –

Japan Responds to China — Manthorpe

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week launched a challenge of China’s increasing assertiveness in Asia, writes International Affairs analyst Jonathan Manthorpe. It’s a significant departure  for Abe, who became Prime Minister for the second time in 2012 with a mandate to reform Japan’s moribund economy and reassert the country’s international status. An excerpt of Manthorpe’s new column:  Japan this week launched a three-pronged response to China’s growing military and diplomatic shadow over Asia. In Singapore today, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged his country’s “utmost support” for the countries of Southeast Asia that are locked in increasingly tense confrontations

Who Did In the Republic of Doyle?

Charles Mandel writes about the end of the Republic of Doyle, a television series that captured the essence of Canada and Newfoundland. A production of Canada’s public broadcaster, the Doyle family was well-loved — but apparently, in a time of severe government cutbacks, not sufficiently loved. An excerpt:  These are damn sad days in the Duke of Duckworth. The Doyles have announced they are hanging up their detective badges – and such a statement must have sent fans in the droves to drink at the Duke. As any Republic of Doyle fan worth his or her salt knows, that pub – in a

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