The following is the opening of my new novel, Land of Opportunity, about a young man from Edinburgh’s adventures when he decides to strike out for Los Angeles and a new life. In the end it almost costs him his life. It is based on a true story. My own. 1. …

The mass protests that have engulfed Iran — inspired by the brutal murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Tehran by members of the state’s morality police for the ‘crime’ of not wearing her hijab with appropriate modesty in public — are the most significant and far reaching the Islamic Republic…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has been widely condemned over his contribution to the special session of the UN Security Council in New York that was convened on Thursday 22 September. A veteran of diplomacy and foreign affairs, Mr Lavrov arrived 90 minutes late to confirm his contempt for a…

Some 1,300 inmates were involved in the takeover of the Attica Correctional Facility in New York State from September 9 to September 13, 1971. They were driven to do so by the brutal conditions of their incarceration, leaving them no choice but to rise up and reassert their dignity and…

It’s hard to imagine Russian President Vladimir Putin getting much in the way of sleep right now. With Ukraine having seized the initiative and momentum after six months of conflict — six months that neither Putin nor his military advisors thought it would take to crush Ukrainian resistance to the…

The 2014 referendum on Scottish independence will go down in history as a glowing testament to the virtues of the democratic process after it succeeded in capturing the imagination and participation of an entire nation. The day after the referendum, which recorded a vote for Scotland to remain part of…

Harry Haft is not a name many boxing fans will recognise — which is a shame because this is a man who endured more than anyone who’s ever laced up the gloves, who quite literally had to fight to survive. Born Herschel Haft in Belchatow, Poland, 1925, Haft was Jewish…

For mass formation psychosis to be experienced in a given society four key conditions are required: lack of social bonds or decoupling of societal connections lack of sense-making (things don’t make sense) free-floating anxiety free-floating psychological discontent In the midst of a grievous and catastrophic cost of living crisis in…

He who knows self But not the enemy Will Suffer a defeat For every victory Sun Tzu, The Art of War There was a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to possess something approximating to the Midas touch when it came to foreign policy. For years he consistently out…