It was around this time one year ago, when I was going through a stressful process with which many students are well acquainted: finding an internship. At some point in the early days of May, when summer had arrived to the beautiful city of Lund for good, I finally managed
By UPF Webzine
Africa/Articles/Democracy/EU/Europe/Freedom of Speech/Human Rights/International Relations/Media/Middle East/Migration/Nationalism/The Carte Blanche - Blog
Italians First, Migrants Second?
Since the commencement of the 5 Stars Movement-Northern League coalition government following the Italian general election on the 4th April 2018, Italy has witnessed an alarming increase in physical and verbal attacks against migrants, Italian black citizens, and shelters and individuals offering support to refugees. To simply play the ¨ignorance
By UPF Webzine
Articles/Belarus/Conflict/Culture/Democracy/Europe/Media/Nationalism/Russia/The Carte Blanche - Blog
Learning From History In A Library Without Books
The only opposition member of the Belarusian House of Representatives is a woman, and a young woman at that. Anna Kanapatskaya was first elected to the assembly in 2016, taking advantage, in her own words, of the fact that she was the oldest and richest of the candidates on the
By UPF Webzine
Articles/Culture/Democracy/Economy And Trade/Media/Migration/North America/Oceania/Pop culture/Science/Security/Technology/The Carte Blanche - Blog/USA
How The Other 0.01% Lives
“I like ‘Star Wars’ way better. I’m a capitalist. ‘Star Wars’ is the capitalist show. ‘Star Trek’ is the communist one. There is no money in ‘Star Trek’ because you just have the transporter machine that can make anything you need. The whole plot of ‘Star Wars’ starts with Han
By UPF Webzine
Articles/Conflict/Democracy/Europe/Human Rights/Middle East/Nationalism/North America/Security/The Carte Blanche - Blog/USA
The Age Of Terrorism?
I don’t have many clear memories from the distant year of 2001. However, one specific image is still alive in my head. I recall spending one of my last late summer holiday days watching cartoon shows on TV, when the title “Breaking News” suddenly appeared on every single TV channel.
By UPF Webzine
Articles/Corruption/Democracy/Economy And Trade/Environment/Environment/EU/Europe/Health/Lobbying/Science/Technology/The Carte Blanche - Blog/Transparency
Europe’s Environmental Contradiction: The Saga Of The Glyphosate Licences
Last November a fundamental decision revealed the hypocrisy of the European Union concerning environmental issues and the incapacity of the European Commission to extract itself from the interests of commercial groups. The licence for the use of glyphosate, a hazardous herbicide, has been renewed for five years, with the agreement
By UPF Webzine
Africa/Articles/Asia/Culture/Democracy/Environment/Environment/Lobbying/Pop culture/The Carte Blanche - Blog
A modest proposal to tackle climate change
Climate change is a global crisis that sees us racing towards a more than 2oC change in temperature that could lead to disaster. The major industrialized countries are not meeting their environmental goals and the ‘leader of the free world’, President Donald Trump is denying the existence of global warming,
By UPF Webzine
Articles/Culture/Europe/Freedom of Speech/Media/Science/Technology/The Carte Blanche - Blog/Youth
“I want to become a YouTuber”
Last year’ s Christmas family gathering was a good reminder of how bad I am at defending my life choices, and my lack of social skills in communicating with children. When seeing my cousins and nephews, for the first time in years, I could only think to ask them what I,
By UPF Webzine
Articles/Culture/Democracy/Economy And Trade/Environment/Freedom of Speech/Media/Pop culture/Technology/The Carte Blanche - Blog/USA
Chewing gum for the soul
“We, the People, are taking our country back.” The rallying cry of the American right since at least 2009 provokes as many questions as answers. Taking our country back from whom? Or indeed: taking it back to where and when? When the Industrial Revolution broke out in Europe in the
By UPF Webzine
Articles/Democracy/Freedom of Speech/Human Rights/Interview/Migration/Nationalism/Oceania/The Carte Blanche - Blog
An Interview with the Australian Ambassador to Sweden
On 28th November 2017, I had the opportunity to interview Jonathan Kenna, Australian Ambassador to Sweden, following on from an event where members of UPF were able to ask the Ambassador questions, especially pertaining to Australia’s new Foreign Policy White Paper. I asked him a few questions regarding recent domestic