Reuters (September 28)
“Along with the ongoing decimation of Iraq’s Sunni population,” the Kurdish referendum “means that in practice ‘Iraq’ no longer exists. In its place is a Shiite state dominated by Iran, the de facto new nation of Kurdistan, and a shrinking population of Sunnis tottering between annihilation or reservation-like existence, depending on whether the United States uses the last of its influence to sketch out red lines or abandons the people to fate.”00
Tags: Annihilation, Decimation, Influence, Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Kurds, Referendum, Shiite, Sunni, U.S.
The Economist (July 22)
“Despite the frantic political activity in Westminster…the country has made remarkably little progress since the referendum in deciding what form Brexit should take. All versions, however “hard” or “soft”, have drawbacks…. Yet Britain’s leaders have scarcely acknowledged that exit will involve compromises, let alone how damaging they are likely to be. The longer they fail to face up to Brexit’s painful trade-offs, the more brutal will be the eventual reckoning with reality.”
Tags: Brexit, Brutal, Compromises, Drawbacks, Frantic, Hard, Painful, Progress, Reality, Reckoning, Referendum, Soft, Trade-offs, Westminster
The Economist (March 18)
“Westminster is unlikely to refuse the request” for another Scottish referendum. Refusal “would add to the already-damaging perception of an English-dominated government that ignores Scotland. Once again a Conservative prime minister faces the prospect of presiding over the break-up of the union. And this time it is against the backdrop of perhaps the most complex international negotiations Britain has ever undertaken, as it leaves the European Union.”
Tags: Break-up, Conservative, EU, Government, Perception, Referendum, Scotland, Westminster
Financial Times (December 31)
“After December’s No vote in the Italian referendum, the rise of Donald Trump and the British vote to leave the EU, it appears that the political landscape of the developed world is being redesigned by the victims of globalisation and technological change. Anger towards political elites is pervasive. Yet a few rage-free zones remain, of which Japan is the most conspicuous.” Japan’s “immunity from the populist political tide remains remarkable.”
Tags: Anger, Elites, EU, Globalisation, Italy, Japan, Political landscape, Populist, Referendum, Technological change, Trump, UK, Victims
Financial Times (July 26)
“There is a welcome sense among the world’s policymakers—at least, those outside the UK—that life is returning to the pre-EU referendum normal. The tasks of the Fed and the BoJ are not easy, particularly for the latter. But at least the challenges and the risks involved are looking a great deal more familiar.”
Tags: BOJ, Brexit, Challenges, EU, Fed, Policymakers, Referendum, Risks, UK
Institutional Investor (June 23)
“The referendum on U.K. membership in the European Union continues to dominate market risk narratives, with both equity futures and the pound sterling strengthening in early trading, suggestion a degree of confidence among investors that the nation will remain in the EU.”
Tags: Confidence, Equity futures, EU, Investors, Market risk, Membership, Referendum, Sterling, Trading, U.K.
Chicago Tribune (July 11)
“By voting no in last Sunday’s referendum, and by such an impressive margin, Greece won itself a moment’s elation — and may come to regret the consequences for years. It was one more in an absurdly extended series of miscalculations.”
Tags: Absurd, Consequences, Elation, Greece, Miscalculations, Referendum, Regret, Vote
The Economist (May 16)
The referendum to stay in the EU is “winnable. Over the next year or so Mr Cameron and his chancellor, George Osborne, can probably extract enough from their partners to persuade Britons to vote to stay in. Yet that victory must be just a first step. The real agenda—the one that matters to Britain’s prosperity and to the EU as a whole—will take longer to bear fruit.”
Tags: Cameron, EU, Osborne, Prosperity, Referendum, Victory
The Economist (August 16)
It looks increasingly like Scotland will vote against independence from the UK in the September 18 referendum. “The ‘no’ to independence campaign has a comfortable poll lead,” but this may not be the end of the story. Quebec engaged in what’s become known as a “neverendum” involving “decades-long deliberations over breaking from Canada.” So even if the Scots vote no, there “looms the prospect of a ‘neverendum.’ If unsuccessful, ‘yes’ campaigners could import that decades-long limbo to Britain.”
Tags: Britain, Campaigners, Canada, Independence, Limbo, Neverendum, Quebec, Referendum, Scotland, UK, Vote
Wall Street Journal (June 24)
In Hong Kong nearly a 750,000 residents have voted in an unofficial referendum calling on China to grant Hong Kong greater democracy. “Hong Kong people are serious about self-government and stand bravely against official intimidation. Beijing has to pay attention—and maybe even strike a deal before occupiers hit the streets of China’s most international city.”
Tags: China, Democracy, Hong Kong, Intimidation, Occupiers, Referendum, Residents, Self-government