Homage to Handsworth – Immigration & Intercultural Integration in Birmingham and the West Midlands

Preface: Prejudiced Politics & Peace Education: Recent political events in the United Kingdom have included those surrounding the Conservative ‘shadow’ justice minister, Robert Jenrick, who has been ‘on manoeuvres’ since losing the party’s leadership contest a year ago. As part of his campaign, he has taken to ‘social media’ with a series of issue-based amateurContinue reading “Homage to Handsworth – Immigration & Intercultural Integration in Birmingham and the West Midlands”

Heritage not Hate – The True Spirit of Glastonbury

The sacred site and settlement. Long before its relatively recent appropriation as the site of a major music festival, Glastonbury in Somerset was intimately connected with the two linked legends of Joseph of Arimathea and King Arthur. Both were fully recorded in written form for the first time in the twelfth century, but they drewContinue reading “Heritage not Hate – The True Spirit of Glastonbury”

The Bloodied Sword, the Precious Pearl and the Black Cross; Chronicles of the Royal House of Wessex – V

Episode Five – The King’s Peace and Justice; 1153-93: When Henry Plantagenet returned to England again at the start of 1153, bringing only a small army of mercenaries financed with borrowed money, he relied on the forces of Hugh Bigod and Ranulf of Chester. The churchmen who met him on the Hampshire coast also emphasisedContinue reading “The Bloodied Sword, the Precious Pearl and the Black Cross; Chronicles of the Royal House of Wessex – V”

The Bloodied Sword, the Precious Pearl and the Black Cross; Chronicles of the Royal House of Wessex – I.

Episode One Above: Hungarians at Kyív – a painting by Pál Vágó (1853-1928). It is extremely difficult to maintain, based on archaeological relics that have been unearthed in territories now forming part of Ukraine, that these objects are unmistakably the relics of the ancient Hungarians, or Magyars. It is probable, though, that as a resultContinue reading “The Bloodied Sword, the Precious Pearl and the Black Cross; Chronicles of the Royal House of Wessex – I.”

Is Hungary’s Appeasement of Putin Justified by its Past Experiences? V

Chapter Five: Hungary under Horthy – In the Eye of the Hurricane: It was largely the impossibility of reconstructing the order of Europe and the wider world as it was in January 1919 that swept away the ‘pacifist democracy’ that took over Hungary at the end of the First World War. It thwarted the firstContinue reading “Is Hungary’s Appeasement of Putin Justified by its Past Experiences? V”

Is Hungary’s Appeasement of Putin Justified by its Past Experiences? IV

Chapter Four: What was/ is Appeasement? – Hungary in The Era of the Two World Wars. Preface: Present Day ‘appeasers’? On 8th July 2024, Hungary’s Prime Minister and current President of the European Council paid another visit, on his own initiative, to Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Later the same day, the Kremlin launched yet anotherContinue reading “Is Hungary’s Appeasement of Putin Justified by its Past Experiences? IV”

Is Hungary’s Appeasement of Putin Justified by its Past Experiences? II

Chapter Two: All Roads Led to Sarajevo – How Austria-Hungary Went to War in 1914: The Trigger: On 28th June 1914, the heir to the Austrian and Hungarian thrones, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, paid a visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, which had been occupied by Austria-Hungary in 1878, and annexed by Emperor Franz JosefContinue reading “Is Hungary’s Appeasement of Putin Justified by its Past Experiences? II”

Is Hungary’s Appeasement of Putin Justified by its Past Experiences?

Introduction: The recent attempted assassination of the Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, reminded many Hungarians, along with other Central Europeans, of the events leading to the outbreak of the First World War which ended with the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Hungary’s loss of two-thirds of its 1914 territories (as part of the ‘DualContinue reading “Is Hungary’s Appeasement of Putin Justified by its Past Experiences?”

War, Peace & Justice in Judaism: Part Two – ‘Shalom’ & Resistance:

Traditions of Shalom: Emerging from the Judaistic readings of the Hebrew Bible, which I dealt with in part one of this two-part article, there was a strong biblical tradition, both in the Psalms and among the prophets, from the earliest to the latest times of the kingdoms of Israel, that the Lord is a godContinue reading “War, Peace & Justice in Judaism: Part Two – ‘Shalom’ & Resistance:”

War, Peace & Justice in Judaism: Part One – The Hebrew Bible.

Prologue – A Time for Every Purpose: For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven; a time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what has been planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a timeContinue reading “War, Peace & Justice in Judaism: Part One – The Hebrew Bible.”