We tend to think about extremists who use the mantle of Islam as justification for their actions as being fairly monolithic. Nothing could be further from the truth. As groups become more extreme. minor ideological or theological differences can become paramount. The Guardian has an excellent article on the competition between the Islamic State and al Qaeda. If one has only a passing interest in the competition, then the article will be quite challenging. To follow the struggle between the two groups requires close attention to detail. It is precisely such differences that the opponents of these groups must exploit if they are to succeed in defusing the threat of extremism.
The European Parliament has passed a strong resolution calling upon the European Commission to take steps to prevent “financing of political parties in the EU by political or economic stakeholders outside the EU.” The resolution specifically condemns the financial assistance Russia has given to right-wing parties in Europe. Not unsurprisingly, the nationalist Members of Parliament, such as the British representative of the UK Independence Party, voted against the resolution. It is widely believed that the right-wing groups, such as the National Front in France, have received substantial contributions from Russia.
Even though we have yet to see the complete version of the Trade Bill, there have been sufficient leaks (Thanks, Wikileaks!) to get a rough idea of some of the essential components of the bill. What is extraordinary is the size of the campaign contributions given by corporations in order to gain support for the bill. One cannot help but be discouraged by the degree to which money influences legislation that affects every citizen. The playing field is far from even.
“I was brought up, like most Englishmen, to respect free trade not only as an economic doctrine which a rational and instructed person could not doubt but almost as a part of the moral law. I regarded departures from it as being at the same time an imbecility and an outrage. I thought England’s unshakable free-trade convictions, maintained for nearly a hundred years, to be both the explanation before man and the justification before heaven of her economic supremacy. As lately as 1923 I was writing that free trade was based on fundamental truths ‘which, stated with their due qualifications, no one can dispute who is capable of understanding the meaning of the words'” John Maynard Keynes, “National Self-Sufficiency” 1933
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