As we witness horrific acts of violence, perpetrated by both private individuals and the state itself, we should remember that there is always an economic context for violence–political violence does not occur in a vacuum. One of the persistent patterns (I hesitate to call it a “cause”) of political violence is its association with economic inequality. Economic inequality is not in and of itself a cause for political violence; it becomes a factor when that inequality is perceived as unfair.
We continue to figure out what is happening in Turkey. It appears that the coup failed and that it was organized by a small cadre of junior officers in the military. If that information is correct, then we can assume that it was not well planned and that little was done to encourage a broad section of civil society to participate. The dramatic response to the coup could suggest strong support for Erdogan or it could simply be a strong statement by Turks that they do not wish the military to interfere in politics. I does seem clear, however, that Erdogan will use the coup attempt to consolidate his power more deeply. Erdogan has slowly been limiting freedoms in Turkey and we can now expect that process to accelerate. Here are some additional links:
- From EA Worldview, a British site with emphasis on Iran, Syria, and the Middle East.
- From Foreign Policy.
- From The Associated Press.
- From Daily Sabah.
For those readers who wish to pursue the matter of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, I highly recommend Philippe Sands review of the Chilcote Report which appeared in the London Review of Books. It is a scathing indictment of the decision.
Theresa May is the new British Prime Minister and one of her first acts in office was to abolish the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The Department is to be merged into a larger bureaucracy, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The move is puzzling since having a more focused department on climate change gave Britain a strong voice in climate change talks. We will have to assess how the change affects Britain’s policies toward climate change.
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