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Wasn't immigration from Europe  one of the main reasons for pushing for Brexit by Brexiteers? UK left the European Union on Jan 31, 2020. So how has this changed since Brexit asks The Times of London? It may come as a surprise to know that Poles and Romanians who came to the UK before Brexit to fill low skilled jobs are are now replaced by high skilled Indians, Pakistanis, Nigerians, data from the Department of Works and Pensions suggests, and cited by The Times. And the numbers are large far exceeding by a factor of 3 the numbers before Brexit. Official data this week says The Times shows net migration hit 700,000 last year 2022 compared to 223,000 at the time of the Brexit vote. Three reasons are given. The first is that there is a surge in foreign students whose lucrative fees support British universities. Second one off schemes enabled hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Hong Kong Chinese to come to the UK. And the third the biggest reason is that the post Brexit regime issued 800,000 visas in its first year. This means that instead of less well off Europeans, more affluent Chinese, Ukrainian refugees, and better educated Indians and Pakistanis made their way to the UK. In any case a high rate of immigration took place, and one set of Eastern Europeans Ukrainians replaced another set from Poland and Romania. Brexit was essentially a serious distraction for Britain leading to three Tory governments. Had Cameron been honest and not used Brexit as a ploy to generate support the Tories could well have been replaced in a tight election after the austerity period. Instead Britain had four prime ministers and constant upheaval Cameron replaced by Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak. Ending up with the Tories and Britain in not a good place in where it matters- the economy, growth, health, education, and cost of living. Britain must now look to Labour for reviving the lives of workers and families, reviving the economy, fighting climate change, creating hope for the future. ...

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The German approach to soccer with fans running the sport is seen with envy in Britain, Italy and Spain, now that the Super League plan to split off the richer well known teams into a Super League has failed miserably. It did not last 48 hours before the organizers, a Liverpool billionaire and others apologized. Fans were angry that the clubs built into their local communities in London, Manchester and other British cities were being taken away from them. Noteworthy is that German teams and French teams at the top of world soccer never joined in the Super League plan. In fact Borussia Dortmund made a vigorous protest. Bayern Munich stayed out, so did Paris St Germain. Klopp and Guardiola were the first to protest. In this report Uli Hesse of The Guardian tells us why German clubs are rooted in their communities. German clubs started as amateur clubs run by volunteers and remained that way till some professionalism was brought in by 1963. The communities and fans are very much a part of German clubs, which are not seen as part of the larger entertainment industry as in the US and Britain. The clubs are still run as part of the communities and fans in the local area. There are some Austrian entrepreneurs, but owned by locals and fans, and nothing like what is happening in the British or American approach to soccer. Most of the clubs were set up in Germany to support multiple sports in their communities. So that track and field was part of Dortmund, and chess was part of Bayern Munich Club sports. After the disaster with the fans British prime minister Boris Johnson has called for a review, and this includes bringing back the original spirit of the sport as community based and owned by fans or the local community, not business interests and billionaires from outside. ...

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DJT's affection for the British royal family. Mark Landler of the NYT describes the DJT meeting with Prince William after the ceremony at Notre Dame cathedral reopening in Paris, France. DJT often invokes his mother Mary Ann Mcleod and how greatly his mother admired Queen Elizabeth. As prince Charles met DJT at Mar-a-Lago. Charles and DJT have different views on climate change. As King Charles will provide Britain with additional ways to maintain it's special relationship with the US, even as prime minister Starmer works to restore relations with the EU that were disturbed by Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage's Brexit, says Landler.  In the TV series "The Art of the Surge," DJT is shown displaying pictures of him and Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles. In “The Art of the Surge” DJT loves to display a book of photographs of him with the queen and Charles, while they are standing near the honor guard at Buckingham Palace. "The Queen was fantastic by the way. Look, Charles, so beautiful. These images, I mean, who has images like these?” ...

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Sajid Javid resigns as chancellor after several ministers are asked to resign. Mr. Boris Johnson, Britain's prime minister brings more control to 10 Downing Street as he announces a new cabinet following the victory in recent elections.

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This picture of Boris Johnson and Iranian president Rouhani breaking into laughter during a conversation in New York is highly unusual. It breaks the tension existing when Iranian response to American sanctions comes up. Mr. Macron of France and Johnson of Britain were trying to bring Mr. Trump and Mr. Rouhani together for talks. Mr. Macron looks serious, Mr. Johnson casual considering the issues involved. The picture of Jacob Rees Moog with legs outstretched in parliament and taking a nap with the chaos around him on Brexit, looking  totally unaffected and nonchalant is similar. Mr. Moog is the head of the Johnson government's group in Britain's parliament.

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Theresa May, British prime minister tells BBC she feels a mixture of pride and disappointment about leaving 10 Downing Street in a few days. She feels a sense of "frustration" at not being able to put Brexit through and "underestimating" parliament. She is likely to be followed by Boris Johnson as the new prime minister.

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Katy Balls of The Spectator looks at the stop Rishi Sunak, stop Liz Truss, Stop Penny Mordaunt groups forming in the Tory Party. Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, is the candidate for groups not favoring Sunak including Boris Johnson supporters who see his withdrawal of support for Johnson leading to Johnson's resignation. Mordaunt does not support Liz Truss and is expected to shift to Sunak if Liz and Sunak are in the final two. Penny Mordaunt is seen as having a good chance against Sunak if Penny and Sunak are the final two, yet her inexperience could also be a problem. Sunak had questions about his own tax payment and is opposed to cutting taxes, making it harder to get support across the party. 

This Tory leadership election in which 200,000 party members vote for a leader is taking place too quickly and too often. Johnson was elected in 2019, only three years later he is out. Before Johnson, Cameron was out and Theresa May was elected in 2016.

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UK's Keir Starmer makes 6 pledges to the British people- "Living standards should rise so that growth was felt by everyone, everywhere." Real household disposable income per person, GDP per capita by 2029. Build 1.5 million new homes in 5 years and fast track 150 planning decisions on major infrastructure projects. 92% of patients have to wait no more than 18 weeks for routine operations and appointments by March 2029. 29,000 officers for neighborhood policing and stopping anti-social behavior-1 for every 8000 people. 95% of low carbon electricity generation by 2030. 5% gas generation kept in reserve for unanticipated situations. It is Boris Johnson's target from 2022 in contrast to DJT's reverting to oil and gas to 2027 with industry following its continued but slower shift to gas and wind/solar. A pledge on living standards as the goal not growth is what Starmer sees as the dire need today. Growth that would put the UK ahead of all countries in the G7 is put aside for raising living standards for ALL the British people. A recognition that the two can mean very different things. Under the current plan fufilfillment of pledges is seen in the growth rate of 0.5% a year that is set in 2024. ...

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Mr. Andrew Bailey, the top financial regulator, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, takes over as the next governor of the Bank of England. He has held several positions in the Bank of England including as head of a group that studied the global economy. He left in 2016 to head the FCA. The Bank of England last changed interest rates in August 2018, raising it to 0.75% from 0.5%. Uncertainties remain with Brexit even after the election victory of Boris Johnson because Brexit plans are to get it done including negotiations very quickly.  One change from before is that both the Bank of England and the government of Mr. Johnson are committed to keeping steady growth. The Bank supporting the economy and Mr. Johnson with plans to spend heavily on infrastructure, NHS and schools. It was this plan that helped Mr. Johnson win support across England. Previous Conservative governments reduced spending following the financial crisis of 2009 which happened under Labour administration of Mr. Brown following Mr. Blair. ...

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The BBC's Political Editor, Laura Kuenssberg, says there are significant hurdles to reaching an agreement in talks between Conservative Party leader Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party. Labour seeks some assurance on Britain remaining in the customs union. Ironically the very reason Brexiteers such as Mr. Davis and Mr. Rees-Moog oppose the Theresa May deal - the arrangement on the Irish backstop a way for keeping the borders open between the two Irelands - is the reason Labour could find a way to support an agreement with Theresa May. For the Brexiteers this is unacceptable because it would keep Britain indefinitely in the EU.  There are two other obstacles. Theresa May has promised to resign after negotiating a compromise with Labour Party. Would her successor including possibly a Brexiteer such as Mr. Boris Johnson, support the agreed to deal with Labour. This is highly unlikely. Another obstacle is that a majority of Labour party members of parliament favor a second referendum, a ratificatory referendum, or a confirmatory referendum whatever you call it.  A related article today on this issue in BBC News by Katya Adler describes the person on the other side, the person who heads Germany's ruling CDU Party, and who is likely the next chancellor. This is AKK, Anne-Margaret Kampbrauer. She wrote an article in The Times about a month earlier with other German leaders saying she would love to see Britain change her mind and stay in the EU. She is in favor of a second referendum. Parts of the Conservative Party also support a second referendum- those Conservative MP's who are boxed in between the extreme Brexiteers who care for nothing except their vision of Britain outside the EU as a Franco-German arrangement, and the MP's who left the Conservative Party or now support a second referendum.  Kuenssberg says that necessity is the mother of invention and something could come out of the talks between May and Corbyn- but the obstacles she mentions may not be overcome leading to a new popular vote as the best option. ...

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Sinn Fein wins the largest share of votes in Ireland ahead of the two main parties Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. It wins about 25% of the vote but needs to form a coalition as it has contested only 42 seats. 80 seats are needed for a majority. Sinn Fein will make plans to stage a referendum on Irish reunification if it forms a government in coalition with other parties. This also complicates negotiating a trade deal for Britain's Boris Johnson after Brexit. Sinn Fein is likely to take a tougher line on the issue of divergence from EU regulations for the UK. All 27 states of the EU have to approve any deal negotiated by Mr. Johnson.

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The Guardian provides this excerpt from the book- Chums: How a Tiny Class of Oxford Tories took over the UK. Simon Kuper says in this review that a small group of aspiring politicians used the Oxford Debating Society in the 1980's as a place to perfect the art of winning using jokes instead of facts. Boris Johnson was here, so was Michael Gove and Jacob Rees Mogg. A nursery for Commons, a kind of children's House of Commons, in other ways a gentleman's club.

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This report in DW.com discusses the quick rise of Annalena Baerbock, 40 years, to the co-leader role with better known Robert Habeck, 51 years, at a party conference in 2018. In the winter of 2019 she was supported by a huge 97% of delegates at the party conference, with Habeck getting 90%. She has an advantage in foreign policy issues with her education in England at the London School of Economics, where she studied for her Masters degree in International Law. She speaks fluent English, rare in German politics. Baerbock spent 1 year in the US when she was only 16 years old. Very useful now with changes in Europe, the US and India. Boris Johnson in Britain, Biden in the US, and Modi in India, all speaking English.  She has spoken up against xenophobia, and being from Potsdam in the east is able to understand issues facing East Germany. A big change Baerbock says happened in 2019. Then she and Habeck decided to open up the Greens to become a big tent party that welcomes people from all sides. This was a smart choice at the time as Germans moved away from the two main parties- the SPD and the CDU. Dismay from the Schroder years when working class issues were ignored, and dissatisfaction with the Merkel years when investments in infrastructure, social care, health, education were neglected.  AfD support has stalled with the end of the migrant crisis and immigration no longer an issue. Baerbock says today of that 2019 party conference- "What we knew then was that we wanted to open our party up, that we wanted to make policies for a broad society: inviting and with clear objectives. Here today I want to make an offer, for the whole of society, as an invitation to lead our diverse, strong, rich country into a good future." Key changes that could happen in Germany in 2022- Phase out of coal powered energy by earlier date than 2038. No support for increased defense spending. Yet this is not likely to be an issue with the new American Biden administration. Infrastructure and vital investments in health and education would become a top priority similar to the US, UK and India. Careful policy coordination by Germany with the US, UK, France, India and Japan, and other EU nations, as the world shifts into a period in which lessons learned from the pandemic and the last three decades lead to renewal of supply channels and renewal of societies.   ...

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The EU summit under the presidency of Germany completes its task for setting up the European Recovery Fund and providing nonrepayable aid to countries hardest hit by the pandemic that would otherwise have to spiral their already high debt levels to unsustainable levels or provide little assistance to their suffering public. These countries include Italy, Spain, Greece mostly in southern Europe. Also needing aid are eastern European countries Hungary and Poland. For the first time the European Union is jointly taking on this debt of nonrepayable aid to member states most in need. This is a historic step. The Dutch prime minister, almost ruined the solidarity of Europe with his continual effort to cut the amount of funds and place conditions. The Dutch have favored austerity in Europe but at what cost and at what does it say about the Dutch in Europe. Reports show the Netherlands have gained back billions of dollars that would have gone in taxes to the governments of France, Spain and Italy by setting up tax haven. The Netherlands population 17 million, Sweden population 10 million, Denmark population 7 million, together make up less than half the population of any one of the major countries of Europe, Spain and Portugal, France, Germany, Italy. The combined population of about 350 million people in southern, eastern, and western Europe was arrayed against these 34 million northern countries in the long negotiations, that show solidarity but are also a sign of the changes in Europe as these countries in northern Europe were always guided by their own personal or country interest. Rutte fought hard because of elections he faces a second time against the far right wing parties, for a second time since the 2017 election. It could not get more personal than that. Even Britain if it was still in the European Union is likely under Boris Johnson to have reversed policies of Cameron to support solidarity in Europe and aid for recovery, considering how the government has tackled the pandemic in Britain. Setting conditions would only go part of the way is the reality today. The bigger part of preventing mismanaging of funds comes from the individual experience and hardship of people in southern European nations of Italy, Greece, Spain and other countries after the missteps in the eurozone finances in the last two decades. This provides the necessary dose of internal financial discipline. Not acting quickly in solidarity today would have been a serious mistake for Europe. Still Mr. Rutte and the Dutch have cut the European Recovery Fund's nonrepayable aid by 110 billion euros from the initail target set by Macron and Merkel of 500 billion euros. The agreed target now is $390 billion euros. ...

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The win by Sinn Fein in recent Irish elections brings Ireland one step closer to reunification. A new generation does not have the memories of conflicts settled by the peace accords. Northern Ireland is also less Protestant than it was when it remained in the UK after Irish independence.  The election sidelined the old parties and was based on local issues such as housing and inequality.  Northern Ireland like Scotland voted to remain in the European Union in the Brexit referendum. Britain under Boris Johnson will face calls for referendums for independence from Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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Comment by a former Tory leader, Sir Ian Duncan Smith, on negotiations with the European Union's Ursula Leyen, show how much the term sovereignty has become the word on which everything depends. Smith said on December 10 about the EU demands that Britain adhere to EU environmental and other rules after leaving the EU, "either Britain is sovereign, or it is not."  The word sovereign is discussed in this context in this Times analysis. The word comes from the old French word "sovereinete" during the period when the King's authority was being contested by feudal lords in 16th century France. The Oxford dictionary defines it as the authority of a state to govern itself, and to do this without outside interference. Tory leaders such as David Davis and others including Smith see this as meaning making your own laws. For the European Union to insist on its laws being primary and British law asked to conform with EU law making it secondary, would not only be outside interference, but also divided authority. Older French and British political philosophers Hobbes and Rousseau see this as divided authority. Even though the meaning has changed in modern times, the essential definition in the Oxford Dictionary remains undivided authority. Which is why these Tory leaders insist on the original definition as the right one. Behind the wrangling there is the sense among Leavers that Britain could do better in economic terms by setting its own direction, and doing business its way. How would a new economic power in India by 2030 affect Britain, would it create many more opportunities for Britain to grow because of its history and cultural ties. Could the relationship with the U.S. provide more opportunities for growth? What about French indifference and even disdain of Britain, does Britain have other options? Isn't the European Union merely a Franco-German alliance led politically by France and economically by Germany, and propelled by their three wars since 1871, with a bunch of European countries added in, and what has Britain got to do with it? Closer to the negotiations with Leyen there is also the question - isn't France trying to make certain with its demand that Britain not violate EU law, that Britain's ingenuity and free wheeling spirit outside the European Union does not let it grow faster than France? Where one gets Boris Johnson's immediate reply that Britain is better off not being stuck inside "EU's regulatory orbit."   At the other end of the world you have India with "Atman Nirbhar Bharat" calling for a self-reliant economy and taking the time for transitioning out of the trade relationship with China, at short term cost and long term advantage. Britain is closely watching India as it makes big strides in developing infrastructure, in renewable energy, and setting a bold vision for the future. Even France is mapping out a pathway to self-reliant economy as it looks at ways to bring production home after the pandemic. The pandemic has only reinforced the drive to be self-reliant. ...

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Coca Cola has a mix of brands from orange juice to soda drinks. Sugary drinks increase obesity which leads to other diseases. The pandemic has shown the increased risks of obesity with studies showing obesity doubles the risk of being hospitalized for coronavirus 200% and increases risk of ending up in intensive care unit by 74%. UK prime minister Boris Johnson learned this the hard way and has changed all his eating and exercizing habits, and urges others to do the same. 

China, India, Mexico, Vietnam have much more to do to increase awareness of the risks of obesity from sugary drinks. The influence of Yoga, Ayurveda and traditional herbal foods and drinks is increasing awareness in India. This is not the same in China, Vietnam and other Communist countries where the dangers of smoking and sugary drinks are not part of the education put forward by the government.

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A cricket club in Cranleigh, England. A leafy suburb of Surrey, near London. It is all picture postcard like in this report by Stephen Castle and Andrew Testa of NYT. Just 52 miles southwest of London, this is the parliamentary seat of Chiddingfold represented by Jeremy Hunt who is No. 2 in Rishi Sunak's UK Tory government. Jeremy Hunt, the finance minister of UK, says he is uncertain whether he will lose the seat, "its the toughest it's ever been" as he goes door to door. A professor at the University of Manchester says Hunt's personal contacts are not much of a life raft as Tories face a tsunami of people's discontent over the promises and now visible failure of Brexit, of the decades of Tory austerity under Cameron, Boris Johnson, May and Sunak, and the failure in public services, promises for infrastructure that were never delivered. The British economy is in poor shape as the people of Britain turn to Labor party of Keir Starmer in 2024. ...

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Greg Ip of the WSj points out that Britain is in a weaker position to tackle Brexit than it was when Boris Johnson called for supporting the Yes vote to Leave the EU three years ago in the referendum. Business investment is lower than France, Germany and even Italy. And today protectionism, nationalism, hostility to globalization mean that its not so easy to increase exports by signing free trade agreements with other nations. Even a treaty with a friendly Trump administration  is not certain as Mr. Trump favors looking at how he can get the best deal and reverse any advantages of other trading nations, Britain being no exception. A trade agreement with the U.S. could mean the U.S. barring Britain from signing one with China as a condition of Mr. Trump. Greg Ip also points out that it was precisely joining the EU that helped Britain catch up with German and French standards of living after a period of low growth, inflation, and balance of payments crises in the 1970's. Joining the European Economic Community was as prime minister Heath stated would " enable us to be more efficient and more competitive in gaining more markets not only in Europe but in the rest of the world."   ...

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Anton Harder in this Wilson Center publication of research uses correspondence between Jawaharlal Nehru and his sister Vijaylakshmi Pandit ambassador to the US in 1950, to show that the US made an offer for India to take a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. India had supported two resolutions on June 25, and June 27, first condemning the invasion by North Korea and second the organizing of a UN force of 29 countries to push back the North Korean invasion. Even though the US is not seen as actively engaging with India during that period and seeing through British eyes the colonial policies of encouraging  different powers in South Asia, that may not be true.  Who was India's foreign minister in 1950? Jawaharlal Nehru was both prime minister and foreign minister till 1964, which means there was less discussion of foreign policy than happens today during the Ukraine invasion with Jaishankar a career diplomat with 30 years experience, Rajnath Singh, and Mr. Modi, in talks with president Biden recently, and in further discussions Modi had with EU's Von der Leyen and UK's Boris Johnson, Kishida of Japan. Who was India's defense minister in 1950? Baldev Singh, a Sikh independence struggle leader was Minister of Defense for 1947-52 and tackled partition of Punjab and Kashmir issues. The rest of the years to 1957 when India faced the Chinese invasion of Tibet India's defense minister was also for most of the period Mr. Nehru, except Ayynagar in 1953, and Kailash Katju in 1955 and 1956. The controversial V.K. Krishna Menon was Defense Minister from 1957 to 1962, when Indian defenses were further neglected leading to the Chinese invasion of India in 1962, and his replacement by Yashwantrao Chavan. The purpose of this is to look back at what happened in earlier periods to understand where India stands today- and what choices it makes today. Clearly the US was looking for allies then and now. Nehru saw things from his own reading of history seeing China and India as both suffering from western invasion, not realizing that China's experience under Mao was different- that of Japanese invasion and bombing of China's major cities not just colonization of Hong Kong and other ports for trade under British trade based policies in 1850-1900. Thus a Communist Chinese version of China's defense involved taking over border regions such as Tibet putting China in direct and open opposition to India. Nehru never really grasped what was happening in Tibet and the war China fought against the Nationalists. American general Stilwell loved China deeply and had an understanding of its people as shown in Tuchman's account in her book Stilwell and the American Experience in China 1911-1945. Stilwell during that war had a better understanding of China, the strengths and weaknesses of Mao's China and of the Nationalists under Chiang, than Nehru. Some of these errors post 1950's and a concentration of foreign, defense and embassy positions in the person of Mr. Nehru and of Nehru family member such as Mrs. Pandit led to the Indian failure to act on Tibet and see it as see it for what it was -facing a Communist Mao led China that had fought the Japanese invasion as different from Bodhidharma's China of the history books. Bodhidharma's China will outlast Mao's China, yet it is Mao's China that India faces today. This also tells us that India has to think in new ways- as Lincoln said during a period when America was also making its own progress as an industrial nation in the 1860's. "The dogmas of the quiet past are not adequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the occasion. As our case is new, we must think anew, we must act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and we shall save our country." India's values are values of democracy heightened not just by Mohandas Gandhi's ideas with Hind Swaraj written in 1910 just as powerful in 2022, but also by the heights of Ladakh where elections are held in remote regions of the Himalayas. India's values are values that are also shared in the best that America has in its values and culture and in the defense of freedom.    ...

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Jose de Cordoba of the WSJ provides this excellent story on the nature of the migration crisis in the U.S. that is creating political divisions in the U.S. What is causing this surge in migration to the U.S.? Cordoba provides some useful insights to understand the nature of this problem. Nine out of ten migrants in Guatemala which sends most of the migrants from Central America are moving north from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. for financial reasons, it points out. Only 10% are because of violence in the region, the rest for financial reasons according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration The jump in apprehension of Guatemalans at the American border shows a surge from 15,000 in 2007 to 236,000 in 9 months of 2019, according to U.S. government data. The surge began in 2008 and jumped in 2014 after U.S. court rulings that first required migrant children to be allowed to join relatives in the U.S. followed by a ruling in 2015 that allowed a parent to join the children and allowed court proceedings to take place that takes years. The result was that smugglers advertised on radio and families sold small plots of land to join relatives in the U.S. who had gone before them. The migration is also specific to certain areas hit by damage to crops, including coffee crop from drought, or certain towns that simply sent more people simply for financial reasons advertised openly.  For 8 hours of work a migrant could make at $12 per hour amount of $96 per day, in Guatemala the daily wage would be about $5.  Overwhelmingly it is financial reasons or economic opportunity that sends migrants north. After it became known that kids could help migration the people in family groups apprehended at the border jumped from about 40,000 in 2015 to 390,000 in fiscal 2019. Smugglers charge $8600 per adult and half that for a child and an adult that can be dropped off at a checkpoint. The efforts of president Trump to close the border to this migration include having Mexico sign an agreement to police its southern border with Guatemala using its newly setup National Guard. As a result the migration has actually surged in 2019 with migrants seeing this as their one last opportunity to join relatives in the U.S. or to migrate to the U.S. The Trump administration tried separating families because of the loophole in the law that allows children to be not deported and parents to join their children. But this created a public outcry and the effort now is to close the loophole in the law. It is also strange that as many migrants are coming from one town Joyabaj  with population 100,000 as from Guatemala City the capital population 2.5 million. In fact the economy has grown by 3.4 % a year in Guatemala and efforts have been made to improve conditions with the help of donor countries in the West for several years, though the drought conditions exist. The situation is similar to that in Europe. If one looks at the violence by gangs in central American region after the end of the guerilla wars and compares it to the wars in Syria and Iraq, one can see how humanitarian concerns preceded what eventually turned out tobe a full blown migration for economic reasons. Initially chancellor Merkel adopted a humanitarian stance but failed to recognize that there was another side to his situation that would attract a wave of economic migrants from places as far apart as North Africa to Afghanistan. Poverty has existed in these regions for many many years before the current migration, with drought and lack of economic opportunity going far back in time. Merkel only recently recognized this problem and the new CDU leader Kambrauer has clearly recognized this. CDU policy shifted in 2018-2019 with curbs on economic migration that has reduced it to a trickle. This process is underway in the U.S. at its border with Mexico and for Mexico with its border with Guatemala. In the short run Europe and the U.S. are paying a price. Not just in the way it has divided each country with a far left and a far right eroding the centrist parties that existed before. In some cases centrist parties that were popular on the right and the left now hve leaders from a far right or a far left faction within the centrist ruling parties. Boris Johnson in Britain, Trump in the U.S., leaders in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Or as in Germany and Spain new far left or far right parties causing the centrist parties to dwindle in influence or as in Germany this combined with a shift to the Green Party in Germany and Liberals Party in Britain as a show of disapproval for how the migration issue has been tackled.  The Economist in a July 2019 issue also points out that the country's own citizens have fared worse with migration. It shows how the Conservative Party's austerity cuts for welfare budgets was popular in Britain as long as eastern European migration at high levels in Britain were allowed starting with the Labour party under Blair. This disproportionately hurt the middle class and the poor after the hit already taken from the faulty banking caused recession. With the drop in migration it is now felt by a majority in Britain that the austerity cuts have just gone too far and a mood is set in to restore many of the cuts and fund public services. Meantime some of the damage has been done and will take a decade to correct as the issues that mangled the centrist parties and led to fragmentation on views of what society should look like have taken place with Brexit and high levels of poverty, income inequality in Britain, lack of investment in infrastructure with overallocation to tech with declining productive benefit for every additional dollar spent. ...

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The BBC looks at the divisions left behind by the Brexit campaigns and the healing needed for Britain to look to the future. Prime minister Boris Johnson has called for healing divisions. What is meant by "healing," and what is needed to do the healing. To understand this one needs to know why people feel strongly. One of the dangers in describing people, places and regions as "Leave" or "Remain" is that no place is entirely one or the other. Even in the most pro-Brexit places as Lincolnshire a quarter of people opted for Remain. In London called a "Remain" city more Londoners voted to leave the UK than voted for the Remain supporting Mayor. New polling done for the BBC gives one a better understanding of core beliefs. The phrase "influences from other countries and cultures makes Britain a better place to live" was preferred by Remain voters. The phrase "Britain will be stronger in the future if it sticks to its traditions and ways of life" was preferred by Leave voters. Leave people were more likely to celebrate Britain's history, heritage, Christian tradition and national identity. What the BBC points out is that the two ideas are not exclusive. This is also suggested in the percentage of Leave and Remain supporting their core beliefs, which hovers around 50 to 55%. Part of the problem is the way politics is organized to be for or against, part of it from echo chambers and living in relative isolation from people with other ideas, sort of in different bubbles. This means getting everyone out of their comfort zone to embrace what they have "More in Common." Organizations and institutions need to work to bridge divides not only in Britain, but also in the U.S. and Europe, with more people to people interface and more of the conversation shifting to beliefs held "More in Common." Wanting to value one's own culture and traditions and wanting to be part of the global conversation are not mutually exclusive ideas. This is the key point, and a balance has to be found between continuity and change, between respecting traditions and grappling with change, and most importantly listening to unheard or neglected voices.  ...

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Sandhya Sharma of The Economic Times puts a spotlight on the dominant role of China in global shipping by 2005. In 1980 China had a tiny role in global shipping, with bicycles a dominant form of transportation in Beijing. By 2019 this role had expanded to dominant position in all the largest modern technology container ports with global shipping volume having more than doubled since 2005. Much of this was done by working with major providers of container port technology such as Maersk of Denmark and other European shipping companies, with imported technology playing a critical part. India is starting from basics in its effort to develop its shipping in the Indian Ocean region with its large coastline facing the Suez Canal and the eastern coastline facing Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. This was evident during the recent "Atman Nirbhar" global shipping meeting in Vizag- the Maritime India Summit 2021. The goal is to make the next decade one of rapid development of the maritime sector to secure India's position in global shipping particularly in the Indian Ocean region. Collaboration with major European technology providers will play a key role in developing container ports to the levels required for India's future role in global shipping. Sharma discusses the visit of premier Boris Johnson in April 2021 to India to forge strong trade ties.  The Indian prime minister held virtual meetings with premiers of Sweden and the Netherlands, two major maritime nations in Northern Europe for stronger trade and technology ties. These ties are part of the broader effort by the US, UK, and European Union countries to forge strong trade and technology ties with India now that it is clear to them that new supply chain will be needed over the next decade as China disengages from that level of its trade ties with Europe, US and India. New global supply chain means new global shipping container ports and global shipping links of India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, with the US and Europe. Looking at what happened between sometime in 1995 and 2005, and in 2005 to 2009 when the global financial crisis hit, when China went from a miniscule level of world trade to predominance. And the years of the Obama administration 2008-2016 when this simply continued without any understanding of its implications for both sides, to levels of China's predominance in world shipping that can only be considered as unbelievable. Growing at over 12% through continued use of  imported technology from Europe and the US. Looking back at what happened one sees that this made China over dependent, its economy too intertwined with Europe and the US. This also made the US and Europe over dependent on China in its supply chain. It took the pandemic and the one term Trump administration, the crisis in Hong Kong, the situation in Ladakh and India's norther border, the South China seas and Vietnam,  for both sides to realize this was not in the interest of any of the countries involved.   ...