CIAO DATE: 11/2014
Volume: 70, Issue: 5
October & November 2014
A Result That Resolves Little (PDF)
Malcolm Chalmers
The Scottish referendum was supposed to settle the UK's constitutional uncertainties, but the result has raised more questions than it answers. How Britain addresses the devolution issue and the question mark over its commitment to Europe will shape perceptions of its ability to wield influence and hard power abroad for years to come.
Now deliver, say the Scots (PDF)
Colin Fleming
As support in Scotland for pro-independence parties rockets, the big question is whether Westminster will honour its eleventh-hour promises.
Past the point of no return for Catalonia (PDF)
Josep Maria Reniu
The Scots' No vote was a disappointment, but the region is still pressing ahead with its push for independence despite Madrid's intransigence.
In the care of Nurse Ann Droid (PDF)
Noel Sharkey
Robots may be able to hold your hand but they cannot empathize. Are we comfortable with elderly care being left to machines?
Life is about to get a lot smarter (PDF)
Robert Plant
Machines are starting to think for themselves. Instead of fearing for our jobs, we should look forward to a world with less drudgery in the workplace
It's all change in your pocket (PDF)
Paola Subacchi
With so many different forms of payment now available, from smart phones to bitcoins, what is the future of money?
As sanctions bite, could Russia isolate itself by switching off the net? (PDF)
Keir Giles
Recent months have seen more restrictive measures imposed by the Kremlin to address a lack of Russian control over the internet
Four lessons the EU should learn about energy security (PDF)
Ana Stanič
Despite the Ukraine crisis, the new European Commission's approach to diversifying gas supplies should be based on commercial realities
Ten minutes with Andrei Kurkov, Ukrainian author (PDF)
The Ukrainian author noted for the black humour of his novels on post-Soviet life talks to Agnes Frimston about the state of his homeland
Can the quiet ayatollah of peace save Iraq from collapse? (PDF)
Hayder al-Khoei
In the sectarian maelstrom that followed the American invasion, one voice has spoken up for moderation and restraint
Iraq's religious mix is at risk (PDF)
Gerard Russell
Exotic minority sects that have survived millennia are being crushed by jihadist intolerance
Africa's choice of partners (PDF)
Nicholas Westcott
Mineral rich with untapped markets, this is the continent the world is now courting
The blue helmet blues (PDF)
Richard Gowan
UN peacekeepers are being killed in several conflict zones and need the world's support
YouGov poll: EU comeback (PDF)
Thomas Raines
In the summer of 2012, as the eurozone crisis rumbled on, 49 per cent of the British public said they would vote to leave the European Union, with only 30 per cent wanting to stay, according to a YouGov poll for Chatham House.
Results from this year's survey, conducted in August 2014, show a generally more favourable attitude to the EU, despite the triumph in the May European elections of UKIP, a party dedicated to leaving the EU. On the headline figure of voting intentions in a referendum, staying in now has the narrowest of leads - 40 per cent to 39 per cent.
Postcard from Södertälje, Sweden (PDF)
Mikael Oez
Echoes of Jesus in Sweden: Aramaic-speaking Syriacs find a home
Date with history: The bullet train at 50 (PDF)
October 1, 1964 the bullet train launched in Japan. Why has it been so slow to catch on?
Interview: Yves Daccord (PDF)
The director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross tells Alan Philps of the challenges in dealing with Islamic State and predicts that aid workers may soon be given a TripAdvisor style rating
Expert view: Afghanistan (PDF)
Michael Keating
The unwieldy compromise that resolved a disputed election offers Kabul a glimmer of hope
Review: Neil MacGregor's German lesson (PDF)
Alan Philps
The Director of the British Museum introduces us to aspects of history that have been long neglected
Review: Bauhaus and a spirit of subtle resistance (PDF)
Alan Philps
Two items from the exhibition, Germany: Memories of a Nation at the British Museum, tell revealing stories about life in Germany in the 20th Century. Both have a link to the Weimar School of Architecture and Design, called the Bauhaus, which pioneered modern design in the 1920s. Because of its socialist and internationalist outlook, the Nazis set out to destroy it.
Review: Camp David recalled (PDF)
Burhan Wazir
Peace talks in a war of egos