The All-China Federation of Trade Unions’ first and second allegiances are to the government and the employer respectively, as it is in these organisations that the power and funding is to be found. Employees in the future will likely find ways in which to find greater representation, either through alternative foreign trade unions, or through employee formed trade unions, as has already been seen in Shanghai.

Given the severity of the discrimination and prejudice suffered by Europe’s Roma minority, defining government’s role was key to further understanding the challenges faced by Roma and how they live in a perpetual state of crisis as relates to human security. The question of Roma is a thorn in the eye of Europe, not only for Roma but for a region that cannot afford such human insecurity amongst its population

Whilst separated by great distances in time, geography and culture, both Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz can be seen to have developed a rather similar outlook on strategy and the application of force. Whilst both are mutually complementary, Clausewitz has the better overall work on strategy. One would do well to read both On War and The Art of War before becoming a statesman

Realist arguments are a combination of two discrete, though often intersecting, literatures. The first emerging from the works of classical realists such as Thucydides and Machiavelli, and the second spreading across the history of Western philosophy. One of the most significant aspects of realism is its use of historical evidence, as if one can detect a timeless wisdom of world politics centred upon the principles of realpolitik

Ultimately, expanding the powers of the European Parliament is nothing more than a pseudo-solution. Without a structural solution, such as a shift from an intergovernmental to a federal polity, any attempt to ‘democratize’ the European Union by increasing the powers of supranational institutions will inevitably fail.