The history of Jesus is also that of walking a very fine line—a radical critique of the Roman imperial order (intertwining religious and political power) without aiming to topple or replace the Empire. Jesus contrasts the deification of the emperor with the presence of God in a marginal Jewish “prophet’s” everyday life. The two can […]
A Neoclassical Solution for China
The Party Plenum took inspiration from ancient philosophers to solve its modernization drive. It is a bold and ambitious move that could change the country and the world. Will it work? Last week, the 2024 Party Plenum issued its decisions, concentrating on the economy[i]. The plan, in a nutshell, was to unify the internal market, […]
US Rhetoric of Self-Destruction?
A general problem in these American elections is that the climate of rhetorical violence and the spread of conspiracy theories is a double-edged sword. Whoever uses it will also suffer from it, and unfortunately, the attempt on former President Donald Trump and the very bizarre interpretations given in the heat of the moment—and that will […]
China’s Defiant Army
(recast with updates) The PLA’s chest-thumping in Europe and America after NATO’s claims may hide the impact of the recent military purge. Military, not economy, could dominate the next Party plenum. China defiantly called on military drills with Russia, a nation at war in Ukraine, after NATO called Beijing “enabler” of Moscow’s war effort and […]
The PLA Needs Democracy to Fight
China’s failures to reform the army may lie deep in the ancient military mindset that doesn’t fit modern requirements. Can the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fight? And in case, how would they fight? They had the human waves in Korea, and they advised the Vietnamese on guerrilla warfare, but how would they perform in a […]
A Pandora’s Box for the Supreme Court
The ruling introduced the unprecedented principle that any US President can legally subvert the institutions. It has changed the US and the terms of its competition with Russia and China. Did the Supreme Court ruling open a Pandora’s box for the United States and the world? Looking at it from Rome it’s all very puzzling […]