Eye of the Beholder: Trends in the Political and Commercial World

"That's not flying, that's just falling with style''. These are the words famously uttered by the character of Woody from Pixar's hit film Toy Story , in relation to Buzz Lightyear's bravado with regard to flying. This assertion poignantly captivates the recent tenseness within the civil aviation business that has seen a selection of high-profile airlines plummeting into insolvency. Many such incidents have occurred as a result of extraneous adverse factors, as well as officials succumbing to trade union pressure. The overarching argument that I shall propose in this article is that much industry turmoil that pertains to labour union complaints reflects the reactionary stance of said unions, for their constant emphasis on the greed of chief industrial giants is the result of a black-and-white conceptualisation of globalisation and global capitalism. I will use recent shakeups in the aviation sector to illustrate this point, especially the Air Berlin scandal...

Brexit has undoubtedly been on the tips of everyone’s tongues ever since the shock vote last year sent rippling chills throughout Europe and the rest of the globe. This subsequently gave rise to mass panics in many European countries due to the fear of far-right political demagogues being provided impetus to produce a similar outcome in their respective countries. Notable countries that had been afflicted by this collective fear include the Netherlands and France. In the case of the latter, perhaps a potential “Frexit” would have come to fruition had President of the National Front Marine Le Pen defeated current French president Emmanuel Macron in the election earlier this year. Yet after the initial jitters, waters appear to have settled and ardent opposition to the European Union is less present in the public sphere than it was a year ago. The main contention of this article will be that Brexit aims to signify the potential dawn of a new era of international politics, one in which t...