Annual Letter 2020 – We say thank you!

Investments in research and development are key factors for the competitiveness of one’s economy, and according to research, the correlation between a country’s technological innovation and its economic power is indeed positive. As Xi Jinping has done everything in his power to utilise Chinese technological supremacy in international politics, it is vital to examine the relationship between technological development and political power to explain how it has come to the point of China soon overtaking the US as the most powerful country in the world.

In 2019, the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic announced that he, along with Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama and the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev, signed a declaration of intent to establish the free movement of people, goods and capital between these three countries in the Western Balkans - a Mini-Schengen, they called it. The response of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the initiative was flawed, to say the least.

Arabia was a significant part of the Late Antiquity from which Islam emerged. Contrary to traditional sources, writer Muhammad Ali Sohail article argues that what eventually became the Islamic civilisation was a continuation of Late Antiquity's most salient features, with late antique empires establishing the foundations for the initial development of Islam. Moreover, it highlights the role played by traditional sources in instigating academic curiosity and mistrust from revisionist scholars who challenged the traditionalist premise entirely.

Bruce Springsteen is one of the greatest songwriters and performers in American musical history. His lyrics are full of simultaneous hope and despair, reflecting the changing and evolving social fabric of the United States resulting in a sound that resonates with hundreds of millions of Americans coming from all faiths, socioeconomic, racial, age, and ethnic backgrounds. While many Americans have misunderstood Springsteen’s politics through his 1984 single “Born in the U.S.A.”, mistaking him for being a symbol of Reagan-era politics and staunchly Conservatively patriotic, his politics are far more Progressive and Liberally focused. His lesser-known work, the 1997 single titled “41 Shots (American Skin)”, is an example of this.