From Why Washington is Tied Up in Knots? With these acts of legislative sabotage, Republicans tapped into a deep truth about the American people: they hate political squabbling, and they take out their anger on whoever is in charge. So when the Gingrich Republicans carried out a virtual sit-down strike during Clinton’s first two years, [...]

The conclusion to a paper I wrote in a course in International Relations at the University of Iceland last semester. The title of the paper, Why has Iceland applied for EU membership? The time and the place of the Social Democrats Icelanders have participated in the European integration process without perhaps understanding the larger implications of it. [...]

I for one am not going to participate in this distortion of democracy which has brought us a national referendum on IceSave. Of course I would say no to paying for the insane way Landsbankinn went about its business. Today, Halldor J. Kristjansson, one of their CEO’s is on record saying that there were meetings in [...]

Since October 2008 there has been no shortage of demagoguery but now it seems like some lite version of facism is becoming en vogue. The organization New Iceland (Nytt Island)  has caught the attention of the media by gathering people to honk their horns outside the buildings of banks and financial institutions to protest against the [...]

“Those who lack the skill and talent to get the ball, go for the man” This quote from an online forum sums up the political debate currently underway in Iceland. People without the required skills and talent to handle the issues at hand compensate by attempting to take the players who do out of the game. In [...]

This month I have taken part in founding a start-up abroad. There are four partners in the firm, two Icelanders and two Finns, one residing in the US. The idea came about in Iceland, but when it came to incorporating there were some serious issues we had to ponder. 1. Currency restrictions and worthless ISK. The business [...]

The rationale for a representative democracy is that the issues facing a government are too varied and detailed to expect the electorate to adequately study each issue. The fear is that modern propaganda can be used to bamboozle the masses into agreeing to laws that are not in their best interest or to permit a [...]

Worrying himself sick every night over the household’s finances, he decided that the correct and responsible thing to do would be to talk to his bank. The bank’s friendly customer representative brought out a spreadsheet and started entering information about his earnings and spending. “This is what you have to do”, she said. “You have to stop [...]

The word is about, there’s something evolving, whatever may come, the world keeps revolving They say the next big thing is here, that the revolution’s near, but to me it seems quite clear that it’s all just a little bit of history repeating - Shirley Bassey / An Independence Party MP being caught in dirty business? For Arni Johnsen, substitute Asbjorn Ottarsson. The [...]

I am starting my second semester studying for a Master’s degree in International Relations at the University of Iceland. I am so far mostly satisfied with the quality of the courses on offer. I find the topics discussed, be it globalization, history of Icelandic foreign affairs, theories, nationalism and international institutions very interesting and I am [...]