I am a 23 year old Spaniard that accidentally arrived in London in 2003 to study his undergraduate degree. Edinburgh was to be my home at first but the thought of experiencing extreme cold quickly made me rethink my original choice. I undertook my three year degree at SOAS in politics with a regional specialisation in South Asia and settled residence in north London. I have ever since enjoyed both British politics and culture and have decided to make London my home. I moved to Brussels in 2006 to work for a Labour MEP as his parliamentary assistant and this year I returned to London to complete a postgraduate degree in political communication at the LSE. Having experienced first hand Labour’s electoral debacle and the current lack of direction the party and the country are experiencing I have decided to set this blog to present my thoughts and views on both British and international current affairs, as well as the unavoidable random bit of information that may cross my path.
The blog’s name ‘Forgesian thinking’ is inspired by Forges, a brilliant Spanish political cartoonist. Forges’ cartoons represent through humour the political and social reality of Spain like no columnist or politician could ever do. In all modesty, I aim to follow on his footsteps by analysing and commenting on current affairs both in Britain and abroad with irony and humour. Whether this blog is worth of its name is for you reader alone to decide.
You can contact me by email at daimyo84 AT yahoo DOT com.
Mario Lopez Areu
Islington, 21st May 2008
Disclaimer: the views in this blog expressed are my very own, not those of my employer or of any other institution that might have the bad luck of having to deal with me. All brilliant thoughts and jokes written in this blog are the sole responsibility of myself (unless I´m quoting someone, then that´s their problem).
¡¡¡Enhorabuena, Mario!!! Me gusta mucho tu blog. Pasaré buenos momentos leyéndolo. Sobre los penalties de C. Ronaldo y Anelka pensé lo mismo que dices en tu post. Ambas cosas, buenas para el Madrid.
¡¡¡Salud y suerte!!!
Mate – I didn’t realise you studied South Asia in a past life. What did you focus on? It’s a fascinating region – one of the best in the world IMHO :).
What is South Asia as opposed to SE Asia though? In Oz we pay alot of attention to SE Asia (eg Indonesia, Malaysia, China et al – where there’s HEAPS happening at the moment). Is South Asia more the subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh?)
I did! got into it at SOAS when I had to choose a regional specialisation and was always intrigued by India’s democracy especially the combination of strong religious beliefs and secularism. Still work freelance for Exclusive Analysis as a risk analyst on South Asia.
Technically South Asia includes India, Pakistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. I especialised on the Maoist conflict in Nepal and identity politics in the subcontinent in general. I got a couple of journal articles and a chapter on a book published on them, in Spanish though.
Marius!! Just saw your entry about Joe Trippi, did you see my photo of the wall in Palestine? “The revolution will not be televised.”
love your blog by the way!