There is a growing (and I think correct) belief that more and more of decisions being taken are based on false information. Indeed, beyond that, programmed efforts are being sustained to spread false information which then serves as a basis for some rather extreme and risky decisions, or to justify them.

It is true that elements of false information always formed part of the strategies by which people dealt with, and confronted, each other. One need only recall how according to legend, the Greeks penetrated Troy's defences. Still, closer to our times, with the multiplication of the means of communication, the opportunities by which fake news and rumours can be spread around have exploded in number. And state bodies, political and commercial lobbies, individuals in their millions are seizing these opportunities with great gusto...

The development cannot be easily resisted, much less halted. It is proving to be an enormous asset for politically dubious movements close to modern fascism, as this ideology continues to grow by feeding on the disquiet and suspicious moods of whole communities.

***

NEUTRALITY

Many discussions that arise among us about Malta's neutrality remain anchored to the same questions that would be raised since well before Independence: can a small country like Malta be neutral and would it be in its best interests to be so? They're outdated queries which no longer make sense. Malta is a neutral country to the same extent that it is a sovereign state. Reflections that should be carried out about neutrality have nothing to do with Hamlet's to-be-or-not-to-be philosophizing.

They're the questions that all countries in Europe and outside it, whether they're neutral or members of a military alliance, have to face. The power balances in the world at large have shifted radically. Alliances of all sorts are being disrupted and recast. The factors that determine the security of neutral or allied countries have become largely uncertain.

As a result, the most relevant considerations that must be taken into account concern how in the prevailing circumstanes, the content of Malta's neutrality needs to be defined and applied, in terms of the island's foreign policy, military security and defence against internal or external threats to the national integrity.

***

GERRYMANDERING

US President Trump encouraged Republicans in Texas, where they are in political control, to reconfigure the boundaries of electoral districts there to ensure that in the next mid-term elections to the Congress, their party secures five more seats than they have at present. In other states, similar initiatives began to be organised.

Meanwhile, in response to this tactic, Democratic governor Newsom in California spearheaded and won a referendum authorising the same arrangement to be carried out in his state, this time in favour of Democrats. The practice of so-called "gerrymandering" is not considered as so shocking in the US.

In Malta it used to be practised as well by both political parties. It led to the crisis of the 1980's, when the Labour Party  won the government with the majority of parliamentary seats but a minority of the popular vote. Perhaps it would not be a bad thing were the US to also introduce a constitutional amendment to ban gerrymandering. In no way can it be seen as a legitimate political tactic.