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Many thanks to our finalists who participated in the National Student Survey this year. The response rate of 72% is the highest figure we have ever achieved. As promised, four lucky winners of £72 Amazon vouchers will be notified (by 11^th May).

A Pinpoint Politics article by Lena-Sophie Demuth

After World War II, the foreign policy of Bundesrepublik Deutschland (West Germany) aimed at getting back in line with its neighbouring states, reconstructing its economy and rebuilding the image of a state responsible for a war that had claimed over 60 million casualties, including more than 6 million deaths in the wake of the biggest genocide the world had seen – the Holocaust. This long path towards becoming a sovereign state was characterized by a strong relationship with the USA, its major partner and investor; membership in the NATO; and European integration as one of the priorities of post-war Germany. True to the motto of becoming an economic giant but a political midget, Germany together with the bordering country and erstwhile hereditary enemy France were at the forefront of the European integration taking a stand for a united Europe built on a shared past, common values and the iron will that war must be averted in the future by all means.

A Pinpoint Politics article by Ramsha Khan

The narrative of warfare in the last decade has been a poignant one, as we bore witness to the terrorist attacks, invasions, and revolutions that ignited across the globe. In its historical context this is not a phenomena out of the ordinary – indeed, the paradigm of conflict can be dated as old as mankind itself. However, there have been certain shifts in the form of warfare today, and, as these shifts in form collide with the liberal ideology and capitalist thought the western world is built upon, the resulting implications can be evidenced in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, as well as the Arab Spring revolts. An actor that is receiving an ever-increasingly central position on this stage is the mercenary, or private soldier, along with the corporate structures and governments that control his role.

A Pinpoint Politics article by Enrico Longobucco

In recent days, a number of important Italian newspapers published surveys about confidence in Prime Minister Mario Monti. The approval rate for Monti seems to be about 50 per cent, the lowest figure recorded throughout his office. As a result, many Italian political parties want currently to indicate their independence from the government, and so do trade unions and professional associations, by means of a clever media campaign, which aims to tell people that whatever their current problems are, these are not due to politicians and unionists. Hence, political parties and organisations are lately trying to improve their image, after being at an all-time low in terms of credibility and support. However, it is not easy to tell whether this operation is bearing fruit. On one hand, it is true that the confidence in this government seems to decrease but, on the other hand, we are witnessing a steady loss of approval to political parties, as well as to trade unions.

A Pinpoint Politics article by Christopher Ogunmodede

The election of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States was supposed to usher America into a “post-racial” world where Americans would be finally freed of its legacy of slavery, Jim Crow and racial discrimination. The election of a mixed-race, urban Senator from the North over a white, Republican Vietnam War hero was proof for many that America had closed the chapter of its sordid and contentious racial history. Then came , the Tea Party and now the Trayvon Martin shooting which reopens the discourse on race, police-community relations and guns in America.