Göta älv

When living in Umeå, Elin and I had a habit of running along the river and through the seasons. With Elin visiting Gothenburg for a few days as part of her PhD studies, we were able to take this tradition to new shores for 14 faster kilometres in breezy northeasterly winds. Having coffee afterwards at Da Matteo, I got this feeling of different worlds and times coming together.

Meanwhile, the conservative South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has declared “emergency martial law” with the military now blocking the entrance to the parliament. Though Korean politics have had its ups and downs, democracy has been fairly stable since 1987, so this is but the latest example of the erosion of democratic norms worldwide. Vowing to “eradicate pro-North Korean forces”, Yoon Suk Yeol seems to have taken a page from Carl Schmitt’s playbook of absolutes, and with Donald Trump soon to be president, it is uncertain what the US reaction will be.