On the Fringes with Elizabeth Stewart

Monkey Business?

This week we have been welcoming in the Chinese Year of the Monkey and on Sunday London will host the biggest celebrations outside of Asia.

So what do the Chinese sages say is in store for world affairs? Well, it’s an unlucky year. Politically, it will be a year of upheaval and treachery which does not bode well for the Syria Peace Process.

Monkey years are also said to be very unpredictable, which will not be welcome for diplomats or pollsters trying to predict the outcome of Britain’s in-out referendum on Europe or the increasingly intriguing US presidential race.

It is a not a good year for The Establishment. But on the bright side, American elections in the Monkey Years have often ushered in transformational leaders, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. So a risk-taking non-conformist candidate may just hold sway.

And, of course, in a close race, everything will rest on those swinging Monkey voters…