Neoconservative Republican President George W. Bush took office determined to aggressively export American democratic values through conflict. The Iraq war, a misdirected response to 9/11, tacked trillions of dollars on to the deficit while further destabilising the Middle East.

To understand the motivations behind Chinese government policy decisions, look no further than their impact on State-Owned Enterprises.

Mr Trump is a different type of leader not burdened by rigid ideology. He does not think like a politician, nor does he talk or sanctimoniously moralise like one, making him an easy target for demonisation. However, he is an empathetic person who recognises the pain of America's middle class.

It's not their job from the establishment-through-calcification to sit there and try to withhold the president, to rein him in or slow down his agenda.

Public discourse has been polluted now for decades by corporate-funded disinformation - not just with climate change but with a host of health, environmental and societal threats. The implications for the planet are grim.

I live in Dublin, God knows why. There are greatly more congenial places I could have settled in - Italy, France, Manhattan - but I like the climate here, and Irish light seems to be essential for me and for my writing.

If we're going to pass international trade agreements, as we should, they should have similar kind of rules, not as high a wage as obviously as a steelworker in the U.S. or in Lorain, Ohio, but certainly rules on the environment and worker safety. You go to Mexico, you don't see those kinds of worker protections or environmental safeguards.

We need senators who have studied physics and representatives who understand ecology.