Letters from America, take seven: Dark Irony.
The fact that a country western concert in the US was the target of yet another mass murder spree by an automatic weapon- toting white man is darkly ironic given that country western fans tend to be...
View ArticleMedia Link: Weinstein, Trump’s mental health and Mueller lurking.
Mitch Harris and I continued our weekly radio conversations from the US, this week discussing Harvey Weinstein, reports that Trump is mentally “unraveling” and how the Mueller investigation into...
View ArticleLetters from America, take eight: on the fear of “good negro government.”
One notable aspect of contemporary US politics is the re-emergence of so-called culture wars. Orchestrated by Steve Bannon, assorted alt-Right platforms and Murdoch media outlets in response to what...
View ArticleLetters from America, take eleven: Secular rituals and the commercialization...
Thanksgiving Weekend is ending here in Boston. For the first time in 15 years I spent it in the US with family and friends. It struck me that Thanksgiving is one of the few remaining symbols of common...
View ArticleLetters from America, final take. In a desert oasis, sensing change.
In my final interview in the “Letters from America” series with Mitch Harris at RadioLive, I reflect on the Alabama senatorial election, the plight of Rex Tillerson, the attempts to undermine the...
View ArticlePlus ca change, or, does Labour have a foreign policy?
Among the things mentioned during the 2017 election campaign, foreign policy was not one of them. This is not surprising, as domestic policy issues tend to dominate election year politics in times of...
View ArticleIn the US, what is needed is a Broad Front.
The mass murder of 17 high school students and teachers in Florida at the hands of a deranged gunman has once again prompted public outcry about the need for better gun control in a country where...
View ArticleThe generous uncle.
The title of this post references a Korean saying that alludes to the fact that those with power or dominance can afford to give away some leverage, even face, in pursuit of mutual good. This is...
View ArticleThe political rope-a-dope.
Older readers will remember the “Rumble in the Jungle” where Muhammad Ali defeated George Foreman for the heavyweight boxing title. Held in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974, the contest pitted the undefeated...
View ArticlePick your poison.
Two decades ago New Zealand uncoupled the security and trade strands in its foreign policy. The decision stemmed from the removal of New Zealand’s preferential trade status with the UK in the early...
View ArticleA return to the banality of evil.
When Hannah Arendt wrote about the “banality of evil” in Nazi Germany, she was referring not to the leaders but to the thousands of bureaucrats, soldiers, civil servants, cops, tax collectors and...
View ArticleIn defence of public ostracism.
Public confrontations between Trump officials and activists, ordinary citizens and at least one restaurant owner have reignited the debate about “civility” in political disagreement. The editorial...
View ArticleAn authoritarian nut in a democratic shell.
At the turn of the 21st century I was teaching an upper division undergraduate course titled “Comparative Regime Transitions” in which I explored the four “waves” of democratisation that had occurred...
View ArticleThe false equivalence between racists and whistleblowers.
So a National MP and assorted right-wingers believe that Chelsea Manning should not be allowed to speak in NZ because she is a [insert unpleasant adjectives and nouns here]. Many of those who...
View ArticleUnearthing the mole.
The issue of who wrote the anonymous “Resistance” op ed in the NY Times (about Oval Office insiders working to thwart and buffer Executive policy-making from Trump’s impulses and excesses) has...
View ArticleVenezuela Agonistes.
There are two things remarkable about coverage of the Venezuelan crisis. The first is the silence of the Left in the face of it. This includes the champions of the so-called Latin American “Pink Tide”...
View ArticlePolitical Market Clearing.
As I watched the results come in on US midterm election night, it struck me that the tally was a microcosmic distillation of what democracy is in terms of preferred outcomes: no one gets everything...
View ArticleA bridge too far.
The Labour-led government in New Zealand has settled on a new mantra when it comes to addressing the US-China rivalry. It claims that New Zealand is ideally situated to become a bridge between the two...
View ArticleMedia Link: “A View from Afar” podcast series launch.
Hosted by Selwyn Manning and EveningReport.nz, ” A View from Afar” is a podcast series dedicated to exploring current affairs, international relations, political events and military-security issues...
View ArticleRedrawing the lines.
Early this year I was asked by a media outlet to appear and offer predictions on what will happen in world affairs in 2022. That was a nice gesture but I wound up not doing the show. However, as...
View Article