Blog
A running commentary on politics, international affairs and culture
Elections in Hungary and Peru: One Out, One In?
As one autocrat is deposed, another often pops up somewhere else. While we can celebrate Orbán’s, Peru’s democratic crisis might be getting worse.
You Can (and Should) Put the Clock Back—And Keep It So
As we put our clocks forward yet again after being promised an end to the practice, the heretical and unpopular case for wintertime couldn’t be any firmer.
Desperate Center-Left Looking to Cynical Sánchez
A center-left that is scared and desperate will look to ever more demagogic alternatives to save them.
Wrong Lessons in Iraq to Bad Mistakes in Iran
The specter of the devastating failures in Iraq are leading to the same mistakes in Iran, but the lessons we learnt were probably the wrong ones.
The Kicked Can Finally Runs Out of Road
After nearly fifty years of violent dictatorship and regional brinkmanship, could be it that the clerical fascist regime is seeing its last days?
Venezuela and Iran: Betrayal or Sloppy Realism?
Too many times myopic restraint leads to harder consequences, and in the cases of Iran and Venezuela, democracy might be losing out because of US sloppiness.
Realizing You’re Salieri
A meditation on Amadeus and how envy of true greatness can hollow the soul, and why humility may be the only path to peace.
No One Left To Lie To?
Trapped between mounting financial scandals, the fall of the Maduro regime, and an electoral collapse, might Sánchez’s foundation of mendacity finally be giving way?
And We’re Back to Opposing US Bellicosity Again
The new geopolitical scene is full of messy contradictions, but strong principles can help us support US intervention for the good while opposing its expansionist ambitions in Greenland and Canada.
With Maduro Gone Democracy Must Remain the Goal
With Maduro now in US custody, we must remember the goal in Venezuela is not just the fall of the regime but the return to democracy.
Let’s Not Give Up on Myanmar
As Myanmar faces a sham election under military rule, its ignored and brutalised democracy movement fights a war the world cannot afford to forget.
US Finally Striking Terror in the Sahel
As the Sahel emerges as the global epicenter of jihadist violence, the recent joint US-Nigerian strikes signal a long-awaited strategic shift toward collaborative intervention in West Africa.
A Ruble for Your Peace?
A US-brokered “peace” that rewards Russian aggression at Ukraine’s expense is not pragmatism but appeasement, and history shows such deals only embolden dictators.
How To Get Away with Occupation
The UN Security Council’s backing of Morocco’s autonomy plan proves that legitimizing illegal occupation is easy if you play it right.
The Importance of Reading Newspapers
There might be good reasons for newspaper circulation to be dwindling, but the art of reading physical news has significant democratic and mental health benefits.
The Taiwan Question
The question over Taiwan has long been personally and politically significant to me. And with things cooling down between the US and China, what might be in store for the world’s most gallant democracy?
Why Is Erdoğan Being So Pragmatic?
The welcome news of Tufan Erhürman’s landslide electoral victory in unrecognized Northern Cyprus marks a significant step toward ending one of Europe’s longstanding conflicts. But why is the Turkish president congratulating him?
A Peace of Hope at Last?
Hamas has fallen, the hostages are coming home, and the war is finally ending. But peace arrives not in triumph, but in ruins — and with bitter lessons unlearned. This is the anatomy of a war that was both inevitable and disastrously mismanaged.
The Weird Axis of the Anglosphere’s Center-Left
As Britain drifts from global heavyweight to geopolitical afterthought, an unlikely alignment between Starmer, Albanese, and Carney could resurrect CANZUK as a serious alternative to US dominance.
Are We Back on Course with Ukraine?
Has Trump’s flip-flopping nature finally flipped the right way at last? Could it be that, after wasting 9 months on isolationist utopia, the US president is finally seeing the optimism that could change the course of the Russian-Ukrainian War?