China’s Great Game in Afghanistan
China greeted America’s chaotic retreat from Afghanistan and the Taliban seizure of power with a mixture of glee and trepidation.…
Why European criticism of the US Afghanistan pullout is so refreshing
You actually can spell ‘North Atlantic Treaty Organization’ without ‘America’, as it turns out. You can also, however, spell ‘North Atlantic…
A childhood in old Kabul
They say the city you most fondly remember is the one you grew up in. In my case that’s Kabul.…
The latest lessons in Covid management from Israel
Will no one rid us of our Covid-dementors? Gladys Berejiklian says restrictions could remain in place after 80 per cent full vaccination. Yet…
Imagine … no state borders to close
The premiers are tearing the federation apart. Let’s hope they succeed very soon. To see my point, just close your…
John Hewson joins the Salon des Refusés
Poor John Hewson. After being booted from The SMAge for being pale, male and stale — as stale as the…
Panjshir valley and the last resistance to the Taliban
The Panjshir valley, about three hours’ drive north of Kabul, has a mythical hold on the Afghan imagination. It is…
New Zealand’s zero Covid strategy is becoming unsustainable
New Zealand has done remarkably well over the past 18 months at protecting its citizens from the worst of the…
How the gender debate is dividing Germany
Pronoun politics can be something of a minefield. But if you think the gender debate is confusing, spare a thought…
Prince Harry’s eco-warrior credentials take another hit
Life seems to be going well for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after they officially split from the royal…
China’s zero Covid strategy is being undermined by mahjong
Mao Zedong once said that the game of mahjong should not be underestimated, because: ‘If you know how to play…
Defence contractors were the real winners in Afghanistan
The fall of Kabul, like the fall of Saigon, will be taught in classrooms for decades to come. But the…
Greta Thunberg is right
I am not usually on the same page as Greta Thunberg but she is absolutely right when she accuses the…
ScoMo and premiers: if you want people to get vaccinated give them liberty
Lets talk SARS covid-19 — coroanvirus. The political responses to Covid, while varying across the nation, consist of a general…
Why is anyone still defending OnlyFans?
Starting in October, OnlyFans, which has 130 million users, two million contributors and billions in revenue will ban its creators…
China’s state broadcaster returns to British airwaves
It’s a hard tasking trying to sell China these days. What with the crackdown on Hong Kong, the subjugation of…
Afghanistan and the end of the American hegemony
We used to sneer at the way the Russians were chased out of Afghanistan by a ragtag of mujaheddin armed…
Is Theresa May in any position to criticise Boris?
When Theresa May told a joke at her own expense at a reception of Tory MPs held to celebrate Boris…
The last war for democracy
Twenty years after 9/11, the War on Terror has come full circle. Everyone expected the Taliban to surge back to…
Is Joe Biden OK?
Just before the Christmas holiday in 2018, then-President Donald Trump canceled his planned vacation to his Mar-a-Lago resort, citing the…
What exactly was the plan in Afghanistan?
The collapse of the Afghan army and state was so rapid and so total that, mercifully, talking heads have already…
Chaos foreseen
As Robert Gates, former defense secretary in the Obama administration, once put it, Biden has ‘been wrong on nearly every…
Brown study
Trying to be original about the disaster in Afghanistan is very difficult. It truly was appalling. First, what a tragedy…
Latham’s law
The soft underbelly of Australian multiculturalism At the height of the troubles of the Whitlam government its Resources Minister Rex…
