Uncategorised and other

Life on Earth: From beginning to end
Life on Earth: From beginning to end
The Earth Transformed: An Untold History by Peter Frankopan (Bloomsbury, 2023) Any one-volume history of “an untold story” of the world “from the dawn of time” might be…
India's turbulent history newly revealed
India's turbulent history newly revealed
Review: Crosswinds, by Vijay Gokhale (Penguin Random House India, 2024) and To Raise a Fallen People, by Rahul Sagar (Columbia University Press, 2022).  India’s role on…
Opium and the colonial narco-state
Opium and the colonial narco-state
Book review: Smoke and ashes: Opium’s hidden histories by Amitav Ghosh (Murray, 2024) Switching for a while from fiction to fact, Amitav Ghosh has written an account of …
The Translator: "Friends to all"
The Translator: "Friends to all"
Heard diplomats or analysts using a new turn of phrase only to wonder, “What does that mean?” Today we ask … What is “Friends to all”? At its core, “Friends to all…
What price sanctions?
What price sanctions?
Book Review: The Trade Weapon, by Ken Heydon (Wiley 2023) Following the presumed assassination of Russian political opposition figure Alexei Navalny, the United States,…
The Translator: "Loss and damage"
The Translator: "Loss and damage"
Heard diplomats or analysts using a new turn of phrase only to wonder, “What does that mean?” Today we ask … What is loss and damage? In the context of…
Supporting Pacific women to tell the region’s stories
Supporting Pacific women to tell the region’s stories
Rosi Tamani-Doviverata is co-founder of Women in Media Fiji, President of the Fijian Media Association, and Acting Publisher/CEO at the Fiji Sun. Kathy McLeish is inaugural co…
Gender equality financing: Spotlight on Southeast Asia
Gender equality financing: Spotlight on Southeast Asia
You can’t manage what you can’t measure, as the adage goes. And in terms of measuring gender equality and women’s empowerment, considerable barriers exist. While significant…
State of play for Pacific women in 2024
State of play for Pacific women in 2024
As 2024 rang in, an historical vote was taking place in the Pacific. Hilda Heine, former president of the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) and first ever female head of state in…
Spy novels and unicorn hunting
Spy novels and unicorn hunting
“I wasted time and now time doth waste me.” Shakespeare’s rueful admonition (from Richard II) should nag at all of us who have expended energy on dead ends, red herrings or lost…