Uncategorised and other

The economics of strategy
The economics of strategy
Book review: The Shortest History of Economics, by Andrew Leigh (Black Inc 2024)The final sentence of economist and politician Andrew Leigh’s new book, The Shortest History of…
The month the world changed
The month the world changed
Book review: November 1942, by Peter Englund (Bodley Head, 2024)Early on in politics, Richard Nixon believed that knowing and understanding America – comprehensively and…
A bread index to measure revolt
A bread index to measure revolt
Book review: The Revolutionary Temper, by Robert Darnton (Allen Lane, 2023)Who amongst us really predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall, the overthrow of Iran’s Shah, the explosion…
The Translator: The nomenclature of foreign aid
The Translator: The nomenclature of foreign aid
Heard diplomats or analysts using a new turn of phrase only to wonder, “What does that mean?” Today we ask…What is Official Development Assistance?Official Development Assistance…
Targeting girls education: Pakistan’s tribal areas suffer under Taliban influence 
Targeting girls education: Pakistan’s tribal areas suffer under Taliban influence 
The long, rugged border running along Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas that separates Afghanistan provides no barrier to the influence of the Taliban and its radical policies…
Noble Rushdie will not be silenced
Noble Rushdie will not be silenced
Review: "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder", by Salman Rushdie (Penguin, 2024)Having already written an intriguing account of living under sentence of death (Joseph…
The God in the rubble
The God in the rubble
Book review: Out of the Darkness: The Germans 1942–2022, by Frank Trentmann (Allen Lane, 2023) On the eve of the First World War, the German theologian Ernst Troeltsch…
60 years of Kartini Day: Indonesia’s feminist pioneer or political pawn?
60 years of Kartini Day: Indonesia’s feminist pioneer or political pawn?
On Sunday 21 April, millions of women and girls across Indonesia celebrated Hari Kartini (Kartini Day), the commemoration of the birth of 19th century Javanese noblewoman, Raden…
In the Olympics of Drag, Taiwan just took the gold
In the Olympics of Drag, Taiwan just took the gold
For Taiwan, which often finds its international participation constrained – barred from a World Health Organization membership and competing under the “Chinese Taipei” flag at the…
Girt by sea: Redrawing Australia’s mental map
Girt by sea: Redrawing Australia’s mental map
Book Review: Girt by Sea: Re-Imagining Australia’s Security, by Rebecca Strating and Joanne Wallis (La Trobe Press, 2024) It’s no secret that in recent years, there has…