Gordon Campbell on why an attack on Iran is back on the agenda
Reportedly, Christopher Luxon has the edge on Simon Bridges in National’s leadership contest although there is no firm evidence for that hunch. So, one hesitates […]
USA
Gordon Campbell on why New Zealand needs to change its Defence habits
In a flashback to the military displays of days gone by, one of our frigates recently joined a Carrier Strike show of force in the […]
Gordon Campbell on Canada’s election, and the AUKUS defence pact
Yesterday, Canada held an election in which everyone lost, including the voters. After holding its most expensive ( $C600 million) election campaign ever, the result […]
Gordon Campbell on the Covid exit plan, and 9/11 media memories
Is it OK to feel nostalgic for the period only a couple of months ago, when the government seemed to have a plan for exiting […]
Gordon Campbell on “the old weird” music of America, with a playlist
Here’s some weird old music for the weird realities of lockdown. Like other key phases in popular music – jazz, country, rock’n’roll, punk, hip hop […]
Gordon Campbell on the media’s handling of (a) the Afghan crisis, and (b) the hacked DHB material
Reportedly, there has been “chaos “in downtown Kabul and “chaos“ out at the Kabul airport. “Chaos” has become one of the go-to terms of modern […]
Gordon Campbell on the fall of Kabul
Like a giant Ponzi scheme, the 20 year experiment in nation-building in Afghanistan has come crashing down, in pieces. Since the US and its allies […]
Gordon Campbell on how New Zealand is punching below its weight in Afghanistan
First Vietnam, now Afghanistan. For the second time in living memory, the West has been defeated by the guerrilla forces of a small Third World […]
Gordon Campbell on the geo-political posturing over China’s cyber hacks, plus the weekly playlist
The timing was one of the weirder aspects of this week’s cyber condemnation of China by the West. Why was this piece of political theatre […]
Gordon Campbell on when National’s leaders had a more enlightened approach to gangs
One can sympathise with Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt and the lose/lose situation he has just found himself in. If he had stayed safe and […]
Gordon Campbell on the Lancet’s stance against the Olympic Games, and on the US culture battles over abortion
Yesterday – barely a month before the opening ceremony – the Lancet medical journal has called for a global conversation on whether the Olympics should […]
Gordon Campbell On Britain’s Pathetic Trade Deal With Australia
So much for those assurances that New Zealand would be the first cab off the rank for any post -Brexit trade deal with the United […]
Gordon Campbell on the mosque movie, and the demise of Netanyahu
Plainly, a whole lot of New Zealanders – including PM Jacinda Ardern – are not on board with They Are Us, the mooted film project […]
Gordon Campbell On The Gaza Aftermath, And The Attempted Coup In Samoa
Mere days after the Israeli/Hamas ceasefire, some things have immediately returned to normal. Israeli police have reportedly been in action again against Palestinians gathered at […]
On Budget 2021’s successes and failures
In some realms of the centre-right, Budget 2021 has been portrayed as a “peak Labour” exercise in which the government has veered sharply leftwards in […]
Gordon Campbell on Collins’ desperation, and Joe Biden’s left-wing image
The difficulty with translating the Treaty partnership into the realities of parliamentary rule is that at best, Maori have been treated only as co-pilots, still […]
Gordon Campbell on why raising corporate taxes has become a hot new political cause
Surprisingly, “raising taxes” has become a very fashionable political idea in 2021. That’s right. After decades of being seen (at best) as a necessary evil, […]
Gordon Campbell on why China’s pact with Iran is a big deal, and why a vaccination target isn’t
One of the most significant developments in global politics in a generation has flown in almost entirely beneath the radar of the Western media. On […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s fudging on child poverty, and America’s diplomatic dance with Iran
If you want a good insight into what the limits of tiny, barely discernible steps to reduce poverty actually look like, delve into the latest […]
Gordon Campbell on the latest lockdown, and on Air NZ’s Saudi military sales
A three day Covid lockdown feels like the pandemic equivalent of T20 cricket. Just as T20 isn’t really cricket, this three day breathing space isn’t […]
Gordon Campbell on why the Reserve Bank won’t be spooked by inflation making a comeback
One year into the pandemic, people are still getting sick and dying at different rates according to their age, gender, ethnic background and income level […]
Gordon Campbell on the risk of being short changed by Pfizer
Who knew that the delivery of the Covid vaccines was going to be such a headache? All the predictions had been around the likely distribution […]
Gordon Campbell on the Solar Winds hack, and on buying Bob Dylan
Earlier this month, the huge Solar Winds hack became public knowledge. Reportedly, the victims had been accessed over a period of months starting in March […]
Gordon Campbell on how America’s Middle East allies are poisoning the ground Joe Biden will inherit
As even the US mainstream media has been reporting, the prime motive for the murder of Iran’s top nuclear scientist Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh (by Israeli […]
Gordon Campbell on Chris Liddell, the RCEP, and reviving our trade with Iran under Biden
Being nominated by US President Donald Trump to head a key international organisation should have been the kiss of death for any nominee, even before […]
Gordon Campbell on the when and where of election results, vote suppression, reasons to panic etc
In the final hours before polls close at 1pm tomorrow (NZ time) in the US election, at least four major question marks remain: namely, the […]
Gordon Campbell on how the US Supreme Court is undermining American democracy
If Joe Biden is elected President next week, here comes the bad news. If Biden tries to defend Obamacare, combat climate change (via say, a […]
Gordon Campbell on why the Supreme Court is a bigger threat than Trump to US democracy
If you need a chilling reminder of how weirdly different the United States is to New Zealand…then abortion rights is the place to start. Last […]
Gordon Campbell on negating Covid-19 success, and K-pop’s links with black activism
National MP Michael Woodhouse took his party’s credibility to a new low this morning via his inability to prove his claim that a homeless man […]
Gordon Campbell on Level One, and living with predatory markets
Welcome to Level One, earthlings. This is the new normality while the virus still roams beyond the border walls. Those borders will remain closed and […]