Gordon Campbell on APEC, Mali and Sleater-Kinney
Sideshows are inevitable when the main event – the coalition talks – is taking place behind closed doors and the usual sources for political news […]
War
Gordon Campbell on New Zealand’s selective morality on Gaza
Here’s the sound of MFAT blowing its own trumpet as it celebrated the 25th anniversary of our genuinely heroic role in alerting the international community […]
Gordon Campbell on the attacks on Israel and Gaza
On the day after the Hamas attacks, the Jewish newspaper Haaretz concluded that only a few options were available to Israel’s leaders and all of […]
Gordon Campbell on tax injustice, and on being prepped for war with China
The IRD’s significant research proves that the rich (on average) are taxed on their income at less than half the rate paid by ordinary wage […]
Gordon Campbell on the reasons for opposing AUKUS
In the early 1980s, New Zealand walked out of the ANZUS pact on principle, rather than be an accomplice to nuclear war. We now seem […]
Gordon Campbell on how similar Vladimir Putin is to George W. Bush
Looking back through the names of our Police Ministers down the years, the job has either been done by once or future party Bigfoots – […]
Gordon Campbell on AUKUS and Australia’s decision on nuclear subs
Update: Evidently, Reuters were correct in the major details reported below on Werewolf, prior to the official AUKUS announcement. Yes, the US will begin to […]
Gordon Campbell on Ukraine’s prospects
So the government has (a) backed down over the entrenchment of water management, thus enabling a future centre right government to privatise a key essential […]
Gordon Campbell on the US attempt to regain lost ground
The brief fist bump between Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Mohammad bin Salman was the most memorable image from the US President’s […]
Gordon Campbell on Sinai, where it suits us to waive international treaties
Farmers are currently enjoying the highest prices and payouts in the history of this country. They will never be better placed to acknowledge that their […]
Gordon Campbell on Ukraine virtue signalling, and our inflation spike
Inflation at 6.9% is a bad sign of the rising cost of living, and hidden within the headline numbers are some even grislier figures. As […]
Gordon Campbell on our feeble contribution to Russian sanctions
As the evidence of Russian atrocities in Ukraine mounts up, the West’s rhetoric has tried to keep up with the pace. Is Putin a war […]
Gordon Campbell on the Oscars, and how an Iran deal could mean cheaper petrol
Uh oh. In an embarrassing case of counting chickens prematurely, the government had sent a delegation to Hollywood to capitalise on the expected Oscar coronation […]
Gordon Campbell on how, and whether the Ukraine war might end
It is pretty safe to assume that the Kremlin did not expect Ukraine’s resistance to be as strong and effective as it has been. It […]
Gordon Campbell on the impotence of onlookers
Against its will, the world has become conditioned to driving by acts of genocide and peering at them through the window with alarm – before […]
Gordon Campbell on the tentative response to Putin, plus Putin’s mentor
Plainly, Russia’s war on Ukraine isn’t something Vladimir Putin dreamed up overnight, or did on impulse. With hindsight, Putin has been working for years to […]
Gordon Campbell on Ukraine, and blokes in peril
A great darkness is falling over Ukraine, and it will last for decades. In launching a full scale invasion, Russian president Vladimir Putin is doing […]
Gordon Campbell on what Ukraine and the West Bank share in common
Russia’s tactics in Ukraine are not new. In August 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia after the breakaway region of South Ossetia declared […]
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 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 […]
Gordon Campbell on what triggered the carnage in Gaza
At last count, 195 Palestinians have reportedly died in the latest round of violence, 55 of them children. Roughly ten times that number have been […]
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 US (and NATO) surrender in Afghanistan
The deal that has just been has struck to end the involvement of the US and its NATO allies in Afghanistan bears the usual hallmarks […]
Gordon Campbell on why New Zealand shouldn’t try to curry favour with Trump
The bizarre spat over Donald Trump trying to buy Greenland shows just how foolish it would be for any country to treat the US as […]
Gordon Campbell on our Wild West banking culture, and Iran’s role in Armageddon
David Hisco’s nine years as CEO of ANZ (while his expense claims went by unbothered by board oversight) has been a weird echo of the nine years of social neglect by the previous National government.
Gordon Campbell on why we shouldn’t genuflect to calls for secrecy
Reportedly most (and possibly all) of the Royal Commission investigation into the Christchurch mosque shootings will be closed to the general public and to the media.
Gordon Campbell on the (lack of an) end game for the teachers strike
The education sector looks like one of those games of American football where its hard to keep your eye on where the ball is… Neither side seems to have much of a plan for advancing to the end zone.
Gordon Campbell on why we shouldn’t support the US-led coup in Venezuela
There’s a decidedly retro feel to the US-engineered coup now unfolding in Venezuela, which looks like a throwback to the 1950s, back when the US […]
Gordon Campbell on the prospects for the US talks with North Korea
On June 12, the leaders of North Korea and the United States will meet across a table in Singapore, and Kim Jong Un must already be feeling giddy at the thought that this meeting is already being described with the word “summit”