“The Spanish dictator Franco died more than forty years ago, in 1975, but his political legacy – a centralist government in a de facto multinational country, has emerged as a major problem in present days.Today, millions of citizens are marching in the streets of Catalonia calling not for more autonomy, as they did only ten …
Continue reading Aitor Jiménez Gonzáles | The Catalan conflict: a partisan perspective
New Zealand has a long history of televised debates between political party leaders during election campaigns, stretching back more than four decades. That has continued up to the present, with a raft of debates this year between both major and minor party leaders on television, and lesser figures, thanks to online coverage. The first such … Continue reading Mark Boyd|New Zealand election debates better quality this year as close election looms
Three years ago, David Cunliffe led the New Zealand Labour Party to its worst electoral defeat in recent history. Labour received barely a quarter of the vote. NZ Herald journalist Claire Trevett described the 2014 result as ‘rock bottom’– suggesting it could not get any worse. But seven-and-a-half-weeks out from election day 2017, things are … Continue reading Josh Van Veen | Labour must win back the working class
Keshia Jacotine (Monash University) and Tim Bale (Queen Mary, University of London) It has been twelve months since the United Kingdom (UK) went to the polls and made the decision to leave the European Union (EU) – one that came as a shock both to many Brits as well as to the rest of the … Continue reading Brexit – the big uncertainty | Jacotine and Bale
The Court of Appeal’s recent judgment in Attorney-General v Taylor and Others NZCA 215 [2017] offers potential for a decisive constitutional improvement. That judgment held, against an appeal by the Crown, that the courts have the power to declare a law to be inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA). The … Continue reading Stephen Winter | A Constitutional Call to Action
ISIS-inspired jihadists carried out their latest act of barbarism in London, using a vehicle and knives to kill eight civilians enjoying a Saturday night. This followed a similar attack at Westminster and the bombing at the Arianna Grande concert in Manchester. Other countries have seen far worse violence from ISIS and similar jihadist groups. Who … Continue reading Chris Wilson | Jihadist Terrorism in the West
President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Agreement last week does not spell the end of the climate accord by any means, but it is significant. Unlike 2001 when the US failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the global community is now far more unified on climate action. Countries … Continue reading Julie MacArthur | Forget Trump, NZ must up its own climate change game
Theresa May is set for re-election later this week in the UK’s general election, but has personally lost stature in a campaign focused on her leadership. Even if she wins well she has been damaged by her performance. Instead of being the “coronation” her advisers expected the Prime Minister, who is supposed to offer strong and … Continue reading Mike Rann | No Coronation for May
The Sunni world was set into turmoil when, on June 5, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Yemen, and Libya announced that they are severing their diplomatic ties with Qatar, because of its alleged support of terrorism and its interference in their internal affairs. Apart from the severance of diplomatic relations, the six … Continue reading Ido Yahel | Qatar and the Quest for Supremacy in the Sunni World
On Tuesday, the outgoing governor of Jakarta was jailed for two years on charges of blasphemy. Prosecutors claimed – and the judges agreed – that Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (known as Ahok) insulted Islam during recent election campaigning. He had recited a verse from the Quran when telling an audience that people should not listen to … Continue reading Chris Wilson | The Weaponisation of Blasphemy in Indonesia
Pacific Outlier 