There’s some good stuff in this week’s crop of highlights.
Sanders does the right thing (April 2020). Bernie Sanders bows out, doing his best to unite the Democratic Party for the challenge of beating Donald Trump.
Hong Kong and Tiananmen (June 2020). Another anniversary of China’s 1989 uprising passes, with the future of Hong Kong hanging in the balance.
Day of reckoning for Greek Nazis (October 2020). Greece’s Golden Dawn is found to be a criminal organisation after a drawn-out trial of its leaders. There’s a lesson there for the rest of us.
The lesson of Robert Walpole (April 2021). Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister, is an under-appreciated figure. Three hundred years after he took office, the contrast with Boris Johnson is quite illuminating.
Death of a war criminal (July 2021). Donald Rumsfeld, architect of invasion and torture, dies peacefully and unmolested. The results of his work live on.
Italy turns Trumpist? / Why not try democracy? (September 2022). Alarm bells in Europe as the right scores a clear victory in Italy, although it’s not the choice of most Italian voters. The comparison with America’s Trump moment is instructive.
A lament for John Pesutto (March 2023). Victoria’s Liberal Party kneecaps its leader after he takes a stand against far-right influence in the party. I try to explain how things got to that point.
That other 11 September (September 2023). Another contentious anniversary: fifty years since the military coup in Chile that overthrew its Marxist president.
Bosnia joins the queue (March 2024). Bosnia & Herzegovina is set to become the eighth country officially negotiating for accession to the European Union, but actual membership still seems a remote prospect.
Twelve months later (October 2024). A year earlier, Hamas brutally shattered the superficial calm of the Middle East. Neither side wants to admit the essential similarity of their attitudes.
Condorcet and compromise (July 2025). A visiting elections expert advocates a move to Condorcet voting. The problems with the idea are theoretical as well as practical.
How fascism works (October 2025). Barnaby Joyce flirts with joining One Nation: he probably won’t last long, but in some ways he’s a good fit.
The World is Not Enough 