Argentina's former dictator dies in prison, but we all too easily forget how normal his regime once appeared.
Category: Personalities
The Dalai Lama gets his gig
Sydney University decides to risk the disapproval of the Chinese government and host a lecture by the Dalai Lama.
The general comes home
General Musharraf returns to Pakistan with a plan to run for president – provided he can stay alive and out of jail.
Obama magic still works
Those who thought Obama had failed to deliver on his Middle East tour spoke too soon. The rapprochement between Israel and Turkey is a significant step.
James Buchanan RIP
Nobel-winning economist James Buchanan, one of the founders of public choice theory, died yesterday at the age of 93. As with most pioneers, it's a measure of his success that we no longer realise how controversial his ideas once were.
Obama picks his man for the Pentagon
Former Republican senator Chuck Hagel is to be the new US defence secretary – provided he's confirmed by the Senate. It looks as if Obama has picked the right man for the times.
Death of a conservative
Curious that the person perhaps most responsible for politicising the US supreme court, at least in the last fifty years, never actually took his seat on the court. Such was the significance of Robert Bork, who died this week at the age of 85. Bork's nomination to the court by Ronald Reagan in 1987 set … Continue reading Death of a conservative
Dictator’s daughter takes over a divided South Korea
No surprises in South Korea: Wednesday's presidential election resulted in a narrow but expected victory for the centre-right candidate, Park Geun-hye, who will become the country's first female president. She defeated the centre-left's Moon Jae-in with 51.6% of the vote to 48.0% (official figures here). Voting in South Korea (like most presidential elections – the … Continue reading Dictator’s daughter takes over a divided South Korea
The World is Not Enough 