Peak Trump
Remember when the leader of the National Party made sure everyone could see his MAGA hat in the background? Not even Winston Peters would be so foolish now.
International
us politics
To frigate or not to frigate
The NZ Initiative, who gave us neoliberalism, says we need to buy four to keep one at sea. Just Defence says there are a lot better uses for the money. I’m with them.
War Without Shooting When They Used To Be Allies
We are witnessing a full-scale trade war between Canada and the United States and there’s every sign it will get much, much worse.
The fatal friend
Henry Kissinger is reported to have said “it may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.” Australia should take note, enmeshed as it is with US bases. The fallout may affect us too.
Winston Peters clings to a dying empire
It may feel to NZ First cultists that Winston Peters is being picked on this site. But if he chooses to act like an geriatric, erratic, and foolish foolish dickhead in the pursuit of the unthinking bigot vote.. Well, then opinion writers will notice and opine. Here is another opinion from Local Bodies which focuses on a foreign minister who appears to be out of touch with current international affairs.
Iranian Ambassador: why the US blundered so badly, the state of diplomacy and ways forward.
Iranian Ambassador Reza Nazar Ahari provides some fascinating analysis into why the Western strategy on Iran has been so disastrously flawed.
Official talk of Independent Foreign Policy is farcical
If we are a “force multiplier” we are not independent. We are meant to multiply force for the US. Against China. Madness.
Strike back against the Empire rally today
Notice about an anti war protest this afternoon at Aotea Square in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland.
Hegseth accuses New Zealand of freeloading because we don’t want to arm for war
Pete Hegseth has claimed that New Zealand is freeloading because it is not spending enough of weapons of war at a time of international chaos created by the United States.
Who’s best on Foreign Affairs?
When Ambassador Chen Mingming sent Zhang Wei in 2005 to ask me whether Winston Peters would follow government policy, I said I didn’t know but would ask. I did, and he did.
Trump v Pope Leo
Following threats against Canada, Greenland, Denmark and engaging in attacks on Iran, Venezuela, Latin America, Nigeria, Syria and Iraq Donald Trump has now attacked the Pope.
Towards an independent Foreign Policy
Vanushi Walters has outlined a stark contrast between the Government’s appeasement of Donald Trump and Labour’s desire to have an independent principle based foreign policy.
Missing in action
As this Government’s inaction over the oil crisis becomes more pronounced more and more people are noticing that Christopher Luxon is missing in action.
Keep calm and screw it up later – current government policy on fuel
Officials have been doing private, media excluded, webinars with selected businesses. That seems pretty dodgy while our diesel stocks look like they will run out in a few weeks. Rather than (maybe) tomorrow, the government should have been rationing the unproductive Remuera tractors weeks ago.
Our Willingness To Earn US Approval, Via China-Bashing
The Chinese Embassy is right. The recent joint statement by Australia and New Zealand condemning China’s actions in the South China Sea reads like a relic from a bygone colonial era.
The smallest coffins are always the heaviest.
The US-Israeli killing of children must be stopped.
New Zealand needs regime change
A prime minister who does not understand how vulnerable New Zealand’s economy is to a Middle Eastern war as we have now, is a Prime Minister who should be removed from office.
On The Iran War
Funny…when Russia invaded Ukraine, New Zealand didn’t wait for Putin to tell us whether his aggression was legal under international law. Different story when it comes to the Americans.
So much for being the President of Peace
Trump’s attack on Iran is one hell of a way to divert away from the Epstein files.
Despite Denials, US-NZ Minerals Agreement likely to proceed
The NZ government has shrouded US rare minerals discussions in secrecy, refusing to provide information to Kiwis even as the US confirms talks are in progress. The agreement may requires countries to commit to accelerated and extended mining
Iran in the vortex – what’s really going on?
To understand what’s going on in Iran, abandon what the Persians invented centuries ago: Manichaeism, black-and-white, political framing.
The death of truth
The competing social media takes based on video that clearly shows that the shooting of Minnesota woman Renee Good was totally unjustified shows how dominant social discord is now considered to be more important than truth.
Pirates of the Caribbean and the Indo-Pacific. The White House National Security Strategy.
the US administration stresses that countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan will need to militarise as never before in peacetime to keep China in its place.
Atlas Shrugged. Part One: Trump’s Security Strategy blows up the American world order.
“The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over.” White House National Security Strategy, 2025
Who’s winning the Climate Change Revolution?
The world’s largest economies are lowering or flatlining emissions at the same time as they are growing their economies.
Mamdani
The New York City mayoral election results are expected later this afternoon NZT.
Judith gets her marching orders
Lauded at the CIA and lectured at the Department of War, Judith Collins last week got her marching orders – prepare New Zealanders to join the next US war against China.
The Department of War
The United States Department of Defense has been renamed as the Department of War. Nobody can be under any illusions anymore. More war is coming.
Understanding the shooting of Charlie Kirk
Some of the kids aren’t alright. What if Charlie Kirk’s murder wasn’t from the left or the right, but something else entirely?
The primary concern of the Left is Truth not Victory
The US right’s claim the left was responsible for the assassination of Charlie Kirk is unravelling as more details of the alleged killer emerge.
The infantilisation of Western Grand Strategy – and the rise of Eurasia.
The greatest threat Russia poses to Europe is not that it marches west but that it turns its back and builds a brighter future to the east. We may be witnessing the emergence of a Eurasian World Order.
It Is Not Enough Only to Change the Government
Everyone on the left can agree that we must change the government. Elliot Crossan argues that if Labour wins in 2026 and refuses […]
Goldsmith’s Voter Suppression Affects 15-20% of Voters
The voters registered about 13 days leading up to and including election day surpasses total ACT and NZ First votes by 140,000
Corporate profit and Gaza
UN Special rapporteur on Gaza Francesca Albanese’s latest report highlights the corporate role in enabling genocide in Gaza. Utterly predictably, she has been sanctioned by the United States.
What happened to the Epstein Client List?
After months and months of speculation as to its content there was a bombshell announcement yesterday by the United States Justice Department. There is no Epstein list of wealthy men who preyed on vulnerable young women.
SNAP ACTION – Stop U.S. Aggression
Snap action outside Ministry of Defence tomorrow 24th 1230. All welcome