The Iranian presidential election next week (June 14) doesn’t look like being much of a contest. There were 686 nominees, but the Guardian Council has disqualified all but eight of them (see previous report here). In particular it ruled out Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president who had hoped to mobilise reformist support, and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, who is […]
READ MOREArticles by Charles Richardson
Escalation in Syria may (or may not) be a step to peace
The Syrian conflict is beginning to look a lot like a proxy war between Russia and the West. Is this a return to the Cold War?
READ MOREGovt massaging the truth on local government referendum
The Gillard government is pressing ahead with its referendum on local government; a draft amendment was issued last week. But is it being straight with the public on what the change would actually mean?
READ MOREHope for Gillard in British Columbia? Incumbent wins in upset
The opinion polls proved wrong in British Columbia, where the incumbent Liberals won in a major upset. But their first-past-the-post voting system doesn’t give much hope to Julia Gillard.
READ MOREOur very own ‘Citizens United’? NSW election spending challenged
Unions NSW is taking the government to court, claiming that restricting political donations to individuals is an infringement of the implied constitutional right of freedom of political speech.
READ MOREThe drawn-out death of capital punishment in the US
Maryland’s legislature voted last week to become the 18th state of the United States to abolish capital punishment. The legislation was passed 82-56 on Friday in the House of Delegates, having passed the Senate the previous week 27-20. It now goes to the governor, a strong opponent of capital punishment, who will sign it into law. The US […]
READ MOREThe Victorian Premier might wish he had some Greens around
Ted Baillieu might now be regretting his decision to preference Labor ahead of the Greens. In Western Australia, the Liberals and Greens have come to terms. Denis Napthine should consider doing the same.
READ MORERight, said Ted, Liberal factional gangs have me done
Why did the Liberal Party cut Ted Baillieu loose? You have to examine the factional background of conservative forces in Victoria. The Right rump never much liked him.
READ MOREPrisoner X’s dual-nationality dilemma could one day be ours
As long as we care about “allegiance”, with all its pre-modern baggage, the debate around dual citizenship is not going to go away.
READ MOREIsraelis don’t much like Netanyahu, but they’re stuck with him
Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition looks likely to scrape a victory of perhaps 62 seats in the 120-seat Israeli parliament. He faces some tough decisions about who to bring into the fold — and whether to change direction.
READ MOREWhy debt is easier than guns: Obama’s twin challenges
Gun control fits the normal paradigm of a legislative negotiation. The debt ceiling is different, most Republicans know they must raise it — and that’s why Obama should have more success on debt than guns.
READ MOREWar in Mali: what you need to know (and why it’s not Iraq)
With remarkably little fanfare, France has a new war on its hands, this time in its former African colony of Mali. Its air force has been bombing rebel-held areas in the north of the country, and some 550 French troops — soon to be about 2500 — are deployed alongside local forces in central Mali. Rebel fighters in response […]
READ MORELibs will face off with Nats over optional preferential voting
Some Liberals may want optional preferential voting to freeze out Labor and the Greens, but history shows the National Party will again stand in the way. It can’t do without it.
READ MOREObama’s Republican pick to shake up the Pentagon
Former Republican senator turned Obama supporter Chuck Hagel has just been named as the new US Secretary for Defence. But he’s a controversial figure, mainly because of his comments against Israel.
READ MOREGun control might work, but US needs to temper paranoia and rage
The school shootings in Connecticut have revived a stalled debate on gun control. But history is against any meaningful action to limit gun ownership.
READ MOREThe final countdown: Obama’s win predictable but polarised
American electoral behaviour is becoming more predictable and more polarised. The final tallies for voting in the US election show Barack Obama didn’t win by all that much.
READ MORECongress: more gridlock on the cards, House and Senate split
Will it President Obama be plagued by the same legislative gridlock that has characterised the last two years, or willhe find himself with a more co-operative Congress?
READ MORETwo paths to the White House: when and what to watch for
Tomorrow is the day the United States goes to the polls. For those unsure of what to look for, Crikey provides a guide of all the paths to the White House.
READ MORESome comfort for Labor, Greens in big polling weekend
Election results in Sydney, Melbourne and the ACT point to moderately good news for Labor — and the Greens will take some comfort from their inner-city results. Is the anti-incumbency vibe waning?
READ MOREBritain’s coalition all out of love over electoral reform
For two parties that have been enemies for so long, Britain’s Conservatives and Liberal Democrats haven’t done too badly at working together in a coalition government.
READ MOREKofi couldn’t win as war, not diplomacy, decides Syria’s fate
Kofi Annan has thrown in the towel on Syria, recognising his “peace plan” is a dead letter. In our devotion to peaceful outcomes we lose sight of the fact that sometimes there is only fighting.
READ MOREByelection apathy: there’s more to the Melbourne story
Barely two-thirds of voters bothered to show up to vote in last weekend’s Melbourne byelection. Was it the absence of a Liberal candidate or a general apathy and disillusionment among the electorate?
READ MOREAmid the Mid-East bloodbath, Libya takes a moderate road
Democracy in the Middle East continues to be something of a hard slog. But Libya this week looks like a good news story.
READ MOREBack to the future with Mexican drug strategy
In their very different ways, the voters of Mexico and the education bureaucrats of Victoria seem to have reached the same conclusion.
READ MOREThe benefits of diversity, cultural and intellectual
With the Gillard government being consistently outgunned and just plain monstered in public debate, it has more cause than ever to regret the departure of former finance minister Lindsay Tanner.
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