Charles Richardson
Psephologist and writer
Charles Richardson has contributed to Crikey since 2002, and was a ministerial adviser in the Kennett government and a former editorial manager at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney.
Yegor Gaidar, the former Russian finance minister who brought a market economy to Russia, died this week. How did a politician with his unpopularity get to die a natural death in his own country, asks Charles Richardson.
It's fine to celebrate one's victories, but the Liberals (and Peter Costello) are in danger of misunderstanding, and therefore systematically underestimating, the threat from the Greens.
The tabloid frenzy in New South Wales over constitutional changes is dangerous and ill-informed. While we may well need a mechanism to call an early election against the government's wishes, it shouldn't be driven by the likes of the Daily Tele.
Israeli policy seems to be stuck in a sphere of unreality where a two-state solution is officially proclaimed as the goal, but there is a taboo on any discussion of measures.
The continuing British inquiry into the country's involvement in the Iraq war has already provided some fascinating testimony, despite only scratching the surface of the inquiry's task.
Even if they understand little else, politicians at least should understand numbers. Which is why it should have been obvious that compromise candidate Joe Hockey would have been squeezed out in a three man showdown.
The core of the Liberals has always been illiberal, hostile to free thought and free trade. Remaking it as an even moderately liberal party, and breaking the conservative hegemony that John Howard established, was always going to be incredibly messy and against the odds.
What's the difference between the predicament that the Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan faced in the late '80s with those that America and its allies face there today? Not as much as some would like to believe, says Charles Richardson.
Turkey's government is showing that an "Islamist" party can become a force for democracy and progress, challenging so many of our usual assumptions about Muslims, terrorism and the Middle East.
The big news in Europe this week is the final ratification of the Lisbon treaty, which provides a new constitutional structure for the European Union. But where's the euroscepticism gone? Has the EU proved its 'socialist plot' claims wrong?
