There are quite a few book-length studies of the Syrian Civil War. The distinctive thing about this one is that academic and author Christopher Phillips insists that other regional countries weren’t ‘drawn into’ the conflict once it had got going but, on the contrary, were involved right from the start, helped to exacerbate the initial […]
The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East by Christopher Phillips (revised edition, 2020)
The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East by Christopher Phillips (revised edition, 2020)
08 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economic history, economics of crime, energy economics, International law, law and economics, Public Choice, war and peace Tags: Iran, Israel, Middle-East politics, Syria, war against terror
The Democrats’ Anti-Semitism Problem | Wonder Land: WSJ Opinion
03 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Middle-East politics, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, war against terror
Māori doctors reckon they have the right medicine for the Middle East – but will they be joining Médecins Sans Frontières?
03 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
The Māori Party and Māori medics have something in common: they have diagnosed what’s gone wrong in the Middle East and prescribed a remedy for the Israel-Hamas conflict. They are pressing for a Free Palestine. The mainstream media seem not to have noticed that the Māori medical professionals have taken sides in a matter with […]
Māori doctors reckon they have the right medicine for the Middle East – but will they be joining Médecins Sans Frontières?
Is the NYT buying and publishing information that helps Hamas?
02 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, war against terror
This accusation comes from the “Elder of Ziyon” site, which is pro-Israel. But remember that much of the the information you get about the war comes from sites that take one side or the other (or, in the case of papers like the NYT, directly from the mouth of Hamas), so be judicious. In this […]
Is the NYT buying and publishing information that helps Hamas?
ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger (2015)
02 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, energy economics, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Iraq, Middle-East politics, war against terror
Asymmetrical warfare is defined by asymmetry. Any terrorist ideology that can attract five recruits and the contents of their bank accounts can make headlines for months. A terrorist group with twenty recruits and half a million dollars can make headlines for years. (ISIS: State of Terror, page 191) ISIS is the crack cocaine of violent […]
ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger (2015)
CHRIS TROTTER: Failing the “Leftist” litmus test
31 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, war against terror
LIKE THE WAR in Ukraine, the war in Gaza is serving as a remarkable litmus test for the Left. It is testing its moral compass, its understanding of international law, its grasp of geopolitical realities and, not least, its awareness of what the PR mavens call “the optics”. A substantial portion, even, perhaps, a majority,…
CHRIS TROTTER: Failing the “Leftist” litmus test
My conversation with Richard Dawkins
31 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of education, economics of religion, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: free speech, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
About ten days ago I had an hourlong conversation with Richard Dawkins for his Substack site, “The Poetry of Reality“. The video, from YouTube, is embedded below. As Richard says in his written introduction: We covered a myriad of controversial topics plaguing our world today: from the religious conflict in Gaza to modern-day struggles with […]
My conversation with Richard Dawkins
UN repeatedly condemns Israel, but Palestine (and Hamas) get off scot-free
31 Oct 2023 1 Comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror
Everyone who pays attention to the UN knows that it has repeatedly condemned Israel but barely goes after countries like North Korea, Russia, or Iran (all UN members), even though it’s pretty clear that these countries violate human rights far more often than does Israel. The UN seems to have an obsession with condemning Israel, […]
UN repeatedly condemns Israel, but Palestine (and Hamas) get off scot-free
Sinn Fein’s links to PLO,Hamas,ETA and of course IRA and other terrorist organisations.
31 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, law and economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Ireland, Middle-East politics, war against terror
I have to set this out at the start of this post. None of this has been investigated by me, it has all been done by other journalists. However all of this has been verified by me. All the relevant links are included in the post. It is also noteworthy to mention that I don’t […]
Sinn Fein’s links to PLO,Hamas,ETA and of course IRA and other terrorist organisations.
Israel wants peace
30 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, war and peace Tags: Israel, Middle-East politics, war against terror
Florida Moves to Ban Pro-Palestinian Student Group from Campuses
30 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: free speech, Middle-East politics, war against terror
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration has ordered state universities to ban a pro-Palestinian student organization, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). The state has denounced SJP as supporting a “terrorist organization” after the massacre of Israelis by Hamas. I have previously written how Hamas is morally and legally a terrorist organization. However, this move would, […]
Florida Moves to Ban Pro-Palestinian Student Group from Campuses
A few thoughts on the war
17 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Israel, Middle-East politics
I’m not a pundit, of course, so take this as the reaction of a biologist who reads the news and a Leftist who doesn’t hate Israel: As the days pass—and as I predicted—the world’s sympathy for Israel and its residents butchered by Hamas is morphing into sympathy for the Palestinians. And indeed, Palestinian civilians deserve […]
A few thoughts on the war
Anti-Israeli protests and sentiments at American colleges
16 Oct 2023 1 Comment
in defence economics, laws of war, war and peace Tags: Israel, Middle-East politics
Among American politics, nothing pains me more right now than college students supporting the Palestinian desire to erase Israel. Further, this week those sentiments often came with approval of Hamas’s butchery a week ago. (After all, didn’t Israel bring it on itself?) Yet, as Bill Maher notes in the short video below, Palestine (and Hamas) […]
Anti-Israeli protests and sentiments at American colleges
The History and Ethics of the Israel-Palestine Conflict with Dr. Benny M…
10 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in economic history, liberalism, war and peace Tags: Israel, Middle-East politics, war against terror
Palestine, Poverty, and Neoliberalism
01 Feb 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, development economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, growth disasters, growth miracles, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, war and peace Tags: Middle-East politics
I came to know Luigi Achilli through his work on human smuggling, but he also spent a year living in a Palestinian refugee camp. What did he learn there? 644 more words
Palestine, Poverty, and Neoliberalism
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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