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Late night ‘situation monitoring’ on Twitter when Israel and America are bombing Iranian nuclear weapons facilities is not ideal for a good night’s sleep. Possible outcomes seemed to range from a happy and peaceful shift to a more liberal Iranian government, through to serious regional or broader war with a nuclear-armed Iran. Read more

In two weeks, we will take a delegation of New Zealand Initiative members to the Netherlands. We had hoped to study Dutch excellence in infrastructure, technology and regulatory reform. Read more

Watching Australia’s 2025 federal election from Wellington gave me an uncanny sense of déjà vu. As Labor swept to power with a commanding parliamentary majority and the Liberal-National Coalition suffered its worst defeat in generations, I could not help but think: “I have seen this movie before.” New Zealand’s Labour Party swept to power in 2020 with the first single-party majority under our proportional representation system. Read more

New Zealand generally likes arms control treaties. I have a modest proposal for a disarmament treaty. Read more

Donald Trump returned to power with America’s highly politicised universities squarely in his sights. Within weeks of his inauguration, his administration launched a sweeping campaign targeting dozens of institutions nationwide. Read more

There is a devil in European literature who claims an unexpected virtue: he intends evil but accomplishes good. In Goethe’s masterpiece “Faust,” Mephistopheles – essentially the devil – tells us: “I am part of that power which eternally wills evil and eternally works good.” This paradox from German literature’s greatest work perfectly captures a surprising phenomenon unfolding today: Donald Trump may be the Mephistopheles that Europe did not know it needed. Read more

About a quarter century ago, my to-be wife introduced me to a card game called Flux. It was popular among the computer science and engineering students in Pittsburgh. Read more