Showing posts with label Global Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Global Politics. Show all posts

Nobel Peace Prize forgets its realist origins and goes full Woke

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The Nobel Peace Prize is embracing a performative Wokeness that dilutes its credibility.

Today, the Nobel Peace Prize seems to have strayed far from those pragmatic roots, embracing a performative Wokeness that dilutes its credibility. The recent spectacle involving María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless efforts against authoritarianism in her homeland, has put the proverbial cat among the pigeons.

In a bold and symbolic gesture during a White House meeting on 15 January 2026, Machado presented her Nobel medal to President Donald Trump, acknowledging his ‘unique commitment’ to Venezuelan freedom.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Nobel Peace Prize forgets its realist origins and goes full Woke.

Albanese’s dithering on terror

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We warned that Albanese’s obsession with domestic optics undermined Australia’s national security.

From May to September 2024, we warned that Albanese’s obsession with trendy domestic optics was dangerously undermining Australia’s national security, both at home and abroad. We highlighted how his preference for ‘de-escalation’ rhetoric in the face of repeated grey-zone provocations such as China’s People’s Liberation Army harassments of Australian Defence Force personnel was inviting escalation and eroding our credibility with key allies like the United States and Nato and across the region.

We criticised specific decisions, such as the scaling back of participation in Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises, the snub of the Ukraine peace summit, and the tokenistic approach to countering Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. These were not mere oversights. They were signals of weakness that emboldened autocrats and left Australia exposed to hybrid threats. 

Tragically, events since then have proven our warnings right and with devastating force.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Now he’s caved in and bowed to the widespread demand of a Royal Commission into anti-Semitism, it’s appropriate to critique Anthony Albanese’s post-Bondi leadership. Michael de Percy and Sascha Dov Bachmann blast Albanese’s weakness over Bondi, but go further and conclude that when it comes to national security – and, remember, protecting its citizens from terrorism is a national government’s core business – the PM who prefers moonlighting as a DJ has performed not only poorly, but incompetently. It’s hard to argue with that.

My latest in The Spectator Australia with Professor Sascha Dov Bachmann, Albanese’s dithering on terror.

The wrong stuff!

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Albo’s stitching is undone, and his fluff is showing.

Appearing at the National Press Club after his 2025 election victory, Anthony Albanese strutted like a peacock. Buoyed by a feeble opposition that couldn’t land a punch, his failure on the Voice referendum and quiet withdrawal of the Assistant Minister for a Republic portfolio were quickly forgotten. But as the harsh realities of governance bear down, the Prime Minister’s carefully stitched-together image is unravelling, revealing nothing but fluff beneath.

His embarrassingly weak responses to crises at home and abroad are set against an economy that is teetering on shifting sands.

Albo’s tenure is a tale of big talk and zero delivery. I’ve never heard so much meaningless fluff from an Australian Prime Minister.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Michael de Percy’s back from his German sojourn., and he’s taken his axe-like pen to our Incredible Shrinking Prime Minister. As Michael writes, Anthony Albanese has been all talk and in 2026, with likely ongoing inflation, interest rate rises, increasing energy retail prices, and China likely to make a play for Taiwan sooner rather than later – just to name a few annoying little issues. And his prevarications and contortions on an anti-Semitism royal commission – which by necessity should consider the damage to the social fabric cause, as enabled by Australian policy – highlight how Albanese is a merely sectional, rather than a national, leader.

My latest in The Specator Australia, The wrong stuff!

New York is now the most idiotic city in the world

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New York never sleeps because people are having nightmares about communism's failures.

New York’s newly elected mayor might wax poetic about collective warmth, but history shows it’s more like a fever dream that burns everything in its path.

If Frank Sinatra were to wake up in the city that never sleeps today, it wouldn’t be because of all the partying and vibrant nightlife he crooned about. It would be because everyone is having nightmares about skyrocketing taxes, crumbling infrastructure, and a bureaucracy that stifles the very spirit that made New York iconic.

The Big Apple, once a symbol of ambition and opportunity, is rotting from the core with this idiotic pivot to collectivism.

My laest in The Spectator Australia, New York is now the most idiotic city in the world.

Merry Christmas from the heartland of Santa Claus

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Easily the most amazing experience I have had so far is visiting the Neuschwanstein Castle.

From Munich: German Christmas markets are the best in the world. There’s something about Germany that makes Christmas feel more like Christmas than anywhere else. The focus is on food, drink, and good cheer, just as the Santa of my childhood represented. Back then, Christmas was special. It was a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It was a time where everyone said Merry Christmas to each other, and it was the most special time of year.

In light of recent events in Australia, I think the Christmas spirit, much like chivalry and civility, is not dead. It has just been hiding in a closet, biding its time. The good news is that that time has come. And Germany, for all its faults, has reminded me of all that is great about the Christmas spirit.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Merry Christmas from the heartland of Santa Claus.

Old hatreds have infiltrated Australia, and we let them in

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We must never allow this ancient hatred to grow roots in Australian soil.

If only our government had been as dogmatic about protecting our society as it has been about protecting our ecosystem, we might have kept out ancient hatreds in the same way we have kept out rabies.

Instead, we have ended up with an extreme form of liberalism that protects the worst of us instead of those of us who contribute to the common good. Regardless of whether this was a religious or racist attack, it is clearly an attack on Australia’s Jewish people.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Old hatreds have infiltrated Australia, and we let them in.

If Germans won’t fight for Germany, who will?

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Germany’s craps on about gender ideology, but only young men will be required to serve.

There are three things that really annoy me about the situation in Germany. First, the necessary apologies for the atrocities of the second world war have morphed into a kind of stupor where any talk of defence is somehow connected with there being ‘a different way’ to deal with dictators like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jingping. Of all people, Germans should know that an appeaser is easy pickings.

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Michael de Percy is still in Germany where the government has resurrected national service and conscription. At the moment, it is still a voluntary system for fighting-age males, but it was made clear that this could easily turn into something more compulsory if the situation deteriorates with Russia. Germany’s men have come out onto the streets to protest this move, rejecting not only conscription but the entire concept of war itself. This leads Michael to ask if they have been completely brainwashed by Woke...

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Michael de Percy is in Germany, but he never stops filing. Today, he observes how Germans have turned their backs on their history – the good as well as the bad – have gone utterly woke, and have become appeasers (of Putin) rather than the warriors of Europe. In short, they’re an effete and decadent lot, and will be fed to the wolves should Putin’s Russia turn on Nato. No wonder Donald Trump has had enough of the Europeans! Let’s take a leaf from Noel Coward’s book, and be beastly to the Germans.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, If Germans won’t fight for Germany, who will?

Will Albo’s crocodile diplomacy discourage China’s flotillas?

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Mr Albanese appears to be feeding the crocodile and hoping it eats us last.

It was the Labor Party that spent a decade mocking the idea that China could ever be a threat, dismissing concerns about foreign interference as ‘anti-Chinese racism’, and attacking any politician who dared mention the words ‘strategic competition’. It was Labor’s punters who ridiculed the 2018 foreign interference laws, who whinged about the calling-out of Confucius Institutes, who sneered at the Coalition’s Pacific Step-Up as ‘climate denialism in disguise’.

And it is Albanese himself who, as Prime Minister, has gone out of his way to cosy up to Beijing by increasing defence expenditure somewhere in the distant future while simultaneously ignoring calls from Washington to protect, not restrict, freedom of speech.

My article in The Spectator Australia, Will Albo’s crocodile diplomacy discourage China’s flotillas? 

If this is Germany’s post-colonial democracy, bring back Bismarck

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Horrid graffiti consisting of zero artistic talent is all over the monument.

The Bismarck Monument stands high above the port and looks down the River Elbe towards the sea. Symbolically, the statue portrays Bismarck as the protector of the city and the German Empire’s maritime ‘gateway to the world’.

The monument was completed in 1906 with some funding provided by Hamburg’s merchants. It was opened by Kaiser Wilhelm II and remains the largest Bismarck monument in the world.

In 2024, a €13 million restoration project, funded by the City of Hamburg and the federal government, was completed to address structural issues caused largely by additional concrete added during the second world war to create an air raid bunker.

Barely a year later, the statue looks disgraceful.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Michael de Percy is in Germany. He writes about the disgraceful vandalism of a Hamburg monument to Otto von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor who united Germany and founded the Second Reich. Apparently German activists hate him like activists in Australia hate James Cook. Those ignorant bratwurst-eaters should bone up on Bismarck, and the consequences of Wilhelm II dropping him in 1890. Bismarck would have renewed the non-aggression ‘Reinsurance Treaty’ he had with Russia, would have kept Austria-Hungary in check, and would never have antagonised Britain with a naval arms race. Thus, there would have been no World war I, and therefore no Hitler, Nazism and World War II. The world would have been a much better place.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, If this is Germany’s post-colonial democracy, bring back Bismarck.

Boeing Bowen heads up Turkey’s COP-out

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Chris Bowen is not about leadership, he is all about frequent-flyer diplomacy.

Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, once stood before the nation and promised that Labor’s ‘Powering Australia’ plan would slash household power bills by $275 a year by 2025. That was the headline figure, repeated ad nauseam during the 2022 election campaign.

With 2025 now almost behind us, the average household is not $275 better off, it is hundreds of dollars worse off. Wholesale electricity prices have repeatedly spiked, retail offers have soared, and the subsidised-for-rich-people surge in rooftop solar and batteries has done precisely nothing to shield everyday consumers from the brutal reality of a grid that would crumble in the night without coal and gas.

Yet instead of staying home to fix the mess in his own portfolio, Mr Bowen is packing his bags for yet another international talk-fest.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Boeing Bowen heads up Turkey’s COP-out.

Trump triumphs as hostages freed while peace-haters howl

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President Donald J. Trump, the deal-maker extraordinaire.

In a stunning diplomatic coup, the remaining living Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have finally been released, marking an important step towards de-escalating the Middle East’s interminable conflict. And who do we have to thank? None other than President Donald J. Trump, the deal-maker extraordinaire. 

Instead of welcoming the hostages’ freedom and the nascent peace deal, they’re decrying it as a ‘betrayal’ of the Palestinian cause. Ludicrous doesn’t begin to cover it.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Michael de Percy knows who the biggest hero of the day is: Donald Trump. Like or loathe him, only someone with the titanic self-belief and aggressive personality of Trump could drive both Hamas and Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu into a ceasefire and hostage release deal that could actually hold. Not that the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activists will ever accept their bête noir has delivered what they have always claimed to have wanted since the atrocities of 7 October. Well, stuff ‘em.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Trump triumphs as hostages freed while peace-haters howl.

An open letter to President Trump

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America once saved Australia. I am asking you to please rescue Australia once more.

Dear President Trump,

I write to you as an Australian citizen deeply concerned about the dangerous direction of our government under our leftist Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.

Labor’s decision to formally recognise Palestine as a state at the UN General Assembly is not only a betrayal of our ally, Israel, but a reckless capitulation that emboldens terrorists like Hamas.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Trump is playing with Albanese’s fragile mind, and he knows it: not on the list one day, booked in for an October Oval Office dressing down – er, visit – the next. What can they talk about? In the form of an open letter to the President, Michael de Percy has a few suggestions, while warning him about our Janus of a PM.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, An open letter to President Trump.

Trump’s tariff wins? It’s FAFO, stupid

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If you fear what Trump might do, that’s the whole point. The tariffs have little to do with economics.

From Seoul: While there are fringe anti-Trump tariff protests here in Asia’s most successful liberal democracy, mainstream opinion supports the alliance with the US. The first time I was here, a Korean army general thanked me for my service and for the 340 Australians whose ultimate sacrifice enabled Korea to rebuild following Japanese occupation and later communist aggression. The Republic of Korea is nothing short of an economic, social, and cultural miracle, and the strength of the US has been key to that success.

So, when President Trump went on his tariff tirade and economists all pooh-poohed his economic unorthodoxy, they missed the point.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Trump’s tariff wins? It’s FAFO, stupid.

New York has become the epicentre of useful idiots

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An anti-Trump poster in Myeongdong, Seoul, asking Koreans to write to Mr Trump about the tariffs.

Almost a quarter century since our TVs were dominated by nightmare images of terrorist-controlled passenger jets crashing into the Twin Towers, it seems the war against the West has been won in New York. The icing on the cake will be the potential election of Ugandan-born socialist and New York mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, who is currently dominating the polls.

Anti-Western elements have the key to the city, and the West handed it to them. As a result, New York has become the epicentre for useful idiots.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

The streets of Sydney are bad, but New York has transitioned into the epicentre of ‘useful idiots’. As Michael de Percy writes, ‘Almost a quarter century since our TVs were dominated by nightmare images of terrorist-controlled passenger jets crashing into the Twin Towers, it seems the war against the West has been won in New York. The icing on the cake will be the potential election of Ugandan-born socialist and New York Mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani.’

My latest in The Spectator Australia, New York has become the epicentre of useful idiots.

It’s time for a Reform Australia Party

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While Reform UK has shown the way, the Liberal Party has gone astray.

Populism has been defined as an approach to politics that pits a champion of the commonfolk against elites. Right-wing populism has often been regarded as anti-expert, anti-intellectual, and anti-globalisation. A major challenge for populist leaders has been a lack of vision. In the short term, populist leaders can be against things, but this it makes it harder to be for something in the long run.

While Reform UK has shown the way, the Liberal Party has gone astray. It’s time for a Reform Australia Party.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

Michael de Percy asks when and if Australia can muster the forces of conservative politics and create its own ‘Reform’ movement. Elon Musk spent the day demanding a ‘third party’ for American politics after renewing his scuffle with US President Donald Trump. Musk isn’t happy about the savage cuts to renewable energy and EVs, but Michael makes a larger point about the need for a genuine opposition party – not for rich businessmen or politicians – but for the people.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

Michael de Percy makes the case for a Nigel Farage spin-off party in Australia. In terms of Reform UK and its agenda, that is a consummation devoutly to be wished, whether in a – pardon the pun – reformed Liberal party or not. But Farage, for all his media stunting and blokey braggadocio, has the brains and political nous to be a prime minister: there is nobody on the Australian centre-right, whether in the Liberals or populist minor parties, who has the intelligence, common touch, charisma, appealing beliefs and hunger to win that Farage has. Until an Australian Farage eventually emerges (if he does at all), de Percy will have to keep dreaming, alas.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, It’s time for a Reform Australia Party.

Trump's US Army parade, strikes on Iran, and Labor's weak response

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Back on Spectator TV Australia with Alexandra Marshall, 27 June 2025.

 Discussing President Trump's 250th Anniversary Parade for the US Army, the US strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, and the weak response from PM Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

President Trump strikes, saves the world

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Decisive, necessary. Will there be terrorists with nuclear weapons? Not on The Don's watch. 

Today’s US military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, authorised by President Donald Trump, is a global reckoning. This decisive action targeted key sites including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. The President gave the Iranian regime plenty of time to respond, but it was clear that religious bullies respect force and nothing else. Well, they got force.

The strikes, conducted by B-2 stealth bombers, were a technological response to a technological evil. A nuclear-armed Iran would be a catalyst for catastrophic proliferation, empowering terrorist proxies like the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah with unprecedented destructive potential. Iran’s refusal to allow UN inspectors unfettered access to its nuclear program, coupled with its ongoing attacks on Israel, left the United States with no choice but to act.

Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:

There’s only one story this morning that matters: Donald Trump and his Bunker Busting Bombers. In an impressive piece of instant analysis, Michael de Percy sums up what happened and what all this says about the wishy-washy stance of our Prime and Foreign Ministers. On the latter point, Michael’s elaborated in a follow-up article: we suggest reading them together, because they provide a good picture of what this says about how our government’s embarrassing all of us in by bestriding the barbed-wire fence.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, President Trump strikes, saves the world.

Trump’s military parade exposes weak Albo and Wong

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US Army 250th anniversary parade, Washington DC.

On June 14, Washington DC roared to life with the thunder of tanks, the wokka of choppers, and the march of some 7,000 soldiers celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the US Army. Hooah!

This spectacle of military might and national pride, unusual in the self-loathing West, was a bold declaration of America’s strength that coincided with President Trump’s 79th birthday.

Predictably, the usual chorus of left-wing critics in the US and abroad erupted in outrage, clutching their pearls while crying ‘dictator’ over what was, at its core, a celebration of the nation’s resilience and its defenders.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

Michael de Percy has savaged those who critised Donald Trump’s celebration of the US Army’s 250th Anniversary. Those whole piece is excellent, but particularly this line: ‘The same critics who cheer diversity and inclusion balk at displays of martial pride, as if celebrating a nation’s military history somehow negates its pluralism. They forget that the freedom to protest and wave Mexican and Palestinian flags was secured by the very institution they now vilify.’

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:

Resident flaneur, Michael de Percy, says President Trump’s military parade on the weekend (and Trump’s birthday) highlights America’s strength and our defence weakness. Something must change. The Trump administration says spending 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence should be our goal: at his meeting with Trump today, Anthony Albanese should at least accept a goal of that magnitude is a realistic ask of Australia. But the Prime Minister also must brace himself to do what’s necessary to do the right thing and pursue it – and that’s not to raise taxes. Jettison unaffordable election promises. Cut wasteful programmes – not matter how popular – and cancel ideological vanity projects. Dump economy-crippling Net Zero. Incentivise productivity growth and defence industry investment. Even consider reintroducing national service in some form – after all, the old National Service Act is still on the books. National defence must have top priority, and government must lead by example. Our tip: Albanese won’t do anything but talk.

My latest opinion piece in The Spectator Australia, Trump’s military parade exposes weak Albo and Wong.

Greta Thunberg’s irresponsible ‘Selfie Yacht’

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Thunberg and other irresponsible activists on their 'Selfie Yacht' [NBC News]

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist turned self-appointed geopolitical saviour, has once again commandeered the global stage with her latest stunt. Thunberg claimed to have been ‘kidnapped’ by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on her so-called ‘humanitarian’ voyage aboard the Madleen, a vessel aimed at breaching Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

This stunt, cloaked in the veneer of altruistic aid delivery, ended in her interception by the IDF on June 9 aboard her ‘selfie yacht’. While Thunberg’s flair for theatrics has long been her hallmark, this latest episode is not just reckless, it is a costly distraction that burdens Israeli taxpayers and diverts attention from the Israeli hostages still held in Hamas’ grip.

Writing in the Unfiltered Newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Is there anything more pitiable than the ‘selfie flotilla’ featuring Greta Thunberg carrying a snack-sized humanitarian aid cargo to Hamas-controlled Palestine? There are only two likely outcomes for this story – an actual hostage situation or a faux hostage narrative. The latter played out on social media with Ms Thunberg releasing a rather dubious ‘if you see this’ video which was quickly contradicted by Israel Defences Forces. Instead of ‘being taken hostage’, Thunberg & co have been fed and are on their way to Israel where they will be sat down in front of the October 7 footage and forced to watch the true horror of what took place during the terror attack.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Greta Thunberg's irresponsible 'Selfie Yacht'.

Jacinda Ardern’s triumph of style over substance

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Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand Prime Minister, 2017-2023. [Image: CC PDM 1.0]

Jacinda Ardern’s tenure as New Zealand’s Prime Minister (2017–23) was lauded globally as a masterclass in empathetic leadership, her image burnished by deft handling of crises like the Christchurch mosque shootings and the early stages of Covid.

The world swooned over her ‘kindness’ and ‘authenticity’, with fawning media elevating her to near-mythic status.

Yet beneath the polished rhetoric and carefully curated narrative lies a stark reality. Ardern’s leadership, when scrutinised, reveals a troubling lack of measurable outcomes. Her policies, draped in inclusive language and moral posturing, often failed to deliver the substance needed to justify the hype.

By 2020, punters were asking whether Jacinda Ardern was just ‘a show pony’.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

And finally, Michael de Percy takes a look back on the legacy of Jacinda Ardern’s ‘inclusive’ and ‘kind’ agenda and whether or not it actually achieved anything meaningful.

In the Morning Double Shot, Terry Barnes had this to say:

Jacinda Ardern’s memoir came out this week. To save you the temptation to part with your hard-earned to read it, Michael de Percy sums Ardern’s leadership up: for all her ‘I feel your pain’ schtick, as New Zealand’s prime minister she didn’t actually achieve very much. Except that is, in the Covid years, when Ardern shut down New Zealand, and turned it into an Antipodean hermit kingdom with a zeal exceeded only by Victoria’s Daniel Andrews. She’s not missed.

My latest article in The Spectator Australia, Jacinda Ardern’s triumph of style over substance.

Key Studies on Jacinda Ardern's Leadership

Research question: What quantitative and qualitative metrics can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of Jacinda Ardern's key policy initiatives during her prime ministership?

Below are the key studies on Jacinda Ardern's leadership I reviewed from the academic literature:

Baker, M. G., Kvalsvig, A., & Verrall, A. J. (2020). New Zealand’s COVID‐19 elimination strategy. Medical Journal of Australia, 213(5), 198. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.50735

Beattie, A., & Priestley, R. (2021). Fighting COVID-19 with the team of 5 million: Aotearoa New Zealand government communication during the 2020 lockdown. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 4(1), 100209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100209

Henrickson, M. (2020). Kiwis and COVID-19: The Aotearoa New Zealand Response to the Global Pandemic. The International Journal of Community and Social Development, 2(2), 121–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/2516602620932558

Howden-Chapman, P., Keall, M., Whitwell, K., & Chapman, R. (2020). Evaluating natural experiments to measure the co-benefits of urban policy interventions to reduce carbon emissions in New Zealand. Science of The Total Environment, 700, 134408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134408

Rangiwhetu, L., Pierse, N., Chisholm, E., & Howden-Chapman, P. (2020). Public Housing and Well-Being: Evaluation Frameworks to Influence Policy. Health Education & Behavior, 47(6), 825–835. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198120917095

Skilling, P. (2024). The sixth labour government on poverty and inequality: Policy action and political language. Political Science, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00323187.2024.2441360

Tyner, K., & Jalalzai, F. (2022). Women prime ministers and COVID‐19: Within‐case examinations of New Zealand and Iceland. Politics & Policy, 50(6), 1076–1095. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12511

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