Debate: "General"
Internet censorship: how China does it

Last month, Chinese state media published articles commemorating the 30th anniversary of China’s first-ever email: ‘Across the Great Wall, we can reach every corner in the world.’ The email was sent from a research institute under …

Five steps to peace in Myanmar

The humanitarian crisis afflicting Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya has damaged the country’s political stability and shattered its image as a country moving towards democracy. Moreover, it has tarnished the reputation of the government’s de facto leader, …

ASPI suggests

The world Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas inevitably spawned an overflow of opinion pieces and analysis profiling the gunman. Was he a terrorist? And what was the rationale behind Islamic State’s unusual claim of …

Relative deprivation and the debate about refugees

In his much-acclaimed 1970 book, Why men rebel, Ted R. Gurr postulated that political violence could be explained by looking at social psychological factors. Gurr’s theory about political activism, and specifically political violence, centred on …

Flanders 1917 (part 2): victory to defeat

The three great attacks by the British Second Army in Flanders—on the Menin Road on 20 September 1917, at Polygon Wood six days later, and at Broodseinde on 4 October—revived the Third Ypres offensive after …

How Britain lost its cool

The recent meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May in the Estonian capital of Tallinn was a portrait in contrasts. Merkel has pursued openness and internationalism, and leads a country …

Apple, Face ID and privacy

I’ve seen a number of crazy media pieces arguing that Apple’s Face ID technology has privacy implications and will enable government mass surveillance. I disagree, and I think there’s a more sensible way to think …