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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

Winning an election can still mean losing control. This paradox is playing out in Germany right now. Read more

Jim Allan’s spirited response to my Quadrant Online column, Trump’s war on constitutional democracy, misses what makes this moment so dangerous for America. While Jim and I share deep concerns about judicial activism and bureaucratic overreach, his attempt to normalise Trump’s recent actions ignores their unprecedented assault on constitutional government. Read more

Donald Trump’s February call with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine’s future marked the end of the post-war order. His promised visit to Moscow and Putin’s planned trip to Washington herald a new era of raw power politics. Read more

Geopolitics offers no shortage of distractions. Ukraine peace negotiations lurch forward then stall. Read more

“On April 2nd, reciprocal tariffs kick in,” declared President Donald Trump in his recent address to Congress. With these words, he signalled not merely a policy shift but the end of globalisation as we have known it. Read more

Late last year, online newsmagazine The Spinoff asked the usual suspects for their one-sentence summary of the year ahead. I stole a line from Gramsci, or at least a paraphrased version of it. Read more

Some see Ukraine’s fight as a defining battle for freedom. Others dismiss it as a reckless provocation. Read more