International News

  • Ukraine has a right to win

    Ukraine’s need for safety is not the same as ours. Theirs is a need for territorial integrity. It includes a promise of no Russian boots on their soil. It also means no land is lost to its illegitimate claims. There can’t be a stronger Ukraine with a lesser strategic position. Finally, no vital infrastructure can be open to cursory destruction.

    President Zelenskyy is aware that Putin bargains for more than he’s worth. It’s why he fights back so hard. He orders his country to do so too. He knows the illegality of this war. He already gets that a Russian tyrant can’t win, for the sake of the world too. His effort is to hold out against an enemy that is sabre rattling at us.

  • Israel is not a new Russia

    Israel is a democracy that exists in a difficult region of the world. It’s a part of the earth that makes its own protests to legitimacy but there are a lot of questions still. The allure of money – and potential outward investment – makes it an attractive if suspect bedfellow. The fact is it cannot be seen in any other context than its own.

    Israel itself is not a pariah state. It has many reasonable enterprises and a lot of respect for its economic and political activity. As usual in our world, its military activities are hotly criticised. It may be because it’s an easy target. The causes and needs of war are not clear as it unfolds and its open to speculation.

    This is a dangerous tendency – if in its own type of political cult already – that threatens to mystify diplomacy and lead to mistakes. Israel isn’t a new Russia. It’s not an enemy. It’s not a plotter. It’s not a subversive threat to our own existence. It’s a friend if only we’d try to be too.

  • Gaza needs to learn patience

    The situation in Gaza is no doubt intolerable but the fledgling territory needs to learn patience. It’s not about to get a state. It’s not about to have an economy that prospers it. It won’t have budgets that make for a good life in the short term. The notion these things are given is flawed.

    The fact is however the people there are able to help out. They can stop their support for terrorism wherever they provide it. They can separate fact from fiction to help international observers. They can plan for their own future while helping others to make moves toward their own.

  • Hamas is not recognised here

    While a recognition in principle of a second state is admirable for those who follow the news, at this time only Hamas stands to gain from the announcement to Palestinians by the Prime Minister yesterday.

    The fierce war Israel is having to fight is similar to the one on our doorsteps. The surfacing of terrorists here to bomb us is only the tip of an iceberg. There’s a lot more to it than meets the eye. The work of counter terrorism policing is so vast it’s now a separate discipline.

    There is still further fear about its manifest effects elsewhere. Lord Goldsmith is a frequent spokesperson for the position that Islam is being riled by the false activism of the violent few. He writes on X to this effect.

    However, his fear of “radical Islamist” MP’s is unfounded. The real threat is terrorism that can get anywhere. The spread of Hamas’ propaganda – and operatives – has come at a price while its claims are fraudulent and harm the peace process itself.