I issued two extremely important Libz press releases this afternoon.  They form a two-pronged plan to combat the upcoming recession and ensure that such a dramatic economic downfall can never threaten New Zealand again. You can read them on Scoop: Finally: A Credible Economic Plan Economic Correction Needs Political Correction And on the Libertarianz website: [...]

Catastrophes, Development, Freedom, Libertarianz, New Zealand, Politics, Resilience | No Comments »

Imagine a beautiful and peaceful land where hundreds of native species thrive amid vast tracts of native forest … The peace was shattered when humans arrived. Hundreds of colonists begin hunting and killing the birds and burning the forest. It takes them less than a century to kill off at least 18 different species of [...]

Catastrophes, Culture, Development, Empire, Energy, Free market environmentalism, New Zealand, Technology | 8 Comments »

Originally posted on Coming Anarchy. If you would like to comment, please do so there. Lihir gold mine, Papua New Guinea A history of conflict As has been explored in previous Oceania Day posts, conflict in Oceania – particularly in Melanesia – is often related to resources. The prime example is Bougainville, where in 1989 [...]

4GW, Black globalization, Development, Energy, Failed states, Infrastructure, Mercenaries, Non-state actors, Pacific, Resilience | No Comments »

Another guest post for Coming Anarchy. Please check their site if you wish to comment on this post. Thanks! Last week I wrote: But by the 1980s, it was clear that the region was no longer entirely peaceful… Democracy appeared to be weakening, and one academic warned of “Africanisation,” forecasting a dark future for Oceania. [...]

Africa, Black globalization, Culture, Development, Failed states, New Zealand, Pacific | No Comments »

This was my first guest post at Coming Anarchy, for the new Oceania Day series. Hopefully this marks the start /#comment-376197of a fruitful collaboration between me, the Strategist, Younghusband, Curzon and Chirol. Cheers guys! The Strategist posted last week on conflict in Melanesia, a region within Oceania alongside Micronesia and Polynesia. To keep this series [...]

Culture, Development, Failed states, New Zealand, Pacific, World | 2 Comments »

The preface of Edward Luttwak’s classic work on how to overthrow a government reads as follows: AS THE EVENTS in France of May 1968 have shown yet again, insurrection, the classic vehicle of revolution, is obsolete. The security apparatus of the modern state, with its professional personnel, with its diversified means of transport and communications, [...]

4GW, Black globalization, Development, Failed states, Infrastructure, Non-state actors, Technology | 7 Comments »

PORT MORESBY: Riot police have been sent to a remote mountainous village in Papua New Guinea after a gun battle between police and members of a cult involved in human sacrifices, local media reported. The National newspaper said several people were killed and many injured in the fighting last week in the Finschhafen area of [...]

Black globalization, Culture, Development, Empire, Failed states, Non-state actors, Pacific, Religion | 3 Comments »

Keith Ng has a chilling report from one of the world’s forgotten but bloody civil wars – the endless LTTE campaign for Tamil independence in Sri Lanka. “The Future. Today.” boasts a rusty billboard in Batticaloa. The coastal town in Sri Lanka’s troubled eastern province is at the centre of a renewed military campaign to [...]

Catastrophes, Development, Failed states, Non-state actors, South Asia | 5 Comments »

Election, candidates and the problem with Fretilin Timor-Leste had its second presidential election since independence last week, and provisional results are in. But five candidates out of eight are disputing the results, claiming irregularities and corruption have tainted the results. As presidential elections go, this is far worse than Florida in 2000. But it seems [...]

Development, Non-state actors, Pacific, Politics, UN | 2 Comments »

A massive earthquake and tsunami have struck the Solomon Islands, even as the impoverished archipelago recovered from a coup, civil war and last years anti-Chinese political riots.  The current death toll is 22 and rising, including at least one New Zealander, along with several thousand made homeless.  A RNZAF Hercules is on its way – [...]

Catastrophes, Development, Failed states, New Zealand, Pacific, UN | 4 Comments »