Category: Politics & Society


Oct
07
2024
Rallying Behind Palestine Richard Pendavingh 07.10.24

Nothing has done more to highlight the moral vacuum that Australia's corporate media inhabit than their coverage of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.

Aug
04
2024
Soldiers & Sexuality: Part 2 Richard Pendavingh 04.08.24

In the second part of this essay we look at some of the ways that public denial and public hysteria around homosexuality has influenced the military history of Britain, Germany and Australia.

Apr
24
2024
The Museum Next Door Richard Pendavingh 24.04.24

How do you create an honest war museum?

May
18
2023
The Road to Hell: Conclusions Richard Pendavingh 18.05.23

Given this litany of disastrous invasions and bloody occupations, why do politicians continue to insist that their armies will be welcomed with open arms?

May
01
2023
The Road to Hell: Part IV Richard Pendavingh 01.05.23

Despite the long history of ‘humanitarian interventions’ the idea that nations have an obligation to defend the rights of those beyond their own borders has only recently begun to gain acceptance.

Apr
13
2023
The Road to Hell: Part III Richard Pendavingh 13.04.23

The fallacy of liberation played a major part in inciting conflicts during the Cold War but realism's hindsight makes it hard to appreciate the initial idealism that accompanied these conflicts.

Apr
05
2023
The Road to Hell: Part II Richard Pendavingh 05.04.23

Case studies in strategic optimism from the Greco-Turkish War to the end of the World War II.

Mar
24
2023
The Road To Hell: Part I Richard Pendavingh 24.03.23

A brief history of the fallacy of liberation from the wars of the French Revolution to the end of the long 19th century.

Feb
22
2023
Chatbot Chernobyl Richard Pendavingh 22.02.23

The public release of ChatGPT has permanently contaminated the Web. Welcome to the world of Average Garbage Forever.

Oct
06
2022
Putin's Doctrine of Maskirovka
Unmasking Maskirovka Richard Pendavingh 06.10.22

Putin's disastrous invasion of Ukraine has revealed the indiscriminate nature of Russian propaganda.

Jun
23
2020
How Georgia Abolished its Police Richard Pendavingh 23.06.20

The police were the first Georgians I met. Arriving in the capital, Tbilisi, at ten to midnight there were police officers waiting on the tarmac.

Jun
03
2020
American Stormtroopers Richard Pendavingh 03.06.20

Back in 2015 Amazon unveiled a promotional campaign for their TV adaptation of Philip K. Dick's famous novel The Man in the High Castle.

Apr
14
2020
Welcome to the Elephit House Richard Pendavingh 14.04.20

I knew it was going to be bad. I'd read all the one and two star reviews and looked at the pictures of weird murals and overgrown gardens but I kept circling back to the listing every time I looked for accommodation on Kauai.

Apr
13
2020
Violence in the Aloha State Richard Pendavingh 13.04.20

I knew that Hawaii was part of America but I still didn't expect it to be so American.

Jan
25
2020
Remembering Cummeragunja Richard Pendavingh 25.01.20

Studying Australian history often feels more like uncovering some sprawling conspiracy. Buried underneath all the accounts of white explorers, convicts, bushrangers, miners and diggers is a vast bedrock of black history. The more you dig the more connections you find but the full story always seems to remain hidden.

Jul
03
2018
The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant
Atomkraft? Nein Danke Richard Pendavingh 03.07.18

As a nation with a large reserve of uranium but no nuclear energy industry Australia is periodically subject to op-ed pieces designed to drum up support for a domestic nuclear power industry.

Jan
18
2017
The Women of Rojava Richard Pendavingh 18.01.17

Photos by Asmaa Waguih and Joey Lawrence of Kurdish fighters provide a face for a revolution that is quietly taking place behind the front lines of the war with ISIS.

Sep
20
2016
Unfinished Business Richard Pendavingh 20.09.16

Our first day on the bikes took us up the west coast from Negombo to Puttallam. It was a busy stretch of road and we were still a few days away from getting comfortable with the traffic so progress was slow.

Sep
11
2016
Sea Tigers of the LTTE Richard Pendavingh 11.09.16

In a lagoon north of Mullaitivu is a gold-painted 'victory monument'. It presides over the area where the 'Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam' (LTTE) made their last stand against the Sri Lankan army in 2009.

Aug
26
2016
Conflicting Stories in Sri Lanka Richard Pendavingh 26.08.16

A couple of chance encounters highlighted the dueling narratives of Sri Lankan history and the tensions that still remain following the end of the civil war.

Apr
21
2015
Osaka and the Dekasegi Richard Pendavingh 21.04.15

I met my first talkative local wandering Osaka looking for the famous Umeda Sky building.