Art of diplomacy
The language of diplomacy often requires nuance and subtlety. Not infrequently, it needs to be opaque, to enable differing interpretations;…
Revolving doors
There is a curious twist in the montage on the cover of Rodney Tiffen’s Disposable Leaders; a detailed treatise on…
Bankstown lefty
For Paul Keating, there have always been two kinds of politics: ‘high tone’ and ‘low rent’. High tone was to…
Up Close and Personal
Chris Mitchell’s memoir of his life as a News Ltd journalist, then as editor, first of Brisbane’s Courier Mail and…
Walking the walls of Theodosius
Hagia Sophia (the Church of the Holy Wisdom) in Istanbul is arguably the most important building in our Judeo-Christian tradition.…
A hero recalled
In these times it seems that heroes are acclaimed readily and easily. A single television appearance coupled with a politically…
Australian Diary
At the end of the week of Treasurer Joe Hockey’s second Federal Budget, I recalled the caustic observation about the…
Californian diary
The American Republic has always been characterized by great political families. From earliest days, from the Adams and the Harrisons…
The useful Colonel Houses
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was determined to get the measure of Britain’s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, and of Britain’s chances…
