Eugene Doyle

Eugene Doyle is a writer based in Wellington. He has written extensively on the Middle East, as well as peace and security issues in the Asia Pacific region. He hosts the public policy platform solidarity.co.nz.

Eugene's recent articles

Ursula and the steel porcupine

Ursula and the steel porcupine

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has called for the EU to turn Ukraine into a “steel porcupine” and for Europe to undertake a massive rearmament.

Declare your city genocide-free: Lessons from New Zealand’s nuclear-free movement

Declare your city genocide-free: Lessons from New Zealand’s nuclear-free movement

I recently attended a demonstration outside both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Israeli Embassy in Wellington.

EU welcomes its first dictatorship

EU welcomes its first dictatorship

Democracy has just been overthrown in an EU nation for the first time ever – with the tacit backing of the European Union itself. Buckle up: if the pre-emptive coup in Romania is allowed to stand, this means that the EU has torn up its own rule book and welcomed a dictatorship into the community.

Keir Starmer’s psychiatrist report leaked

Keir Starmer’s psychiatrist report leaked

Dr Edmund Freud of the European Centre for Political Pathologies recently completed a secret in-depth review of world leaders for the United Nations Security Council. His reports on President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Keir Starmer are now public, thanks to hackers, believed to be Russian, who have posted the findings on Tik-tok.

Ukraine deal: Beware of Americans bearing gifts

Ukraine deal: Beware of Americans bearing gifts

Witnessing the extraordinary cage fight this week between Volodomyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump in the Oval Office provided an eye-popping glimpse into what is normally kept behind closed doors when world leaders meet to nut out matters of great consequence.

Human sacrifice: remembering Aaron Bushnell

Human sacrifice: remembering Aaron Bushnell

Lest we forget. On 25 February last year, Aaron Bushnell, a 25 year-old active duty US serviceman, self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington. His last words on this Earth, as the fire consumed him, were: “Free Palestine!”

Yellow Peril! Red Peril! 'We cannot hide anymore'. Chinese warships in the Tasman Sea

Yellow Peril! Red Peril! 'We cannot hide anymore'. Chinese warships in the Tasman Sea

The Western media went into overdrive this past week to work the laconic Kiwis into a mild frenzy over three Chinese naval vessels conducting exercises in the Tasman Sea a few thousand kilometres off our shores. What was really behind this orchestrated campaign?

Back to Russia with love – détente is a win for everyone

Back to Russia with love – détente is a win for everyone

One key fact was absent from virtually all of the reporting around the astonishing events of this past week. It was scarcely mentioned in stories about the Munich Security Conference, the call between Presidents Trump and Putin, the freezing out of the Europeans, the jaw-dropping statements by US Defence Secretary Hegseth, the ending of cherished plans to expand NATO into Ukraine, and the historic face-to-face meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh. The missed central point: Russia has, in effective terms, won the war where it counts – on the battlefield. That more...

Will New Zealand invade the Cook Islands to stop China?

Will New Zealand invade the Cook Islands to stop China?

New Zealand’s leading newspaper, the New Zealand Herald, screamed out this headline on 10 February: “Should New Zealand invade the Cook Islands?”

Trump and foolish old men who redraw maps

Trump and foolish old men who redraw maps

It generally ends badly. An old tyrant embarks on an ill-considered project that involves redrawing maps. They are heedless to wise counsel and indifferent to indigenous interests or experience. Before they fail, are killed, deposed or otherwise disposed of, these vicious old men can cause immense harm.

Is Romania’s stolen election what’s in store for 'democracy' in the West?

Is Romania’s stolen election what’s in store for 'democracy' in the West?

To save democracy, the US and the European elites appear to have found it necessary to destroy democracy. For the first time ever an election was overturned in an EU/NATO country. Ever. There were no allegations of voting irregularities – it was about whether Russia had spent money on a Tik Tok influence campaign to support the eventual winner of the first round. If that sounds an unconvincing reason for such an historic event, the truth (see below) is even weirder.

Niger, stolen billions and the uranium-fuelled lights of Paris

Niger, stolen billions and the uranium-fuelled lights of Paris

This story is about vast quantities of uranium, stealing squillions of dollars, how to screw desperately poor people and what an outstanding job the mainstream media does in keeping us all blithely ignorant of this.

“All I wanted was to bid my daughter a final farewell.” Hostages and the mainstream media

“All I wanted was to bid my daughter a final farewell.” Hostages and the mainstream media

Watching footage of Palestinian parliamentarian and hostage Khalida Jarrar emerge from Israeli captivity was jarring – a far, muffled cry from the sense of happiness and relief most of us felt seeing the young female Israeli soldiers released by Hamas around the same time. What a study in contrast.

Reality hits home: “Ukraine is running out of Ukrainians,” says US Secretary of State

Reality hits home: “Ukraine is running out of Ukrainians,” says US Secretary of State

Back at the very start of the war retired US Ambassador Chas Freeman, an eloquent critic of many aspects of his government’s international conduct, warned that the US was prepared “to fight to the last Ukrainian”. Some want to prove him right. Others want to save the remaining young men of Ukraine.

Marwan Barghouti - the world’s most important hostage - must be released

Marwan Barghouti - the world’s most important hostage - must be released

A litmus test of Israel’s commitment to abandon genocide and start down the road towards lasting peace is whether they choose to release the most important of all the hostages, Marwan Barghouti. During the past 22 years in Israeli prisons he has been beaten, tortured, sexually molested and had limbs broken. What hasn’t been broken is the spirit of the greatest living Palestinian - a symbol of his people’s ‘legendary steadfastness’ and determination to win freedom from occupation and resist the genocidal forces of the US, Israel and their Western enablers like Australia and New Zealand.

Trump is cutting the last threads of the tattered cloth of 'the rules-based international order'

Trump is cutting the last threads of the tattered cloth of 'the rules-based international order'

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What do Panama, Canada and Greenland have in common? Could Donald Trump be getting the US back to brass tacks, to a core strategy of dominating the Western Hemisphere? Possibly, and he may be blowing away the fraudulent rhetoric about rules-based international order, territorial integrity, international law and the crusade to expand democracies.

The rule of the Oligarchs and Machines is here

The rule of the Oligarchs and Machines is here

Ordinary humanity faces an emerging threat from the combined might of the Human Elites (billionaires and the military-political class) working with perhaps the greatest power the planet has ever seen: artificial intelligence. Their combined might has the potential to totally screw us. Happy New Year everyone.

Best of 2024: The Ukraine war is lost. Three options remain

Best of 2024: The Ukraine war is lost. Three options remain

George Beebe, long-time head of Russia analysis at the CIA, a 27-year veteran of the agency and now the current head of Grand Strategy at the Quincy Institute in Washington, is just the kind of American the world needs right now. Understated, immensely knowledgeable and decent, he understands the Russo-Ukraine war in its widest sense and says three options remain open, only one that does not risk disaster for us all.

Christ wasn’t born in a stable so that Palestinians could be born in tents

Christ wasn’t born in a stable so that Palestinians could be born in tents

I just attended a wonderful Christmas concert at St Mary of the Angels in Wellington – the Bach Choir, the Chiesa Ensemble and excellent soloists sent a thrill through my body. The final piece, Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi, triggered these thoughts.

Killing Russian general won't stop reality crashing in on Ukraine

Killing Russian general won't stop reality crashing in on Ukraine

States don't tend to kill each other's generals, not least because it invites reciprocal action. The bombing in Moscow this week, killing General Igor Kirillov, was a successful attack by Ukraine and its allies. The ongoing use of long-range missiles by the West to hit targets inside Russia is, I suggest, surprisingly similar. both are designed to provoke a reaction rather than to achieve anything militarily. They can't alter battlefield realities. It says a lot about where we have got to in the Ukraine war.

The dismemberment of Syria is a crime

The dismemberment of Syria is a crime

What we are witnessing is not just the end of a regime but quite possibly the destruction of the Syrian state. We are being told by the Western media that we should join Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden and the Europeans in celebrating what risks being the creation of yet another failed state in the Middle East/West Asia.

The demon in the mirror

The demon in the mirror

Incoming US President Donald Trump will force us, as citizens of the 'West', to face the demon in the mirror.

In the death throes of Ukraine's lost war, we witness the birth of WWIII

In the death throes of Ukraine's lost war, we witness the birth of WWIII

In the space of a couple of days this week two completely unprecedented attacks occurred that have the potential to rewrite world history. The US and UK directly attacked Russia and, for the first time ever in war, an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile was fired – by Russia. Naturally, most people in the West paid little attention.

Defying settler colonialism

Defying settler colonialism

Far from the killing grounds of Gaza, an incredible display of defiance to settler colonialism has broken out in, of all places, New Zealand. The two projects - Israel and New Zealand’s - are linked more than many would like to think. Palestinian leaders raise their voices in support of New Zealand’s Māori people at this critical moment.

BBC goes full Goebbels in support of Israeli soccer hooligans

BBC goes full Goebbels in support of Israeli soccer hooligans

“IDF will fuck the Arabs!”, “Why is school out in Gaza? There are no children left there!” Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans chanting on 8 November, as reported by The Times of Israel. Yet the BBC just compared them to Jewish victims of the Nazi pogroms. Why this story matters is because of the outsized influence of the BBC – its content is shared as gospel by countless other broadcasters.

The axis of genocide

The axis of genocide

The West, “will stand by the Israeli regime until they exterminate the last Palestinian”, says Mohammad Seyed Marandi, an American-Iranian academic. “They will allow the extermination of the people of Gaza. And then if the Israelis go after the West Bank, they will allow for that to happen as well. Under no circumstances do I see the West blocking extermination...”

The Ukraine war is lost. Three options remain

The Ukraine war is lost. Three options remain

George Beebe, long-time head of Russia analysis at the CIA, a 27-year veteran of the agency and now the current head of Grand Strategy at the Quincy Institute in Washington, is just the kind of American the world needs right now. Understated, immensely knowledgeable and decent, he understands the Russo-Ukraine war in its widest sense and says three options remain open, only one that does not risk disaster for us all.

To Jews and Christians of faith: you can’t sit out a genocide

To Jews and Christians of faith: you can’t sit out a genocide

This week I read an article in Al Jazeera describing the killing in one day of hundreds of Palestinian civilians. The same day I read a piece in CNN, “Israeli soldiers returning from war struggle with trauma and suicide”. The article tried to elicit sympathy for soldiers who were traumatised from bulldozing Palestinians.

US is spending $28 billion on Sinophobic propaganda to colonise your brain

US is spending $28 billion on Sinophobic propaganda to colonise your brain

Whoever owns the narrative owns the world – and things just got a lot tougher for those of us opposed to the metastasising brain cancer known as US influence campaigns – or “perception management”.

Yahya Sinwar - history will judge the living and the dead

Yahya Sinwar - history will judge the living and the dead

The political and military leader of Hamas is dead. Some cheer. Some weep. History will judge the living and the dead. I wish Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar had appeared before an international tribunal of judges for their role in October 7th, rather than being murdered by the Israelis. All who committed crimes in the past year should face justice.

Driving VW off a cliff: Germany’s lemming strategy and what it means for us

Driving VW off a cliff: Germany’s lemming strategy and what it means for us

Something absolutely stupefying is happening in Germany: its iconic auto company, VW, the darling of every Chancellor from Adolf Hitler to Olaf Scholz, appears to be in a death spiral. At the end of this story I’ll draw a link to the salutary lesson countries like Australia and New Zealand need to draw from the German experience if we are to survive and thrive in the coming world.

The US made the Dutch an offer they couldn't refuse

The US made the Dutch an offer they couldn't refuse

Hold on to your mobile phones, civilians, this is gonna get rough. If you thought the Sopranos and Corleones were intimidating, check this out.

Gaza happened because we forgot Korea

Gaza happened because we forgot Korea

History didn’t start on 7 October. True that. To get a deeper sense of why the shocking destruction in Gaza is happening, we have to revive the forgotten war that the US waged against North Korea in the 1950s. In many ways, it was the template for all that followed.

Exiting Pax Americana could save our bacon

Exiting Pax Americana could save our bacon

Ordinary New Zealanders and Australians have little idea about the momentous changes coming our way. For a couple of centuries we have been outposts of a Western empire that is losing its dominance of the region.

Iran is about to attack Israel

Iran is about to attack Israel

Iran may be about to launch a proper missile strike on Israel for the first time ever - in retaliation for the attack on Tehran last month which killed Ismail Haniyeh. Israeli intelligence says an attack is likely to come within days.

Team genocide walks out on Nagasaki commemorations

Team genocide walks out on Nagasaki commemorations

In an astonishing “Fuck you” to the survivors of the 1945 US nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, several Western countries including the US, Australia, Canada, France, Italy and the UK have just dropped a bombshell: reportedly announcing their ambassadors are shunning this week’s commemorations in solidarity with Israel.

Rape and genocide: the Israeli war machine we support

Rape and genocide: the Israeli war machine we support

The headline above is outrageous and incendiary – it is also unquestionably true. We have a duty to bear witness to what the Palestinians must endure.

As Eurasia awakes our world will shake

As Eurasia awakes our world will shake

“Tectonic shifts are underway in global politics, economy, and other spheres of international relations. A fairer multipolar world order is being born.” Opening words of the SCO 2024 declaration, Astana, Kazakhstan.

It’s bigger than NATO and it’s heading our way

It’s bigger than NATO and it’s heading our way

Australia and New Zealand’s populations must now wake up to the fact that our countries have been drawn into what ForeignPolicy.com called the knitting together of “the United States’ patchwork of different regional security systems into a global security architecture of networked alliances and partnerships.”

Warning from the edge of the abyss

Warning from the edge of the abyss

A famous US politician shot. Nuclear missiles positioned close to an enemy superpower. A nervous world wonders, ‘What next?”. It happened in the 1960s; it’s happening again today. We need a good song to wake us up.

The time Antony Blinken went to bed with Sergey Lavrov

The time Antony Blinken went to bed with Sergey Lavrov

Once upon a time the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken booked a nice hotel room with a Queen bed and invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to share it with him. They went there to launch a diplomatic initiative to try to end the war in Ukraine and to put to bed, so to speak, the idea of violent confrontation between the two superpowers.

Muzzling the dogs of war: the time to stop the madness is now

Muzzling the dogs of war: the time to stop the madness is now

It may be time to think the unthinkable: all the signs are pointing to the West preparing to launch a proper war in Europe. Once started it could bring, for the first time in living memory, millions of Western civilians into uniform and see the cities of the West attacked. Preposterous? Jumping the Shark? Listen to what the leaders in the West are saying. The time to stop the madness is now, not once the elites drive us into the abyss and civilians are stripped of all rights to oppose.

US shoots itself with own super-weapon

US shoots itself with own super-weapon

The USA has shot itself in the head with its own wonder weapon. The most powerful weapon in the US arsenal is not F-16 jets, Himar missiles, or any of the other conventional war toys. Real US power resides in the US dollar.

Shoot the messenger, kill the story

Shoot the messenger, kill the story

Daniel Everett Hale killed lots of innocent people. He went to jail, not for killing people – he was paid to do that by the US government – but for revealing the truth behind it. Recently released, he has an astonishing story to tell.

Are you ready for WWIII? The Russians are

Are you ready for WWIII? The Russians are

The Armavir Incident - the destruction on 23 May of a key part of Russia’s nuclear defence - means the Doomsday clock is ticking closer to midnight.

Shattered theory: the war on terror and Western impunity

Shattered theory: the war on terror and Western impunity

Could the final act of the US’s Global War on Terror (GWOT) be the conviction of a US President for terrorism? Tantalising but implausible? Read on.

The liberation of Kanaky: resisting France’s brutal colonial overlordships in the Pacific

The liberation of Kanaky: resisting France’s brutal colonial overlordships in the Pacific

“Only the struggle counts … death is nothing.” Eloi Machoro – ‘the Che Guevara of the Pacific’ – shortly before he was gunned down by a French sniper on 12 January 1985.

We “share values” with people committing genocide

We “share values” with people committing genocide

Western leaders like to talk about values, shared values, common values. They talk about this a lot. America itself is obsessed with two things: conflict resolution through violence and moral preening. Nowhere is this contradiction more glaringly on display than in the genocide being committed in Gaza. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) says the US and Israel have a partnership based on shared values. I believe them.

Is New Zealand slurping the AUKUS Kool-Aid?

Is New Zealand slurping the AUKUS Kool-Aid?

Drinking the Kool-Aid is not only believing a foolish and dangerous idea but acting on it leads to unnecessary self-destruction. It refers to the 900 American cult members who drank cyanide-laced Kool-Aid at Jonestown in Guyana in 1978 in an act of “revolutionary suicide”. Critics of AUKUS on both sides of the Tasman think our governments need to change their drinking habits.

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