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 articles (109 total)
New Zealand PM ignores a terrorist attack on his own citizens
The Israeli assault on the Gaza-bound Global Sumud flotilla has sparked accusations that New Zealand’s government abandoned its own citizens and failed its most basic obligations under international law.
Tehran demands hundreds of billions in reparations. Guess who will pay?
If Iran succeeds in extracting reparations for the US–Israeli war, it would mark an historic shift in how power and accountability operate in the international system.
The UAE’s shadow network of power and war
Behind multiple conflicts across the Middle East and Africa sits a powerful but often overlooked actor – the UAE’s network of finance, logistics and proxy forces shaping outcomes on the ground.
Iran’s target list: taking the war to multinationals
Major corporations are increasingly entangled in modern warfare, blurring the line between civilian infrastructure and military targets.
Kharg Island – a dangerous gamble in a war with Iran
A US move on Iran’s Kharg Island would be a high-risk military gamble that could escalate rapidly and destabilise global energy.
Iran war may accelerate a new Middle East security order
The war on Iran may have far-reaching consequences for Gulf security, regional alliances and the future of the US presence in the Middle East. Eugene Doyle talks with former US Ambassador Chas Freeman, to try and see the road ahead.
Going for the jugular – the energy shock is coming
The Strait of Hormuz carries the lifeblood of the global economy – and war with Iran risks turning a geopolitical conflict into a worldwide economic shock.
Under blockade – Cuba warns of the global precedent of economic coercion
As the United States tightens economic pressure on Cuba, the island’s ambassador to New Zealand warns that the issue is larger than one nation – it is a test of whether international trade and sovereignty will be governed by law or coercion.
You don’t have to like Iran’s government to oppose this war
After the killing of more than 150 schoolchildren in southern Iran, memories of a visit to Isfahan in 2018 return with painful clarity for Eugene Doyle. Beyond governments and geopolitics are ordinary families, whose children now bear the cost of escalating war.
If Iran resists, the global economy will pay
Western governments, including Australia and New Zealand, have backed US and Israeli strikes on Iran. But the decision risks economic catastrophe, regional escalation and the further erosion of international law.
Pax Americana and the starvation siege of Cuba
For more than three decades the world has voted overwhelmingly to end the US embargo on Cuba. Washington ignores the law, the UN, and the humanitarian cost – and its allies look away.
Will Japan’s remilitarisation drag us into a war?
Japan’s rapid rearmament marks a decisive break with its post-war pacifist stance. As regional tensions sharpen, Australia and New Zealand must decide whether alignment offers security or invites new risks.
Why sanctions have entrenched conflict with North Korea, not resolved it
Sanctions on North Korea have neither halted its nuclear program nor produced stability, while imposing heavy costs on civilians and regional security.
Carney’s moment: a Western leader finally says the quiet part out loud
Mark Carney’s Davos speech is a blunt diagnosis of a world in rupture, where power now trumps rules and coercion is openly deployed. The answer, it argues, is collective action by middle powers – a modern “third path” that resists subordination and rebuilds leverage.
Why the “good vs evil” story keeps failing us
The world is too complex – and too dangerous – to be reduced to “good” and “evil”. The habit still shapes how the West justifies power, war and hypocrisy.
Iran in the vortex: what's really happening
As protests unfold in Iran, Israeli and US figures openly talk of regime collapse. Foreign interference risks worsening violence and derailing change from within.
Best of 2025 - Palestinian Mandela beaten unconscious. Our leaders yawned and looked away
Israel and the West pretend they want a real peace in Israel-Palestine yet the Israelis just beat unconscious the man most likely to help realise a sustainable end to the conflict: Marwan Barghouti.
Best of 2025 - 7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1
At dawn, on 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters blast over 100 holes in the walls and fences that separate the Gaza Strip from Israel.
Best of 2025 - Hamas is better than us
This headline could get me jail time if, as reported, the New Zealand Government is planning to take the same authoritarian turn that the UK has sunk to with its proscription of Palestine Action. It would represent another dangerous conflation of protest with terrorism.
Best of 2025 - NATO in Asia-Pacific: Dragging us into a fight we can’t win
Is the future of Australia and New Zealand really as NATO forts, armed to the teeth glaring menacingly at an ever-rising China?
Why Pearls and Irritations matters – Eugene Doyle
Long-time contributor Eugene Doyle reflects on Pearls and Irritations as an open-ended think tank and calls on readers to support independent policy debate into 2026.
Writing as resistance in a year that refused to slow down
After a dizzying year of global upheaval, this reflection looks back on writing as resistance – against war, media failure, imperial power and silence – and why truth-telling still matters heading into 2026.
Chip wars: how the Dutch government nearly crashed the global car industry
When the Dutch government seized Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia, it triggered a global supply scare, revealing how deeply Europe is trapped between American coercion and China’s growing technological muscle, and how vulnerable its industry has become in the Chip War.
In Ukraine’s Pokrovsk, narratives have collided with brutal realities
Up to 5000 Ukrainian soldiers are in danger of encirclement in the key town of Pokrovsk by a powerful Russian war machine that has ground ever so slowly forward over the past 18 months.
Venezuela and Trump’s war to save the old order
“The past is not dead; it is not even past.” William Faulkner was right: past events continue to inform and shape our world.
Will the US do to Venezuela’s Maduro what they did to Gaddafi?
Something truly horrific is being planned for Venezuela. Generals are being bought and paid for, death squads are being organised and a major regime change operation is slowly gathering steam that, if executed, will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Venezuela and possibly the region beyond.
Sir Keir's Maccabi outrage should get him the red card
Within days of UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer attacking his own police force for banning the notorious Israeli Maccabi fans from attending an upcoming Europa League football match against Aston Villa, the Israeli police had to step in to shut down riots at a premier league match between Maccabi and Hapoel Tel Aviv fans.
Palestinian Mandela beaten unconscious. Our leaders yawned and looked away
Israel and the West pretend they want a real peace in Israel-Palestine yet the Israelis just beat unconscious the man most likely to help realise a sustainable end to the conflict: Marwan Barghouti.
Nobel Peace laureate calls for US bombing of her country
Within hours of being named the Nobel Peace laureate for 2025, María Corina Machado called on President Trump to step up his military and economic campaign against her own country, Venezuela.
7 October 2023: Return of the Hannibal Directive and the genocide starts now – Part 2
By noon on 7 October 2023, news of Palestinians taking hostages grip the attention of Israel’s top military and political leadership who are gathered in the “Pit”, the Kirya bunker in Tel Aviv.
7 October 2023: What really happened? Part 1
At dawn, on 7 October 2023, Hamas fighters blast over 100 holes in the walls and fences that separate the Gaza Strip from Israel.
Hamas is better than us
This headline could get me jail time if, as reported, the New Zealand Government is planning to take the same authoritarian turn that the UK has sunk to with its proscription of Palestine Action. It would represent another dangerous conflation of protest with terrorism.
Trump: Russia, India are ‘lost to deepest, darkest China’. Guess who did this, Donald?
Biden, Trump and the leaders of Western Europe have succeeded by their incoherent behaviour in doing what would have been unimaginable 20 years ago: alienating the very nations that they most needed to keep on their side. They are now weeping into their beer (or Diet Coke, in The Donald’s case).
NATO in Asia-Pacific: Dragging us into a fight we can’t win
Is the future of Australia and New Zealand really as NATO forts, armed to the teeth glaring menacingly at an ever-rising China?
Saving Marwan Barghouti is our duty
Seeing video evidence this week of the physical and psychological mistreatment of the great Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti sickened me.
Recognise Palestine? Then free Marwan Barghouti!
The world’s most important hostage must be released. Powerful Western countries have signalled that in the face of the genocide they may recognise the state of Palestine. States need leaders. That’s why Marwan Barghouti — often dubbed the Palestinian Mandela — must be freed.
We have turned the Nagasaki 80th into a celebration of Israeli genocide
Israel’s key enablers, the G7, plus Australia and New Zealand, have succeeded in muscling Israel back onto the invite list for the commemorations in Nagasaki on 9 August. Last year Israel was excluded, triggering a refusal by these countries to attend in 2024. Does the ‘personal’ invitation that Nagasaki has just sent to Israel represent a triumph of Western diplomacy or a sick joke?
Yousef Aljamal: The war on memory and writing through a genocide
Sitting opposite me in my black leather captain’s chair, looking more like a bouncer than a writer, was Yousef Aljamal, co-author of Displaced in Gaza – stories from the Gaza Genocide.
Vive la resistance! The heroes who oppose genocide
Nobody has a bad word to say about the French Resistance in World War II, right? Who would criticise a group confronting fascism, right?
The Rainbow Warrior 1985-2025 – Nuclear refugees in the Pacific: the evacuation of Rongelap - Part 2
On the last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior prior to its sinking by French agents in Auckland harbour on 10 July 1985 the ship had evacuated the entire population (320) of Rongelap in the Marshall Islands.
The Rainbow Warrior 1985-2025: French state terrorism and the end of innocence Part 1
Immediately after murdering Fernando Pereira and blowing up Greenpeace’s ship the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour, several of the French agents went on a ski holiday in New Zealand’s South Island to celebrate.
Why Asia-Pacific should be rooting for Iran
Setting aside any thoughts I may have about theocratic rulers (whether they be in Tel Aviv or Tehran), I am personally glad that Iran was able to hold out against the US-Israeli attacks this month.
Centrifugal forces have been unleashed in Iran
The US-Israeli surprise attack on Iran is literally and figuratively designed to unleash centrifugal forces in the Islamic Republic.
The West’s war on Iran
I have visited Iran twice. Once in June 1980 to witness an unprecedented event: the world’s first Islamic Revolution. It was the very start of my writing career.
Chinese jet shoots down France’s best fighter. NZ and Australia should pay attention
For the first time in history, the US and the Western world face a genuine peer competitor in China.
Radio New Zealand’s report on its Israel-Gaza coverage is not credible
Radio New Zealand’s decision to conduct a review of its Israel-Palestine coverage post-7 October 2023 is commendable.
The fall of Saigon: From triumph to Trump (Part 3)
On 30 April 1975, Saigon fell, Vietnam rose. The story of Vietnam after the US fled the country is not a fairy tale, it is not a one-dimensional parable of resurrection, of liberation from oppression, of joy for all, but there is a great deal to celebrate.
The Fall of Saigon 1975: Quiet mutiny – the US Army falls apart - Part 2
Vietnam is a conflict from which we should have learnt – but never did – about the immorality, folly and counter-productivity of imperial war.
The Fall of Saigon 1975: Fifty years of repeating what was forgotten (Part 1)
The first demonstration I ever went to was at 12, against the Vietnam War. The first formal history lesson I received was a few months later when I commenced high school.
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.