News of James Neilson

James Neilson

James Neilson

Former editor of the Buenos Aires Herald (1979-1986).

Bloody clampdown.

The old order is fighting back

22-03-2025 07:45 Milei has managed to apply a much-needed corrective to a political order that, until he took over, seemed to have been programmed to destroy both itself and the country.

by James Neilson

US President Donald Trump.

Demography should help the US keep China at bay

15-03-2025 07:46 Despite the fact that demography has always been China’s not so secret weapon, in recent years it has become a major problem that seems certain to put a premature end to the imperial dreams of Xi and his immediate successors.

by James Neilson

Donald Trump and Zelenskyy graphic

Alarm bells ringing in Europe

08-03-2025 06:00 Have the Europeans stumbled into the dependency trap? Trump and his cronies evidently think they have and therefore deserve to be treated like the supplicants they are.

by James Neilson

Strongmen syndrome.

Hail to the chiefs

01-03-2025 06:15 Much of the world is reverting to an older formula in which it is taken for granted that everything depends on the whims of a handful of big men.

by James Neilson

Self-inflicted error.

Milei caught in a crypto spider web

22-02-2025 06:09 By associating himself with a cosmopolitan bunch of chancers, Milei has raised serious questions about the government he leads.

by James Neilson

Milei the cyberpunk.

A cyberpunk at the helm

15-02-2025 06:10 Is Milei an astute operator who is merely playing the role of a foul-mouthed cyberpunk or is he simply showing the world the kind of person he really is?

by James Neilson

Trump and Netanyahu loom over Gaza.

Mar-a-Lago on the Med

07-02-2025 09:58 Why is Trump’s suggestion being derided as hopelessly far-fetched and reactionary?

by James Neilson

In for the kill.

The quest for the new philosopher’s stone

01-02-2025 09:07 For good or ill, Artificial Intelligence is the philosopher’s stone of the age we are living in.

by James Neilson

Back to basics.

Back to basics with Donald Trump

25-01-2025 06:43 Progressives should be aware that what Trump represents is an increasingly powerful movement that is certain to endure.

by James Neilson

Trump's problem with women.

The battle of the sexes is far from over

18-01-2025 06:46 Trump and the people who surround him evidently believe that the time has come to roll back some of the gains chalked up by women.

by James Neilson

Dreaming of a Trumpian empire.

Dreaming of a Trumpian empire

11-01-2025 06:36 By openly declaring that all that stuff about sovereignty, the inviolability of internationally recognised borders and such should be discarded for what he says are strategic reasons, Trump may well have kickstarted something that could have far-reaching consequences that he would be the last to welcome.

by James Neilson

Chainsaws are now in fashion.

Chainsaws are now in fashion

02-01-2025 07:45 Though Trump has yet to take office, his electoral triumph has had an immediate impact not just in his own country but also in Europe and further afield where it has strengthened those who feel betrayed by the political parties.

by James Neilson

Population decline.

Quite soon there will be nobody left

21-12-2024 05:07 If present trends are anything to go by, then our descendants, most of whom will be in their dotage, will occupy a prominent place on the endangered species list.

by James Neilson

Professor Milei lectures.

Milei is still very much in charge

14-12-2024 15:37 The success or failure of the far-reaching programme Milei devised will depend on whether or not most members of the political fraternity have learned enough from their many errors.

by James Neilson

Trump: The return of the great disruptor.

The return of the great disruptor

07-12-2024 06:07 Caught off-balance, progressives in the United States and movers and shakers in Latin America, Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and Africa are asking themselves what the return of the great disruptor could mean.

by James Neilson

The invasion is about to begin.

The invasion is about to begin

30-11-2024 05:46 Putting up protectionist barriers can be wonderfully easy, but pulling them down is anything but.

by James Neilson

Javier emiting emissions.

Green going out of fashion

23-11-2024 06:00 Javier Milei is far from being the only prominent person who thinks global-warming activists have rather more in mind than an understandable desire to prevent the entire planet from going up in flames.

by James Neilson

Javier: Donald's caddy.

Milei books a seat on the Trump express

16-11-2024 05:52 Though Milei expects Trump to lend him a helping hand on the financial front, he must be worried by his determination to surround the US with sky-high protectionist walls.

by James Neilson

Post-electoral Democrat blues.

Post-electoral Democrat blues

09-11-2024 07:36 If Democrats were wise, they would understand that it was due to their incompetence, combined with highhandedness, that Trump came roaring back.

by James Neilson

United States in intensive care.

Fear and loathing in the US

02-11-2024 06:42 About the only thing Donald Trump and Kamala Harris agree upon is that, unless one of them wins, democracy will die in the United States.

by James Neilson

A most unappetising choice.

A most unappetising choice

26-10-2024 05:32 The choice, then, is between a blustering egotist and an almost comically vacuous lady.

by James Neilson

Milei and the uses of fanaticism.

Milei and the uses of fanaticism

19-10-2024 06:23 Javier Milei’s reputation, and with it his ability to rule, depends on his willingness to stick to his fiscal guns, come what may.

by James Neilson

Surprise for Mario.

There are no easy answers in education

12-10-2024 06:59 Living as we do in an egalitarian age, many educationalists are reluctant to take into account another unfortunate fact: people have different talents

by James Neilson

Netanyahu eyes.

Israel takes on the holy warriors

05-10-2024 06:15 It would therefore be reasonable to assume that the Western democracies would not only approve of Israel’s attempt to annihilate Hamas and Hezbollah but would also be sending troops to help her get the job well and truly done.

by James Neilson

United Nations under threat.

The UN gets the Milei treatment

28-09-2024 06:22 Hypocrisy is the glue that holds the UN together. It would fall apart if the democratic members began demanding the immediate expulsion of countries whose regimes refuse to observe the rules they pledged themselves to respect.

by James Neilson

Israel’s terrible swift sword.

Israel’s terrible swift sword

21-09-2024 06:20 Israel not only tore apart Hezbollah’s communications’ network and undermined its morale, but also scored a major propaganda triumph. For a small country whose very survival depends entirely on its military prowess, this is a matter of literally vital importance.

by James Neilson

Trump, Harris: Battle for the White House.

Waiting for the next leader of the free world

14-09-2024 06:08 In the United States, politicians enjoy shouting insults at one another, a habit that has been picked up by Javier Milei, who greatly admires “The Donald.”

by James Neilson

Cracks in Milei's wall.

A most illiberal libertarian

07-09-2024 06:06 Is Milei a democrat? Probably not; it is increasingly clear that, by instinct, he is an authoritarian who does not take kindly to even mild criticism.

by James Neilson

Window of opportunity.

A window of opportunity for autocrats

31-08-2024 05:37 Donald Trump is far from being the only North American politician who would like to see his country leave the rest of the world to its own wretched devices.

by James Neilson

Villarruel's hungry.

Milei’s party a prey to infighting

24-08-2024 05:29 In democratic countries, leaders of a ruling party that has little to fear from an opposition in disarray soon find themselves confronting internal rebellions. In Argentina, Javier Milei’s party finds itself in a similar situation.

by James Neilson

Alberto Fernández.

Alberto left twisting slowly, slowly in the wind

17-08-2024 06:43 Was Alberto Fernández an exceptionally bad character or was he just a typical member of what Javier Milei calls “the caste” who felt he was entitled to make up his own rules?

by James Neilson

Nicolás Maduro

Maduro still has plenty of fans

03-08-2024 14:54 For Xi Jinping and his underlings, the alleged ability of the Chinese Communist Party to solve quickly problems that keep Western politicians awake at night is a major selling point which they use to impress leaders of underdeveloped countries who see democracy as a threat.

by James Neilson

Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.

Almost half a year to go

27-07-2024 14:11 In a sane universe, the all too evident shortcomings of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, let alone Joe Biden, would make it impossible for one of them to become what their compatriots plausibly say is the “most powerful” person on earth.

by James Neilson

Donald Trump.

Trump has remade the GOP

23-07-2024 14:47 Many now think that Trump has put himself on course to win the November presidential election in the United States by a landslide.

by James Neilson

Mauricio and Javier.

Goodbye to all that, perhaps

13-07-2024 07:32 Like Mauricio Macri before him. Milei is convinced that for Argentina to prosper he and his supporters will have to win the “cultural battle.”

by James Neilson

In meltdown.

The US and Europe in meltdown mode

06-07-2024 05:50 All this political turmoil reflects what is going on beneath the surface. In every Western country, people are dissatisfied with the way things are and fear they could soon get far worse.

by James Neilson

Biden, Macron, Scholz, Sunak – all having a hard time of it.

A bad time for politicians everywhere

29-06-2024 04:19 Once upon a time, successful politicians were held in high regard. This is no longer the case.

by James Neilson

Milei may have to come down to earth.

Milei may have to come down to earth

22-06-2024 05:53 When talking high theory, the president is in his element, but he is far less self-confident when it comes to practical matters; he must feel they are beneath him and can be left to his sister.

by James Neilson

Fragile ship on stormy seas.

A sea change in the Western world

15-06-2024 06:40 Abandoned to their fate by leading Democrats and socialists, people are turning towards politicians who are willing to take on the system they think has betrayed them.

by James Neilson

Javier Milei, breaking through the walls.

The country needs a proper civil service

08-06-2024 05:36 Rather than merely slimming down a pathologically obese public sector, it would be far better to concentrate on greatly improving its quality.

by James Neilson

Milei: the greatest show on earth?

The greatest show on earth

01-06-2024 05:56 Milei is playing the leading part in an imaginative cosmic drama he himself dreamed up in which, backed by heavenly forces, he battles the leftist foes of everything that is good.

by James Neilson

Netanyahu and the Middle East crisis.

Anti-Semitism comes back with a vengeance

25-05-2024 06:04 Though there has never been any shortage of reasons to persecute Jews, the chief one which underlies most others is envy.

by James Neilson

Milei: Hail to the new populist caudillo.

Hail to the new populist caudillo

18-05-2024 06:49 Will Milei’s daring experiment work and give Argentina an economy that is at least as efficient as those of what is known as the developed world? Or will the cure he is intent on subjecting it to prove to be so painful that it kills the patient?

by James Neilson

The Milei show rolls on.

The Milei show rolls on

10-05-2024 06:29 To those who in the past placed their bets on Argentina and lost a great deal of money as a result, Milei’s spiel must have sounded like something a confidence trickster might say.

by James Neilson

The perils of cyberspace.

The perils of cyberspace

04-05-2024 05:37 A world in which everybody is electronically connected to everybody else and to the Internet is not one in which people feel closer to one another. Engrossed as they are with the talking pixels they see before them, they do their best to steer clear of flesh-and-blood creatures.

by James Neilson

Milei versus the universities.

Give us more education

27-04-2024 05:07 Though academe has been on iron rations for decades, with professors long being accustomed to having to survive on a pittance, the feeling that Milei had it in for the universities because he thinks they breed lefties gave teeth to Tuesday’s demonstrations.

by James Neilson

The worst journalists in the world.

The worst journalists in the world

20-04-2024 06:07 Milei wants to control the narrative and, by doing so, change the way Argentines think about the world. Does hurling insults at journalists help win him more adherents?

by James Neilson

Milei and America.

Milei and the new new right

13-04-2024 05:34 Javier Milei has been warmly welcomed by adherents of the latest edition of the “new right,” but Argentina’s president sees just about everything through an economic lens.

by James Neilson

Malvinas Remembrance.

Looking for unity offshore

06-04-2024 06:54 Despite the diplomatic points that can be scored, the current status quo looks likely to prevail for some time to come.

by James Neilson

The slaughterhouse.

A sacred cow under attack

30-03-2024 06:38 It often seems that until all those who were physically or emotionally involved in it have departed, it will continue to be difficult to look at that unhappy period.

by James Neilson