AS I SEE IT When political rhetoric boils over 02-05-2026 00:35 The US may not be heading towards a full-blown civil war, but unless its leaders, especially Trump, tone down their rhetoric, it could soon see a repeat of the 1960s by James Neilson
AS I SEE IT The President and the Pope 25-04-2026 06:31 Trump was paying the pontiff a compliment by taking him seriously. Instead of treating Leo’s remarks as the maunderings of an unworldly holy man who should be praised for his idealism and then ignored, as so many regularly do, he thought the Pope’s allusions were worth responding to. by James Neilson
COURTS YPF investors say they’ll arbitrate $16-billion Argentina case 22-04-2026 23:58 Former YPF investors who saw US$16.1-billion US judgment against Argentina thrown out on appeal last month tell trial judge that they intend to pursue international treaty arbitration and further appeals.
As I see it Time could be running out for Milei 18-04-2026 00:01 Governments that have little to fear from an effective opposition soon fall prey to the internal squabbles politicians so greatly enjoy. by James Neilson
AS I SEE IT Did the ayatollahs get one over on Trump? 11-04-2026 06:49 Even though Trump is desperately looking for an excuse to call it quits, he could change his mind yet again when it dawns on him that the remnants of the Iranian regime are making him look like a loser. by James Neilson
AS I SEE IT Milei gets a taste of his own medicine 03-04-2026 06:25 This is what tends to happen to holier-than-thou politicians who feel they are morally superior to their adversaries and make a habit of boasting about it. by James Neilson
AS I SEE IT A dark cloud that refuses to disperse 28-03-2026 05:55 The coup d’état of 1976, and its aftermath, continue to weigh heavily on the collective Argentine mind. by James Neilson
50TH ANNIVERSARY OF COUP When military coups were normal 21-03-2026 00:07 Two months after the coup, I wrote: “One special danger presented by terrorism of any political colour is its effect on the security forces themselves. Men fighting a treacherous, slippery, hydra-headed foe, which has no scruple as to method, are often tempted to fight back in a similar manner.” by James Neilson
As I see it Trump the liberator goes to war 07-03-2026 06:50 Though few would disagree that a “diplomatic solution” to the Iranian problem would be far better than one reached at gunpoint, efforts to persuade the leaders of the regime that it would be in their interest to call a genuine halt to their nuclear programme were always bound to fail. by James Neilson
AS I SEE IT Westerners looking for a way out 14-02-2026 06:12 Trump and others who hope to emulate him are reactionaries. They tell their compatriots that they want their countries to go back to what they were half a century or so ago before the rot set in, hence the promise to make them “great again.” by James Neilson
As I see it The great Epstein saga leading nowhere very fast 07-02-2026 06:00 For well over a week, the doings of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison over six years ago, have dominated the news. by James Neilson
As I see it Europe hit by a butterfly’s wings 24-01-2026 07:09 Trump’s pathetic desire to win a prize that is awarded by people who despise him is reshaping geopolitics. by James Neilson
As I see it After Maduro, Trump takes on the ayatollahs 17-01-2026 05:32 Having pledged himself publicly to “protect” protesting Iranians, Trump has left himself with precious little room in which to manoeuvre. by James Neilson
AS I SEE IT Donald Trump is on a roll 10-01-2026 06:51 Though Trump and his aides insist that they have drawn up a plan to make Venezuela great again, they do not seem to be aware of the magnitude of the task they have undertaken. by James Neilson
As I see it Existential angst is for Europeans 02-01-2026 08:40 In contrast to the many Europeans, Argentines have yet to resign themselves to collective failure. by James Neilson
As I see it Trump the crusader goes into battle 13-12-2025 06:29 Trump and the people surrounding him evidently think that Europe is on its deathbed. by James Neilson
As I see it The Goddess of Reason returns 06-12-2025 06:52 Academics are not the only people who see the difference between perceived truth and falsehood shrinking at an alarming rate thanks in large measure to machines that, in theory, should be making it far easier to tell them apart. by James Neilson
AS I SEE IT Snug in the arms of Uncle Sam 22-11-2025 06:41 For good or ill, it would appear that for the foreseeable future the United States will continue to be the only superpower worth taking into account. by James Neilson
As I see it Milei comes up trumps 01-11-2025 06:34 At least half of the over nine million people who voted for candidates linked to La Libertad Avanza did so not because they are devoted fans of Milei but because the last thing they wanted to see was yet another Peronist government. by James Neilson
As I see it Milei and the master of the universe 18-10-2025 06:18 Trump is different: he wants everyone on planet Earth to know that his or her personal fate depends on him. By behaving the way he does, he has put Argentines in a bind. by James Neilson
As I see it Two years after the pogrom 10-10-2025 16:27 Peace would have come to Gaza long ago if Hamas had returned the hundreds of hostages it seized on October 7. by James Neilson
As I see it Democracies in choppy waters 04-10-2025 06:09 Needless to say, the United States is not the only country in which the recently dominant progressive elite is on the back foot. by James Neilson
As I see it A kinder and gentler Milei? 20-09-2025 06:34 Two years ago, many came to the conclusion that what the country desperately needed was a madman prepared to do whatever would be necessary to put it back on track. Is this still the case? by James Neilson
As I see it Milei gets his comeuppance 13-09-2025 06:44 It should have been quite easy for Milei to build a broad enough coalition. But instead of making an effort, egged on by Karina, he decided to go it alone. by James Neilson
As I see it Crunch time approaching for Javier Milei 06-09-2025 07:19 Much is made of Milei’s emotional dependence on his sister. She seems to have made him her prisoner. If those who say he cannot sideline her without putting his own mental health in danger are right, Argentina is in deep trouble. by James Neilson
As I see it Dark clouds line the horizon 30-08-2025 06:52 Millions who voted for Milei less than two years ago may have assumed that he would immediately replace the old political class but, needless to say, that was a pipe dream. by James Neilson
As I see it All good things come to an end 23-08-2025 07:48 Western politicians and those who feed them ideas are ill-equipped to deal with the many challenges they face. by James Neilson
As I see it Why Milei refuses to budge an inch 16-08-2025 06:11 Like “the Iron Lady,” late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, whom he admires, Milei lets it be known that he is not for turning. by James Neilson
As I see it Fearful Westerners turn their backs on Israel 09-08-2025 05:29 Could what is happening in the Middle East be just a prelude to a similar drama in Europe and other parts of the West? by James Neilson
As I see it Politics becomes a strictly personal matter 21-07-2025 05:49 Once upon a time, politicians were expected to stand for rather more than their own egos, but in most parts of the world, the more successful political parties now tend to be one-man bands. by James Neilson
As I see it Milei hurt by yet another time bomb 05-07-2025 07:34 A New York judge has ordered the government to hand just over half the shares in YPF to a vulture fund that had purchased the rights of companies harmed by the cack-handed takeover of the oil firm in 2015. by James Neilson
As I see it The world is Donald Trump’s playpen 28-06-2025 07:38 Trump clearly imagines he can reshape the rest of the world by treating lesser potentates like counters in a board game he has devised. by James Neilson
As I see it Tougher times for politicians on the take 14-06-2025 06:41 Argentina is turning into a country in which even the most powerful among them understand that they would be well advised to respect the letter of the law. by James Neilson
As I see it Milei looks like a one-trick pony 10-05-2025 07:45 Chainsaws are great but they can maim or even kill users who are too weak or too clumsy to handle them properly. by James Neilson
As I see it Goodbye to the Argentine papacy 26-04-2025 05:00 While some of the causes Bergoglio embraced may have been good, by adopting them he blurred the distinction between Catholicism and what most of the “progressive” atheists and agnostics who have long dominated Western culture already take for granted. by James Neilson
As I see it Milei goes low in an effort to get high 19-04-2025 06:00 To get the big electoral majority he is after, Milei will have to persuade such people that he is the man, as was Juan Domingo Perón in his moment and after him, Carlos Menem and Néstor Kirchner. by James Neilson
As I see it Trump has China in the crosshairs 12-04-2025 05:41 The 19th century belonged to the United Kingdom, the 20th to the United States. And the 21st? by James Neilson
As I see it Sailing blithely into the maelstrom 05-04-2025 06:15 Like Donald Trump with his error-prone minions, Javier Milei is accompanied by an entourage which includes far too many individuals who are unsuited for high office. by James Neilson
As I see it 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
As I see it 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
As I see it 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
As I see it 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
As I see it 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
As I see it 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
As I see it 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
As I see it 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
As I see it 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
As I see it 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
As I see it 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
As I see it 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