US bungling must not be repeated A National Front victory in the pending presidential/general election in France shows every sign of wrong-footing the New Zealand government in the same way that the United States presidential outcome did, writes our European correspondent. Now rated as the front-runner a National Front victory will also see France quit the EU which in turn will signal the end of the entire EU project. The New Zealand Foreign Ministry must now forcibly and unambiguously direct its officials to now actively consider a National Front victory in the elections in France---and to adjust their own forecasts…

France’s Political Class Blind to PS votes going to FN The breaking of France’s presidential glass ceiling by Marine Le Pen promises to be more shattering than any fall-out connected with the now broken presidential hopes of Hillary Clinton. This is because the fall-out will be a compound one blended from the glass ceiling effect and the upset triumph of President Donald Trump. The French political class which is far more pervasive than anything their English-speaking counterparts can put forward is only just realising the truth that has been hiding in plain sight. It is that Marine Le Pen and…

The White House website has been updated with a new trade strategy in the wake of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. “This strategy starts by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership [TPP] and making certain that any new trade deals are in the interests of American workers,” the website states. “President Trump is committed to renegotiating NAFTA,” it continues. “If our partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the President will give notice of the United States’ intent to withdraw from NAFTA. Many critics argue that Trump’s desire to withdraw from the 12-country TPP, which includes Canada,…

The experience of a New Zealander who served in three White House Administrations suggests Chris Liddell will have a front row seat to history while working as an assistant to Donald Trump. Peter S Watson grew up in Mt Eden and attended Auckland Grammar, but a career in law later spanned top US law firms and saw him become involved in politics. Watson worked for George Bush Snr's Administration as a director of Asian Affairs for the United States National Security Council, and later held top posts in the George W. Bush Administration. A Republican, he was appointed chairman of…

Watchdog is determined to extract Foreign Aid facts The determination of the public spending watchdog the Taxpayers Union collective to extract from the government an explanation for its foreign aid donations to the Clinton fund has only increased with the dissolution of the Clinton Foundation when a final pledge of $5.5. million from New Zealand is still due. Foreign aid remains a substantially unquestioned sector of public expenditure with the political class only differing on the extent of the budgetary increases. Each year the proclamation is made by this non-productive sector that New Zealand’s aid expenditure is well below that…

Brexit is being driven as much by fear of immigration as passion for free trade We need to embrace Africa and Latin America, not just our old and slow-growing friends Britain must genuinely open up to all corners of a fast-changing world Theresa May yesterday gave the clearest indication of Britain’s future direction of travel. Her mantra is “Global Britain” – a phrase we will hear endlessly over coming years. The referendum was a vote “to become even more global and internationalist in action and in spirit”, she said. Certainly, it was good to hear May speak passionately about the…

White House-to-White House Pretenders replace Log Cabin -to- White House With the inauguration of President Donald Trump three still active United States presidential dynasties make their transition into exile. Temporary exile, as these Pretenders see it. In Napoleonic terms the monarchical familial trio are by-passing a remote St Helena and heading to a more lightly guarded in-shore Elba from which they can make their escape when the call comes, as they ardently believe it will. First among these is the Bush dynasty which has already supplied two republican monarchs, George 1 and then George 11. But which failed to install…

The spirit of unanimity in which the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 2334 on December 23 stands in sharp contrast to the condemnation and accusations that have dominated subsequent commentary from Israel and that country's supporters. New Zealanders deserve to know why the issue of settlements has become so challenging, and why it came before the council in December 2016. At the heart of this whole debate is whether we will see a future in which two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace and security. This two state solution has been the accepted basis for…

Kushner's lawyers skirted an anti-nepotism law, after it came out he's doing business with a foreign firm. Ignoring federal nepotism rules, Jared Kushner — Donald Trump’s son-in-law — has been named a senior adviser to the president in the upcoming administration. Kushner had reportedly met with lawyers to devise a plan to circumvent a law that prohibits public officials from hiring family members, including son-in-laws, to an office over which that official has authority. Shortly after the election, President-elect Trump hinted that Kushner was being groomed for an important role, saying that his son-in-law was so talented that he could…

Le Parisien Determined to Identify What Voters Believe in place of what elites believe they believe. Paris’ leading daily newspaper, the tabloid Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France has outlawed from its pages all poll-based predictions on the pending presidential election. The centrist popular daily blames unquestioning reliance on polls, known in France as “soundings” to have led to the embarrassing set of circumstances in which Alain Juppe was unanimously predicted to become the successful candidate of the right-of-centre Republican Party. In the event, and as MSC Newswire’s European correspondent had predicted, (see our story below) the successful candidate was Francois Fillon…

Reformation in US, UK, and France Suddenly Transforms United Nations Hegemony  The old established order, the one founded in traditionally-accepted geopolitical foreign policies began to dissolve at the same time as New Zealand took its seat as a temporary member for the first time of the United Nations Security Council. The old order was based on policies that would continue and in the United States especially would do so on a dynastic basis. In the other two western alliance members of the permanent Security Council, United Kingdom and France this too was the order of the day. For New Zealand…