Showing 1 - 10 of 27
Time running out on Tokyo Olympics
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 19/02/2020
» Japan needs to rethink the Olympics. The most pressing reason to postpone or cancel the 2020 Tokyo summer games, which are due to start in late July, is a raging public health crisis of unknown dimensions.
An Ithaca idyll with Surin Pitsuwan
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 04/12/2017
» During Surin Pitsuwan's visit to Ithaca, New York, this past September, a barbecue party was arranged by long-time family friends who live on the edge of town where the still lush and green rural surroundings could at a glance be mistaken for rural Thailand. Chickens cackled in a nearby coop and birdsong was everywhere in the air.
America first, and Trump unleashed
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 26/01/2017
» The Trump administration introduced itself to the nation and the world with a bellicose roar of "America first" and some rather petty falsehoods, establishing a strident, truculent tone.
Stress, distress led voters to Trump
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 15/11/2016
» Perhaps the most troubling aspect of a Donald Trump presidency is not the man's big-headed, pig-headed penchant for self-promotion, but the shock wave of hate he has awakened. Americans are stressed and politically distressed, expressing anger in vulgar, bipolar ways.
The idiosyncratic appeal of the megalomaniacs
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 30/05/2016
» 'What do you think of Donald Trump? Is it really possible for him to be president?"
Saiyud proves military and democracy compatible
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 17/03/2016
» At this very moment, we need no further proof to realise that military men and democracy are always on the opposite side. Yet every rule has an exception.
Ajarn Ben's Southeast Asian analyses still enlighten
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 15/12/2015
» When I studied with Benedict Anderson at Cornell University in 1974, he seemed the quintessential absent-minded professor; at once erudite and bookish, idealistic and dreamy-eyed. The fact he had just been kicked out of Indonesia only added to his aura. Giving lectures about coups and counter-coups and revolutionary martyrs, he'd pace the front of the classroom in clunky boots and mismatched outfits, captivating class attention with his soft but mellifluous Irish-accented voice.
US hubris has real-world consequences
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 23/12/2014
» The Interview is based on a deeply-flawed conceit rooted in American exceptionalism: that a film about the killing a leader for the fun of it is funny as long as the target is unpopular and foreign.
Junta’s legacy hinges on applying the law equally
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 30/05/2014
» It is easy to imagine a coup d’etat being a terrible bloody affair in countries without a history of coups because the populace would panic, over-react, or misread the signals. But in Thailand there is, oddly enough, a sense of continuity with the interplay of familiar archetypes in such abrupt political change.
Suthep has mastered the art of hard-to-heart talk
News, Philip J Cunningham, Published on 03/03/2014
» To borrow a formulation often used to describe democracy, a peaceful overthrow of a rotten regime is the worst possible option, except for all the others.