With spy thrillers, Frederick Forsyth made history accessible and geopolitics sexy. He appealed to the grey area between good and bad in people’s heads, along with their grey matter. And the charm of his writing? A heady cocktail of him being a fighter pilot, intelligence operative, journalist—all in one.
Canada’s $9.3 billion defence budget spike shows the world has read Trump’s memo
When a country like Canada goes for a $9.3 billion defence budget spike, it shows one thing: the world has read Trump’s memo. Everybody is on their own now. PM Mark Carney put it well. In this darker world, if you’re not at the table, you’ll be on the menu.
Blame game over Bengaluru stampede shows Congress high command has lost control in Karnataka
Political and administrative kerfuffle and blame game over Bengaluru stampede is another evidence of Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah government becoming dysfunctional. CM is entirely focused on undermining his deputy, DK Shiv Kumar, to save his chair. Congress high command has lost control. Karnataka model of governance is the worst Congress can offer.
US is having a full-blown Centre-state battle after Trump sends Marines to LA
Send The Marines was a 1965 hit satirical song about American interventionism abroad. Now, Trump deploys marines to snuff out LA protests, and fuels a full-blown Centre-state battle. California cries sovereignty, Trump threatens Governor’s arrest. With complex, fraught history dating back to the civil war, this is one hot mess.
The Jackal will be missed.