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‘It is not enough to win the war; it is more important to organise the peace.’

[Aristotle]

As a writer I specialise in international politics and international development. I also have interests in science, technology, culture and society.  Here’s a selection of my journalism: for news about my latest pieces you can register for updates. I also share work that I’ve enjoyed by others on social media.

[decorative image] Photo of vintage world map.
Photo by Sophie Louisnard on Unsplash

Reflections and commentary

  • ‘Did it have to be the hair?‘ The London Review of Books [online], 15 June 2015.  On Rachel Doležal.

  • ‘“A good trial is a work of art”‘, Prospect [online], 29 August 2013. An interview with Maître Jacques Vergès, criminal defence lawyer for Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milošević, Carlos ‘The Jackal’, and serial killer Charles ‘The Serpent’ Sobhraj, among others.

Global reporting

  • ‘Cambodia: trauma, justice, governance,’ Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, 2018-now. A suite of articles exploring Cambodia’s reconstruction after the Khmer Rouge.

  • ‘Among robots,’ The London Review of Books [online], 8 January 2025. Reporting on Japan’s robot culture. I’ve put a video clip of my interaction with the Pepper robot online here. Some key time stamps from the article are 0:40 for its hallucinating movements, 5:30 for is it more intelligent than humans, and 7:00 for do androids dream of electric sheep.

  • ‘Berlin Pride,’ The London Review of Books [online], 5 December 2023. Reporting on queer intersectional lives in Berlin and wider Germany: LGBTQ+ Christians, Jews, Muslims and ethnic minorities, and their patterns of solidarity and joy across decades and borders.

  • ‘Letter from Kiev: reporting undercover on nationalism in Ukraine,’ The Paris Review [online], 28 February 2017. Investigating reports of neo-Nazi militia in the war in Ukraine.

  • ‘After peaceful vote, oil wealth threatens to return Sudan to violence‘, The Atlantic [online], 31 March 2011.  This piece was selected for TIME’s Global Briefing.

[decorative image] Photo of vintage world map.
Photo by Sophie Louisnard on Unsplash

‘”Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will,” Gramsci said.
That means hard thought, hard graft; recognising what the world is like, recognising the way the terrain is set against you;
and then remembering the openness of history, and seeing whether one can intervene.’

[Stuart Hall, The Last Interview]