perspectives

By: Adrian Khodavardar In 2008, Mark Lyttle was detained by immigration authorities despite repeatedly asserting his United States citizenship. ICE records identified him as deportable. He was ultimately expelled to Mexico and left to navigate Central America alone, relying on shelters and strangers to survive. Years later, a federal court found that the government had violated his constitutional rights. Lyttle’s case is extreme, but it is not anomalous. It illustrates how im

By by Ingrid Cochrane Last week saw the defection of Suella Braverman to Reform UK. Joining Andrew Rosindell and Robert Jenrick as the third sitting Conservative MP to defect in less than two weeks , the former Home Secretary’s move was not entirely out of the blue, reflecting continued momentum for Reform UK as they remain Britain’s most popular political party,   polling at 29% following Braverman’s defection . Taken together with Reform UK hav ing welcomed 14 Conservative

Opposition parties have accused the government of denying democracy by postponing 30 council elections , as part of its local government reform program. The Labour government plans to abolish the system of two-tiered councils  in England, under which around one-third of the population of England lives. Currently, local government services in two-tiered council areas are provided by multiple layers of councils, a situation that wastes government money and creates bureaucracy.

Netflix's extensively touted documentary, The Investigation of Lucy Letby , finally aired last week. The feature promised to offer "unseen footage and unheard insider accounts" offering an unprecedented degree of insight into one of the most divisive and troubling cases of our times. Produced by ITN, working closely alongside Cheshire Constabulary, the documentary left me with an overwhelming sense of unease and a renewed belief that the status-quo, that would see a potenti

Morgan McSweeney's resignation as Chief of Staff is the single largest change to Starmer's operation since the Prime Minister became Labour leader. His departure is a wise decision, and it goes without saying that his support for Lord Mandelson was a severe and reprehensible mistake. Whether it was a preventable one will likely be clear soon—it is difficult to write about the Mandelson-related aspects of his resignation until the ISC publishes evidence. Ensuing analysis of hi

On January 22, 2025, Trump announced his new institution, the Board of Peace, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, signing its founding charter in front of global political elites. Trump claimed the board was established as a mechanism to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, with ambitions aimed toward peacekeeping. However, the American president has now stated that he intends for the board to reach far beyond this, becoming “one of the most consequential bodies ever created in the

By Adrian Khodavardar The recent, high – stakes extraction of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from Caracas by United States special forces has marked a decisive inflection point in contemporary geopolitics. Early commentary has been quick to frame the operation as a crude 'oil grab' or a revival of 20th century interventionism. Such readings, however, are analytically shallow. They mistake motive for material and overlook the strategic environment in which the op

On the 28 November 2024, the Australian government passed a bill that required a minimum age of 16 to create an account on certain social media platforms. Coming into effect on the 10 December 2025, the ban is the first of its kind and the subsequent events since the imposition of the law have been watched very closely by the rest of the world, with many countries seriously considering the idea of introducing similar legislation. Leader of the Conservative party, Kemi Badenoc

By Lucas Nahal In the last few weeks, the Islamic Republic regime has undergone its gravest challenge since the revolution of 1979. On December 28 2025, a small group of shopkeepers and merchants in Tehran went on strike to protest Iran’s worsening economic conditions. By the advent of the New Year, the demonstrations had spread to almost every major city, featuring a massive coalition of students, merchants and the previously dormant Iranian middle class. It is estimated tha

By Adrian Khodavardar When Donald Trump withdrew the United States from major international climate frameworks, most notably the Paris Climate Agreement, the decision was widely framed as symbolic: a temporary rupture in an otherwise irreversible global transition. That interpretation understates the damage. The US exit did not merely slow climate action; it reshaped how climate cooperation is perceived, contested, and legitimised across the international system. The United S