Many are decrying the film as merely conservative propaganda. But American Sniper – as with many of Eastwood’s films – has a more nuanced approach that addresses modern anxieties.
I grew up in London during the IRA bombing campaign of the 1970s. I lived in Pittsburgh during the 9/11 attacks when United Flight 93 was forced down not far from the city. I’m currently in Paris where…
People in Sydney and the broader community are feeling shocked, anxious, and sad about the actions of a lone, unstable person that led to the tragic loss of lives in the siege early this week. But there’s…
After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the US made a point of diversifying its sources of oil to reduce dependence on the Middle East. It was a strategic move which promised a huge boost to West African…
The release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes in the middle of a slate of super heroic movies including Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: Winter Solider, and the second in a series of X-Men prequels…
The day will come when 11 September is just another date on the calendar. But that time is still some way off. Eleven years after the horrible spectacle of the World Trade Center towers being struck by…
More than ten years ago, the Australian public and policymakers overreacted to 9/11 and created a set of laws that went beyond what was needed to protect us against terrorism. With the recent release of…
In an era of evolving threats, judgment calls will continue to rely on the provision of accurate, timely intelligence. But this intelligence does not come cheap. In order to be well-prepared and well-organised…
This past weekend, whole sections of the United States community felt something like a duty or desire to attend sites linked with the events of 11 September 2001. The public memory ceremonies at these…
Apart from sensitizing us to terrorism and altering how we travel on planes, 9/11 had a marked impact on how psychologists and psychiatrists respond to disasters. The change has been for the better. In…
The terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 catapulted the world into another stage of history: the struggle between communism and capitalism, and references to the “end of history…
“We are fortunate to be alive at this moment in history. Never before has our nation enjoyed, at once, so much prosperity and social progress with so little internal crisis and so few external threats…
Ten years ago today, on September 11th 2001, al-Qaida terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. Passengers on a fourth jet overpowered hijackers, bringing…
Ten years ago, nineteen young Muslims commandeered passenger jets and killed themselves, taking with them 2973 people to the inferno of fire. Since the 9/11 attacks, suicide bombings have become a staple…
It’s about that moment; if you’re old enough it’s the indelible memory of JFK being shot. As a teenager I was listening to the car radio when I heard. For Gen X it’s 9/11, the midnight phonecalls, the…
The western liberal’s capacity for self-flagellation is seemingly endless. There is no enemy that the liberal west did not create. There is no inhumanity that the west did not begin. There is no crime…
In the extensive debate about the killing of Osama bin Laden there has been very little discussion of the legal (and possibly moral) aspects of the US operation. This is especially true in the United States…
The US military’s assassination of Osama bin Laden in North Pakistan is an important landmark in the “war on terror”. As the leader of al Qaeda he was the primary target of the military campaign to defeat…