Here’s a question: what do Cornwall, Scotland, Venice and Sardinia have in common? The answer: they all have vocal political movements calling for either independence from their nation states or at least…
Why has Anzac Day and the concept of ‘Anzac’ experienced such a resurgence in recent years, particularly among young people?
AAP
Thousands of young Australians will gather at Gallipoli this Anzac Day. Our TV screens will fill with faces in the cold light of early dawn, a tear trickling down the cheek in sadness that so many died…
The Kiwis are going to vote on a change of flag. What does the Australian flag mean these days?
Matthew Kenwrick
Do flags matter? Well, if the news from New Zealand is any guide, they do. Holding a referendum or two to change the flag, as proposed by that country’s parliament, will not be cheap. Assuming our friends…
Kashmiris protest against the arrest of 67 students for supporting Pakistan at cricket.
Farooq Khan/EPA
Sumantra Bose, London School of Economics and Political Science
The seven million people living in the Kashmir Valley have a distinctive regional identity. Now the Valley’s continuing estrangement from the rest of India has sparked a peculiar incident on the campus…
Ukrainian far-right protesters commemorate the creation of the Ukrainian division of the SS in Lviv in 2011.
EPA/Markiian Lyseiko
Following days of protest and the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s new interim government was announced on 26 February 2014. This is not an ordinary government. Politicians linked to the…
A tense evening in Donetsk. Around 1,000 pro-Russian supporters gathered in front of the building which houses both the regional state administration and the regional council late on Wednesday afternoon…
The progressive side of politics in Australia needs to embrace the nation and nationalism in order to achieve lasting change.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Australian flag boxer shorts and bikinis, an annual political stoush about who was named Australian of the Year (and who was overlooked) and a binge-drinking holiday to mark the destruction of one of the…
The Barmy Army, England’s loud travelling band of cricket supporters, may add colour to the Ashes series, but are they just rehearsing colonial stereotypes of Australia?
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
When Australian prime minister Julia Gillard was summarily dispatched in June by her parliamentary team, the British media were bemused. Hadn’t Australia weathered the global financial crisis with aplomb…
Don’t we want to be interesting, relevant, useful, independent and well-informed?
Gary Hayes
WHAT IS AUSTRALIA FOR? Australia is no longer small, remote or isolated. It’s time to ask What Is Australia For?, and to acknowledge the wealth of resources we have beyond mining. Over the next two weeks…
How and why has Australia Day become so important?
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Some 224 years ago on January 26, the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove. Just 1500 people disembarked with nearly 800 of them convicts. The date saw the beginning of the British penal colony, then known…