Role play any potential United States action against North Korea and you soon see the limited choice they face. So what should the US do? What role can China play? And what's best for New Zealand?
Read MoreOperation Burnham
We can honour both our soldiers and the Afghans, but only by finding out what really happened on that August night in 2010... though that may not require a full inquiry
Read MoreMasterstroke, manoeuvre or muddle: Bill English's super punt
Why grasp one of the third rails of politics just six months from an election? Well, three possible reasons come to mind...
Read MoreLet me count the ways; three potential governments in 2017
Come September 24, there are really only three likely scenarios as to who could form a government, and odds-on Winston Peters will face two difficult choices
Read MoreNational's 'right track' strategy for Election 2017
The rights and wrongs of National's election strategy will come down to three main points... and coalition partners
Read MoreCould New Zealand become Chile?
How should New Zealand see itself in world affairs, and does Chile provide a model for how we might do so?
Read MoreGoing nuclear over the TPP: Is trade the new divide?
Is the TPP the current equivalent of New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance? How did it become such a defining issue? And will its impact last?
Read MoreOn Britain & New Zealand's role in the western alliance
Britain is divided, and the British Labour Party even more so, over its role in leading Western nations. So does it offer lessons for New Zealand?
Read MoreSo now, where does NZ go?
A hundred years on from Gallipoli, and a few days after the massacre in in Paris, where does New Zealand stand in the western alliance and what is out role in the world's troubles?
Read MoreThe Ports of (outside) Auckland
Can candidates for the Auckland mayoralty next year find a way to move the Ports of Auckland? If so, where to and at what cost?
Read MoreThe TPP - there's a lot to like
The TPP may not deliver an immediate big bang for our dairy industry. But there's an awful lot to like in it - and New Zealand really has to be a part of it.
Read MoreTPP: The true cost of negotiations
The Trans-Pacific Partnership could yet be sealed in the next few weeks, and if it is we need to think hard about the cost of signing up... and the cost of staying out
Read MoreTaming the Auckland property market
The crazy Auckland property market needs reining in. Capital gains tax as a way of controlling house prices doesn't work overseas, but what about a land tax?
Read MoreThe alternatives to war: What if we did nothing?
Critics of the government are arguing New Zealand's role in Iraq is pointless... dangerous... or not our fight. But what does the alternative look like?
Read MoreGonna move on up to the waterfront
Auckland is again debating the future of its waterfront and port, but the truth is it doesn't all have to be decided now
Read MoreAfter Charlie Hebdo: What happens next?
We've seen how ordinary citizens around the world have responded to the Charlie Hedbo terrorism, but how will world leaders react? Is marching enough or is it time for troops?
Read MoreMr Mayor, tear down those rates
A revolt is in the air in Auckland, as ratepayers ask whether councillors are looking hard enough at the city budget and whether Len Brown needs his wings clipped
Read MoreWhere is the Middle?
Labour needs to work out whether they go for the "missing million" or the middle voters. And if they get it wrong they could be looking at another 6 years in opposition
Read MoreWhat economic resilience looks like
Unusually for small, advanced countries New Zealand remains heavily reliant on agricultural for its living. So is it time to take a bigger punt on technology?
Read MoreThe big kahunas - facing up to NZ's top economic challenges
Brian Easton's post this week raise questions about the serious and long-term issues facing not only this new government, but several to come. Can a consensus be achieved?
Read More