ON LIBERTY returns!

My weekly livestream for the Centre for Independent Studies resumes this week

Hi Everyone!

I’m pleased to announce that my latest book — Australia’s Universities: Can They Reform? — has gotten a lot of coverage (see the website), and I’ve recently recorded two podcast interviews about the book. They should come out shortly; I’ll provide links in the next newsletter. Thanks to everyone who’s read the book, and hold tight: we’re planning a book launch for March. I’ll get the news out as soon as I have it myself.

In the meantime, I’m thrilled to announce that my weekly livestream series for the Centre for Independent Studies, ON LIBERTY, will return this week when I interview Stephen Loosley AM:

• Culture and the New Cold Wars

Just click the link and join the discussion live on YouTube at 12:30 pm Wednesday Sydney/Melbourne time. We’ll be talking Russia, China — and the movies. Please do join us, and contribute your own questions and comments. We have an all-new technical setup, and a fantastic guest. It’ll be a lot of fun.

In other news … I’ve been writing quite a bit about Poland, Ukraine, and role of eastern Europe in global affairs. I authored a policy paper on the role of the app economy in regional development for the Three Seas Initiative, which they have kindly published in both English and Polish:

• Digital Development and the 3SI: How the European Union’s Less-Developed East Can Leverage Online Value Chains into Long-Term Economic Growth

• Rozwój cyfrowy i 3SI: jak mniej rozwinięty Wschód Unii Europejskiej może wykorzystać Internetowe łańcuchy wartości do długoterminowego wzrostu gospodarczego

and an op-ed for The Australian highlighting the important role played by Polish civil society organizations in promoting a capable and secure Ukraine:

• Path to Ukrainian resilience lies through Poland

Always willing to play both sides of any conflict, I’ve also written an article for Russia’s Valdai Discussion Club about the new AUKUS alliance, which they have generously made available in both English and Russian:

• Understanding the ‘Forever’ Alliance: What AUKUS Means for Australia and the World

• «Альянс навсегда»: значение AUKUS для Австралии и мира

And finally (and most importantly!), I have two new pieces in Quadrant Online. The first is a hilarious (if I do say so myself) commentary on the administration of California governor Gavin Newsom, the second a more serious article about the importance of Indian politics in a multicultural Australia:

• ‘Organised Groups of Folks’ Terrorise Los Angeles

• The Year’s Most Important Election is in Punjab

I also write the monthly Philistine column for Quadrant magazine, and although you can usually find old Philistines reproduced on the website, they’re really much better on paper. If you live in Australia and you’ve never read Quadrant magazine (or if you haven’t read it in a while), I strongly recommend you pick up a copy on the newsstand. You might be surprised at what you’ve been missing. Of course, you can also subscribe online for home delivery:

• Subscribe to Quadrant

I hope you’ll consider it. And finally finally, I’m still working on my “liberal authoritarianism” book, which now has the working title:

• Liberal Authoritarianism in Practice: Inside the American Political Establishment's War on Democracy

Preparing classes for 2022 (my paid job) has forced me to take a break from vlogging my progress on the book, but I hope to get back to it soon.

Thanks for reading, and keep in touch —

Salvatore