The case against voluntourism

The case against voluntourism Recorded at a Bristol Hub event at University of Bristol on 2 March 2017, this brief talk outlines in 13 minutes the reasons why I do not believe in voluntourism and why I also distinguish this from volunteering. In short, I believe that voluntourism is exploitative of everyone involved in the process -…

A day at Bastøy, the open prison island

This article was written on 12 October 2015 and has been republished now. The Prison Governor cleared this article for publishing and distribution. It is a cold, grey day in Norway, and the date is 9 October 2015. It's Friday. And I'm going to Bastøy Prison: a completely open prison island (insofar as an island…

Bargaining for Survival: The Rationale Behind North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Programme

This article is adapted from a presentation delivered to Café Politique at Ustinov College, Durham University, on 21 February 2013. Introduction This article addresses some fundamental questions about North Korea's foreign policy decision-making, unpacking the current situation on the Korean Peninsula.  It explains how the state's development of its nuclear weapons programme can actually be seen as a…