Steve Hynd

Editor of The Agonist political blog. Scottish expat with an Honours degree in Philosophy from the University of Stirling (1986). Background at Lloyd's of London; writes on US foreign policy's global impact.

Obama and His Job Conundrum

Credit: blog.chron.com There was a bit of a fly in the ointment for the birthday bash for Obama in Chicago on Saturday, as any of his advisors who

By Steve Hynd

August 8, 2012

Rebuilding Afghanistan and Doing It Wrong

Credit: map.google.com The New York Times has a report on a suppressed 800-page human rights report concerning Afghanistan's civil war in the 90s, which reveals

By Steve Hynd

July 23, 2012

Africa Unrest Grows as US Establishes Multiple Airbases

The entire North of the continent of Africa seems to be melting down right now, with the underlying causes being drought, famine and competition to exploit natural resources. There are

By Steve Hynd

July 13, 2012

I'm Jealous Of Independence Day

As a Scotsman living in the U.S. I get the same question, often in tones of anticipatory schadenfraude, every Fourth of July, "How do you feel watching us

By Steve Hynd

July 5, 2012

White House Drone Death Estimates Face Scrutiny

Journalists are taking a look at the various Obama administration assertions about the number of civilians killed by US drone attacks in Pakistan and are concluding they are "contradictory

By Steve Hynd

June 22, 2012

A Study in Bravery: Coming Out As Undocumented Immigrants

This is not a rhetorical question: would you have the guts to appear on the cover of Time magazine if you were an undocumented immigrant? Honestly, I don't

By Steve Hynd

June 16, 2012

The U.S. Has A Lot Of Shale Oil, So What?

Quite a few conservative commentators are making waves about a Government Accountability Office statement (PDF) which says that 1.5 trillion barrels of shale oil in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming

By Steve Hynd

May 16, 2012