David Loyn

London

Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show, Played in a box whose candle is the sun, Round which we phantom figures come and go

Articles

Can India and Pakistan de-escalate?

1 month ago | spectator.com.au | David Loyn

Once again Pakistan’s strategy of asymmetric warfare against its larger South Asian neighbour has plunged the region to the brink of a wider war. Long-term Pakistani support of anti-India militant groups – in particular Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) – continually destabilises the region.
Can India and Pakistan de-escalate?

1 month ago | spectator.co.uk | David Loyn

Once again Pakistan’s strategy of asymmetric warfare against its larger South Asian neighbour has plunged the region to the brink of a wider war. Long-term Pakistani support of anti-India militant groups – in particular Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) – continually destabilises the region.
New York mayor Eric Adams indicted on federal charges

Sep 26, 2024 | thespectator.com | popularBy Gavin Mortimer |Gavin Mortimer |Caleb Quinley |David Loyn

Talk about making history: New York City mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a federal grand jury, the first sitting NYC mayor to face a federal charge while in post. Adams, who has served as mayor for three years, has been the subject of a federal investigation into whether his campaign was on the receiving end of illegal foreign donations from the Turkish government.
The Myanmar junta’s vicious campaign of terror

Sep 22, 2024 | thespectator.com | Caleb Quinley |Jonathan Miller |Christopher Harding |David Loyn

It was about 9:15 p.m. on September 5 when the roaring sound of a warplane began to hum across the hills. Tucked away in a valley in Pekon Township in Myanmar, on the border with Karenni and Shan states, a community of some thousand people were about to go to sleep. Illuminated only by small solar-powered lights and campfires, mothers and fathers were putting their children to bed. But the junta jet fighter didn’t need light.
Trump honors fallen soldiers of Abbey Gate

Aug 26, 2024 | thespectator.com | Alexander Larman |David Loyn |Douglas Murray |Charles Lipson

Former president Donald Trump made a surprise appearance at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to lay a wreath and pay his respects to the thirteen American service members who were killed during a suicide bombing amid the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. It is the third anniversary of the Abbey Gate attack, which was a tragic source of national embarrassment as America left the twenty-year long war and has been a continuous political thorn in the side of President Joe Biden.
The peril of ignoring the Taliban

Aug 26, 2024 | thespectator.com | David Loyn |Klaus Dodds |Middle EastWhy Iran |Jonathan Spyer

The Taliban have always had a strange misogynist world view, weirdly preoccupied by sex. The first time they were in power in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the governor of the western province Herat banned women from walking or talking in the street outside his office, in case he was distracted by footsteps “or hearing the sound of their laughter.” The Taliban attempted to control every aspect of life.
Ignoring the Taliban won’t end their reign of terror

Aug 25, 2024 | spectator.com.au | David Loyn

The Taliban have always had a strange misogynist world view, weirdly preoccupied by sex. The first time they were in power in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the governor of the western province Herat banned women from walking or talking in the street outside his office, in case he was distracted by footsteps ‘or hearing the sound of their laughter’.
Ignoring the Taliban won't end their reign of terror

Aug 25, 2024 | spectator.co.uk | David Loyn

Text size Line Spacing Comments Share Share David Loyn Ignoring the Taliban won’t end their reign of terror Linkedin Messenger Email The Taliban have always had a strange misogynist world view, weirdly preoccupied by sex. The first time they were in power in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the governor of the western province Herat banned women from walking or talking in the street outside his office, in case he was distracted by footsteps ‘or hearing the sound of their laughter’. The Taliban...
Creation Lake is one of the best books of the year

Aug 19, 2024 | thespectator.com | Philip Womack |David Loyn |Klaus Dodds |Middle EastWhy Iran

Rachel Kushner’s ambitious, intelligent and gripping latest novel, Creation Lake, concerns the eternal human capacity for delusion, while wondering whether utopian ideals can ever be realized without serious compromise. And it manages all this within the form of an expertly slick thriller, set against the backdrop of contemporary rural France, its history, politics and class system, all carefully woven in alongside an account of the rise and fall of the Neanderthals.
Giles Milton retells the story of the Grand Alliance as a cinematic thriller

Aug 19, 2024 | thespectator.com | Mark Piesing |Alexander Larman |David Loyn |Anne De Courcy

On June 22, 1941, the German army invaded the Soviet Union. Over the next four months, the Wehrmacht blasted through the Soviet defenses, taking millions prisoner and destroying thousands of tanks. By early December, German scouts were purportedly within site of the Kremlin. Even though the Wehrmacht was forced back from the gates of Moscow by the Red Army, the renewed German offensive in spring 1942 threatened to deliver the coup de grâce to the Soviet Union.