Writer
Binoy Kampmark
Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne.
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Platinum jubilees and republican questions
The platinum jubilee will bore and cause some to yawn. It might certainly agitate the republican spleen in the fourteen countries where Queen Elizabeth II remains a constitutional head of state. But the question remains: How does the institution this figure represents endure, if it should at all? Continue reading »
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Biden in Tokyo: Killing strategic ambiguity
Could it have been just another case of bumbling poor judgment, the mind softened as the mouth opened? A question was put to US President Joe Biden, visiting Tokyo and standing beside Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida: “You didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. Are you willing to Continue reading »
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Political appointments and downgrading the Australian Human Rights Commission
The international standards body on human rights has found that the Australian Human Rights Commission should be downgraded in its standing. Continue reading »
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The extradition of Julian Assange ‘to a country that conspired to murder him’
It was a dastardly formality. On April 20, at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, Julian Assange, beamed in via video link from Belmarsh Prison, his carceral home for three years, is to be extradited to the United States to face 18 charges, 17 based on the US Espionage Act of 1917. Continue reading »
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Stumbles and fictions: The Australian election campaign begins
That a figure like Scott Morrison comes across as competent, able and free of imbecility after a day of electioneering in Australia suggests a broader sickness in politics. Continue reading »
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AUKUS in the hypersonic missile wonderland
As this idiotic, servile venture proceeds, Australian territory, sites and facilities will become every more attractive for assault in the fulness of time. Continue reading »
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Homicidal drives: US dreams of killing Putin
The US imperium will dispose of leaders and prominent figures it does not like, even if it fails along the way. Continue reading »
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Wars do not merely make truth a casualty but kill off intellectual inquiry
The Australian National University officially announced the suspension of all ties and activities with Russian institutions on March 3. Continue reading »
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The Ukraine War and the ‘Good Refugee’
“These people are not people we are used to… these people are Europeans.” Kiril Petkov, Bulgarian Prime Minister, Associated Press, March 1, 2022 Continue reading »
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Advertising and election gimmicks: New submarines in the ‘I don’t think, I know’ era.
In an election year pledges are made to be broken; promises are made to seduce, not convince. When the subject matter involves fictional submarines, even greater care should be taken. Continue reading »
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Antarctica: Where China and Russia get the blame again!
A frozen continent. Another potential frontier for conflict and competition. Antarctica is a part of the world where real politician meets scientist; the desire for finding exploitable resources meets environmental expectations and fears. Continue reading »
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Australia’s doomed koalas
In a country expert in killing off mammal species at a rate exceeding that of others (to be fair, there are so many more to destroy, with more to come), Australians now face the prospect that the koala, one of its most singularly recognisable animals, has its days numbered. Continue reading »
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The US is seeking revenge for its failure in Afghanistan by starving the people
Nation states are habitually doomed to defeat their best interests. Conditions of mad instability are fostered. Arms sales take place, regimes get propped up or abandoned, and the people under them endure and suffer, awaiting the next criminal regime change. Continue reading »
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Blinken’s visit to the colony
It must be a sure handicap to be saddled with such a name when piloting a large government department, but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shows no sign of that bothering him. It has, however, become a hallmark of a policy babble that is markedly devoid of foresight and heavily marked by stammering confusion. Continue reading »
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Treadmarks on the taxpayer: Australia’s $3.5 billion tank folly
The last batch were kept in blissful quarantine, untouched by conflict. But better to feed the US military machine than act on global warming. Continue reading »
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Baa humbug: Australia’s trade triumph breeds a British backlash
Celebrations are likely to be short-lived. Australia overestimates the benefits of the agreement, while British farmers remain justifiably worried. Continue reading »
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Jailed Danish politician exemplifies growing anti-refugee populism
Denmark’s former immigration minister has been jailed for separating refugee couples — but her actions did not lack parliamentary approval. Continue reading »
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Beijing Winter Olympics boycott is a hollow gesture
A boycott of the Winter Olympics serves no real purpose — history shows that Olympic boycotts in the name of human rights abuses are ineffectual. Continue reading »
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Where there are tailings, no grass grows: Serbians protest against Rio Tinto
Australian mining giant Rio Tinto is at the centre of a new controversy — this time, over a lithium mine and processing plant in Serbia. Continue reading »
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Hawkish US Global Posture Review speaks obscurely and carries a big stick
The US’s national defence strategy calls for regional policing in the Indo-Pacific. The fixation is on China and the spotlight is on Australia. Continue reading »
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Australia’s twisted Taiwan foreign policy fetish
Australian politicians’ Taiwan fetish shows their bloodlust is unquenchable. It’s another iteration of the Cold War. Continue reading »
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Omicron emerged because rich countries neglected global public health
Omicron shows that without global vaccine equity, COVID-19 will continue to mutate and spread around the world. Continue reading »
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Gasbagging in Glasgow: COP26 and phasing down coal
After a succession of drafts, the climate pact trod a delicate path. There was greenwashing and subversion, triumphs and laments … and “lifestyle”. Continue reading »
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Lying in public view: Morrison takes his formula onto the campaign trail
The prime minister has an untruth for every occasion, from climate conferences to radio chats. It is symptomatic of the increasing role of lies in all politics. Continue reading »
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Blacklisting the Israeli spyware company
The US has blacklisted Israeli spyware company NSO, which is associated with the Saudi government’s murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Continue reading »
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Did PM mount a shoddy defence of his deception? We don’t think, we know
Scott Morrison turned an accurate character assessment from Macron into a sledge against Australia, but the stain on his reputation will remain. Continue reading »
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From zero to acceptable risk: funeral rites for Covid zero
The ambitious target of eradication has been eradicated. In its place, a small target strategy. Authorities are grappling with the new reality. Continue reading »
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After lockdown: can marvellous Melbourne ever be the same?
A sense of achievement is mixed with a sense of utter loss. Australia’s most liveable city has emerged proud and unbowed from its sixth lockdown, but signs of the damage are not hard to find. Continue reading »
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Colin Powell: Establishment warrior with a taste for regime change
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who died this week, was a man fully enrolled in the service of regime change and making the case for it. Continue reading »
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Waking up to the Coalition’s climate change dinosaurs
While the press debates whether the prime minister will go to COP26, members of his government are living in a world where they believe their constituents aren’t worried about climate change. Continue reading »
