Writer
Mark Beeson
Mark Beeson is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney and Griffith University. His latest book is <em>Environmental Anarchy? International Relations Theory and Practice in the Anthropocene</em>, (Bristol University Press: 2021) He has also written <em>Environmental Populism: The Politics of Survival; in the Anthropocene Palgrave 2019</em>
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Can Australia and Indonesia provide leadership on climate change?
Almost certainly not, but someone really ought to try while it’s still possible. Continue reading »
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Environmental breakdown: We have been warned
Sometimes a single event can throw global problems into sharp relief. The recent flood in Spain is one such phenomenon. If past experience is anything to go by, however, the implications of this catastrophic ‘weather event’ are likely to be studiously ignored by those in a position to do something about them. Continue reading »
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History cannot excuse the crimes of the present
One of Mark Twain’s more celebrated aphorisms is that ‘history never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme’. Witty, no doubt, but it doesn’t seem quite adequate to Israel’s genocidal destruction of Gaza, its longstanding, settler-led expansion into the West Bank, or the implausible use of history to justify current policy. Continue reading »
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Taking one for the team
Nations still send young people to die in pointless and avoidable wars, actions that are generally seen as noble sacrifices. By contrast, old people contemplating cutting their lives slightly shorter in the cause of international and inter-generational justice are regarded as needing counseling. Continue reading »
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There are alternatives to Anglo-American capitalism, however unlikely they may sound
Readers of P&I understandably want to hear about possible solutions to the ‘polycrisis’ that defines our era. There are some plausible possibilities, it’s just difficult to imagine them ever being implemented, not least because of our continuing faith in market forces to solve the world’s problems. Continue reading »
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Capitalism with American characteristics
In many ways the American capitalist economy has been a remarkable success story. But is it any longer compatible with environmental or social stability. Should countries like Australia be so closely connected to it? Continue reading »
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Is peaceful cooperation a hopeless pipe dream?
According to Matt Pottinger, ‘a China expert and deputy national security adviser in the Trump White House…anyone who has entertained the idea of stable ties with Beijing is really smoking dope.’ If that’s what it takes, it might be time to light up. Continue reading »
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Spaceship Earth is experiencing turbulence
Spaceship Earth remains a compelling metaphor for our collective reality. Unfortunately,
our ship looks as if it may have been made by an inter-galactic branch of Boeing. Continue reading » -
Donald Trump and God: not a match made in Heaven
One of the more noteworthy features of the recent Republican National Convention was the reverential reception of Donald Trump. Even before Trump’s brush with death, eighty per cent of evangelical Christians supported him. What does this say about their beliefs and motives? Continue reading »
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Security: when even the good give up
‘Realist’ strategic thinking has got us where we are today. Unfortunately, even the brightest and best are succumbing to its hopeless and destructive logic. Continue reading »
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AUKUS enthusiasts are still preparing for the wrong war
Even some of the more thoughtful justifications of AUKUS are ultimately implausible as they ignore real and immediate threats while inflating the significance of improbable dangers Australia can do little to address. Continue reading »
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Can China save the world?
As the climate crisis accelerates and intensifies, it’s easy to despair about the possibility of any country taking the lead in ‘saving the planet’. And yet Xi Jinping at least says encouraging things. Should we take China seriously? Continue reading »
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It’s a pity Bernie Sanders isn’t the president
A few years ago, I gave a talk at the annual conference of the Australian Institute for International Affairs. Afterwards, one of the local luminaries observed that it sounded like I was channelling Bernie Sanders. It was not meant as a compliment. On the contrary, both of us were clearly regarded as unrealistic and naïve, Continue reading »
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Asia, America or independence: Australians have decided, will politicians listen?
A recent poll conducted by The Guardian found that nearly twice as many people agreed with Paul Keating’s suggestion that Australia should be an independent ‘middle power’ in Asia, rather than an ally of the United States. Perhaps the electorate are smarter than some of our political class seem to think. Continue reading »
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Is ASIO’s paranoia hypocritical?
Some of my best friends are Chinese. This is entirely unsurprising given my frequent visits to the PRC, the Chinese students I have supervised and the colleagues I have collaborated with over the years. I used to think such relationships were unambiguously a good thing and the possible basis for a better understanding between our Continue reading »
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West Australia and the art of state capture
The idea of state capture is usually associated with the global south, but Australia, and Western Australia in particular, demonstrates that established democracies are far from immune. As the Australian Democracy Network explains, ‘a key element of state capture is the management of political parties both in government and opposition…a range of techniques are brought Continue reading »
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The new Dark Age
Sometimes one event encapsulates the zeitgeist. Alexei Navalny’s death from what are almost certainly unnatural causes is one such moment. One of the most heroic figures of our time appears to have been eliminated by one of the most despicable and loathsome. The only thing that is really surprising given Vladimir Putin’s track record is Continue reading »
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Plutocrats and political elites: The way we do things in the West
Western Australia is famously a long way from everywhere. Given our isolation, it’s not surprising that politics can be a bit parochial. While this may have been forgivable in another era, at this current historical juncture it’s becoming rather embarrassing. Continue reading »
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Saving the world, one suburb at a time
Privileged people trying to save the world shouldn’t be dismissed as bourgeois virtue signalling. There are worse things to signal and it could make a difference. Continue reading »
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Losing my religion
Theology has long been used to justify war. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it’s happening again in the Middle East. Continue reading »
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The razing of the Warsaw Ghetto: Are our leaders incapable of learning from history?
If we are looking for historical parallels to the current destruction in Palestine, then the razing of the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazis is unfortunately one that comes readily to mind. While we would all agree that this was appalling, inhuman and unfathomable, is blowing women and children to pieces in Gaza any less so? Continue reading »
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Australia and the US: Breaking up is hard to do
I don’t think it’s too controversial or anti-American to suggest that our long-term strategic partner has been having a few issues lately. We may have grown used to people in the US shooting each other in large numbers, taking too many drugs, and generally over-indulging in self-destructive and planet destroying ways, but we still expected Continue reading »
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As good as it ever got? Hurtling towards the environmental abyss
As we collectively hurtle toward the environmental abyss, it’s worth asking whether we have definitively passed the highwater mark of human development. If so, should baby boomers be wracked with guilt about their entirely underserved good fortune and failure to avert the imminent crisis? The answer to both questions is probably yes. Continue reading »
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Inside the AUKUS bubble
UWA Defence and Security Institute’s Masterclass Series AUKUS: Pillar 1 provided an illuminating insight into what some of our brightest and best think about national security and how to achieve it. The net effect was profoundly depressing and unsettling. Continue reading »
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Australian foreign policy is traditionally hitched to the US – but the rise of China requires a middle path for a middle power
Few nation-states have been shaped by their underlying physical geography and location in the world quite as much as Australia. Continue reading »
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AUKUS: Paul Monk praises elitism, derides Australia’s vibrant civil society
In an opinion piece published in The Weekend Australian (10 June 2023), Paul Monk offers his response to critics of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine agreement. A central focus of his critique is this open letter signed by more than 100 academics. As two of the principal co-authors of the letter, we requested a right of Continue reading »
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All’s not quiet on the home front
Labor’s ability to seamlessly follow in the Coalition’s strategic footsteps is showing welcome signs of weakening as opponents of AUKUS and the submarine deal find their voice. Continue reading »
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An open letter to Mark McGowan
WA premier Mark McGowan was rightly popular and admired as a consequence of his leadership, especially during the Covid crisis. Now he has a real opportunity to make an even more important contribution beyond state borders. Continue reading »
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Harbinger: US allies low priorities amidst America’s poisonous politics
Joe Biden isn’t coming to Australia. The good news is he hasn’t had a senior moment and forgotten all about an appointment with another interchangeable ‘fella down under’. The bad news is that the United States’ increasingly poisonous domestic politics and crises take priority over everything else, including the long-term security of the Indo-Pacific. Continue reading »
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Australia’s special responsibilities
Do some states have ‘special responsibilities’ or obligations to help solve collective action problems as a consequence of their position in the international system? Australia should. Continue reading »
