John Menadue
Publisher and Editor
Callum Foote
Associate Editor
Subscribe to our newsletter
Author Archives: Mike Scrafton
Is Trump’s 1776 Commission report an extremist manifesto?
The 1776 Commission Report released on 18 January 2021 is a time bomb of extremist propaganda; a source document for the arguments and recruitment of white nationalists and white supremacists, and for the apologists of radical libertarianism.
Posted in Politics
2 Comments
What should Australia want from a Biden National Security Strategy? Avoiding war in Asia
Australia should hope for a major shift away from President Trump’s strategy but not an uncritical return to President Obama’s 2015 version. For a start a new NSS should reposition the US as a less crusading nation, one more accepting of … Continue reading
Posted in Defence and Security, Politics
37 Comments
Preparing for a 3°C warmer future: the ideological shift and institutional response Australia will need.
Three things are obvious. The collective emission reduction efforts of nations will not avoid 3oC global warming by the century’s end. Therefore, national adaptation actions will need prepare for the worse than expected scale and impact from the effects of … Continue reading
Posted in Climate, Top 5
6 Comments
The deceit of deterrence; a bankrupt strategic justification for defence expenditure
Although references to deterrence are regularly trotted out to justify defence acquisition decisions and alliance policy, the place of the idea of deterrence in Australia’s strategic policy is opaque and poorly understood. That the effectiveness of a deterrence strategy is … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
7 Comments
China-Australia relations:it’s not as simple as ABC
There are many commentators with strong and legitimate concerns about China. The relationship between Australia and China is a very important one and it warrants open and vigorous debate
Posted in China, Politics
4 Comments
ASPI resorts to bullying to deter strategic debate on China
Peter Jennings, Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), has launched an ad hominem attack belittling those who take a contrary approach to Australia-China relations rather than advocating for war preparations. But it is his poor grasp of … Continue reading
Posted in Defence and Security, Politics
28 Comments
ASPI’s guide to submarines leaves the biggest strategic questions unanswered
The interested reader would see much of this report as a public relations exercise, talking down to the public, and attempting to divert questions away from the burning one. Is this submarine intended primarily as a contribution by Australia to … Continue reading
Exaggerated threats and contrived military strategies: a response to Jon Stanford
For all the discussion of China’s aggression, it is the US and its allies that have been constantly at war for two decades.
Posted in Defence and Security
15 Comments
No power in the Lowy Asia Power Index 2020
The Lowy Asia Power Index 2020 reveals a misunderstanding of the concept of power, and some underlying subjectivity and biases, undermines its usefulness. This is illustrated in the measures used concerning technology, military power, and the impact of the pandemic….This enterprise … Continue reading
Posted in Defence and Security, Politics
2 Comments
IMF on global warming: impractical, naive and important
The response to global warming has to be at the same time political, science-based, and economically informed. Reading the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2020 World economic outlook: a long and difficult ascent, is instructive on this point.
The strategic aspect of human rights: a tool of hegemony
With America’s fading hegemony, new regional powers with regional hegemonic aspirations are displaying their ideas about human rights; ideas based on their particular historical, cultural, political, and religious experiences.
Posted in Human Rights
7 Comments
The US role in the world: a new normal
President Trump has pursued a different vision of the US’s role in the world. This has had an undeniable impact on the US’s relations with allies and competitors alike, and has reshaped the general perception of the US as a … Continue reading
Posted in World Affairs
3 Comments
The bathtub is nearly full: Australia’s extraordinary energy plan
The Coalition government’s energy plan ensures the emissions tap will continue to flow. While economic recovery following the pandemic is an important objective, to ignore the consequences of persisting with fossil fuels is incomprehensible.
Will Trump’s rejection of history divide America?
The 1776 Commission proposed by President Trump to counter the New York Times’ 1619 Project and other “narratives about America being pushed by the far left”, is not the equivalent of Australia’s conservative versus liberal history wars. It is about … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
9 Comments
Scientists and capitalists agree on climate. When will governments act?
Time again for Australia’s political leaders to ignore the regular cycle of reports that highlight the failure to deal with the coming climate disaster. The pandemic might provide a “look over there” opportunity to distract citizens, but the recent climate … Continue reading
The UN at 75: a real declaration of intent, or multilateral virtue signalling?
An atmosphere of unreality is building in advance of the virtual meeting of world leaders to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations (UN). Nothing demonstrates this more than the proposed draft declaration. Rather than reaffirming the UN’s centrality, … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, World Affairs
2 Comments
The strategic mirror: the Pentagon’s China report reveals converging power and strategy
From Australia’s perspective, the Pentagon’s 2020 Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China Report is valuable for two reasons. It reinforces the absurdity of Australia planning to participate in high-intensity conflict against China under any circumstances. Additionally, … Continue reading
Australia’s policies towards China have little support in the region.
The Southeast Asian states see themselves as being in a region where China and Japan have the most influence, and where the US’s influence is declining. The foundations of Australia’s strategic logic are very shaky.
Posted in Asia
Leave a comment
A bigger canvas: Russia, China and Australia’s strategic policy
In an article in The Conversation, Professor Alexey Muraviev has pointed out that Australia has failed to factor into its strategic calculations the relationship between China and Russia. While Russia poses no credible direct threat to Australia, it could be … Continue reading
Posted in Defence and Security
Leave a comment
The current signs are ominous, and Australia is possibly stumbling blindly towards war.
Today’s risks and the history of war: recognising the unknowable. The point of no return is mostly only evident in hindsight, and nations occasionally find themselves unexpectedly teetering on the edge of conflict.
Posted in Defence and Security
Leave a comment
Cancel culture, Nick Cave and the Harper’s Letter: a moan from the Ivory Tower or call to the liberal battlements?
Nick Cave has revived the issues raised in the Letter on Justice and Open Debate published on 7 July 2020 and signed by 150 noted authors, academics, and public intellectuals. Issues that cut straight to a key fault line in … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Leave a comment
Australian strategic policy: why we need a robust public debate
Australia’s writings on the history of strategic policy and military history are abundant and of a high quality. However, this knowledge is not reflected in the public debate on issues pertaining to Australia’s strategic policy choices.
Posted in Defence and Security, Politics
Leave a comment
AUSMIN 2020: confirmation of Australia’s abandonment of strategic autonomy?
Australians should not be quite as comforted by the government’s recent statements around Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) as some have indicated. Reassuring word s are the slippery province of diplomacy. Strategic policy is founded in force structure and force posture.
Posted in Politics
Leave a comment
Confronting global warming: do democracies have the expertise?
Global warming, ecological collapse, biodiversity loss, and social injustice are complex, technical challenges. Understanding them and their relationship to each other requires high levels of expertise, and solutions will demand political leadership. Confidence that democracies can meet these challenges isn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Climate, Politics
Leave a comment
The Rationale for the 2020 Force Structure Plan: A 2040 War with China?
There is a mismatch between the urgent need to respond to the supposed recent deterioration in Australia’s strategic circumstances and the 2020 Force Structure Plan (FSP).
Posted in Defence and Security, Politics
Leave a comment
The 2020 Defence Strategic Update: Finding coexistence with China
There is little to quarrel with in Hugh White’s assessment of the uncertainties in East Asia. His counsel to the government on the way forward for strategic policy, on the other hand, is less satisfactory.
Posted in Defence and Security, Politics
Leave a comment
Race is not real: It’s time to stop acting as though it is.
For something that doesn’t exist race exerts a pernicious and persistent influence on society. Rational arguments and protests won’t exorcise the racial ghost and the struggle against its worst manifestations will be endless.
Posted in Human Rights
Leave a comment
The Australia-India Strategic Partnership: ‘Shared values’ mask the real strategic purpose
The phrase ‘shared values’ is regularly used as the basis for international relationships and alliances, and the lack of the same ‘shared values’ as the reason for adversarial relationships or friction. It is a mantra that is much over-used, and … Continue reading
Posted in World Affairs
5 Comments
Sovereignty and Self-determination: The wider implications of Israel and the West Bank
‘The great thing about sovereignty is we always respect the sovereignty of other nations and we simply expect the same in return’, said Australian Prime Minister Morrison on 14 May 2020. However, there is nothing simple about sovereignty and it … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
4 Comments
MIKE SCRAFTON. The Deep State conspiracy theory
When, without apparent reason, good things disappear or bad things appear it cannot be random. That’s when conspiracy theories flourish. The US presidential election campaign is haunted by one. Is Trump laying the groundwork for The Great Presidential Robbery?
Posted in Politics
6 Comments