Writer
Ramesh Thakur
Ramesh Thakur is emeritus professor, Australian National University and a former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General.
-
RAMESH THAKUR. Incorrigible Optimist by Gareth Evans, a Political Memoir – A review-Part 1of 2
Gareth Evans’ memoir makes clear his vision of good international citizenship would have foreign ministers pursuing national self-interest within the ennobling vision of global moral purposes. Continue reading »
-
RAMESH THAKUR. Australia’s engagement with Asia should start at home with engagement with Asian-Australians.
Do we want to defend ourselves from Asia-sourced threats, be smarter in doing business with Asia, or be part of Asia? The Coalition seems to be pursuing the first, Labor is promising the second, but neither seems interested in the third. Continue reading »
-
PAUL MEYER and RAMESH THAKUR. Canada’s nuclear diplomacy is make-believe
The late U.S. senator and one-time ambassador to the United Nations, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, famously rebuked a political opponent: “You are entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts.” Continue reading »
-
RAMESH THAKUR. APLN Group Statement on Nuclear Threats
On Tuesday 26 September 2017, 55 Asia–Pacific political, diplomatic, military and civil society leadership figures, who are members of the Asia–Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (APLN), signed a statement urging that nuclear crises are best resolved diplomatically, not militarily; and that internationally negotiated deals to resolve nuclear crises should be respected by Continue reading »
-
RAMESH THAKUR. Mr President, the United Nations is not a New York sub-office of the State Department
On Tuesday, Hurricane Trump made landfall at UN Headquarters in Turtle Bay. What had been feared as a category 5 storm had weakened to category 3 – which can still cause considerable destruction. Trump invoked Biblical language in justification for the harsh rhetoric against the ‘scourge of our planet’ today: ‘If the righteous many do Continue reading »
-
RAMESH THAKUR. North Korea’s nuclear progress isn’t the only bad news
North Korea’s rapid advances are a game-changer, but the quality of strategic analysis and decision-making in Washington is highly suspect. This portends troubling times ahead. Continue reading »
-
RAMESH THAKUR. In the ‘Graveyard of Empires’, the US Military Presence Is on Life Support
As a private citizen, Donald Trump advocated for full US withdrawal. As president, he has chosen to perpetuate, prolong and expand the war, at further cost to US treasure and lives. Continue reading »
-
RAMESH THAKUR. India and China provide rare glimmer of hope
A confrontation in the Himalayas could have turned violent, but mature diplomacy won the day. Continue reading »
-
RAMESH THAKUR. Debating the Burqa
Brandis was wrong to harangue Hanson. A debate on banning the burqa in Australia is required and should address three questions: its origins in religious edicts and cultural practices; the current practice in Western liberal democracies; and the practice in Islamic countries. Continue reading »
-
RAMESH THAKUR. All the way with Donald J? No way Jose
Has the quality of Australia’s decision making on issues of life and death for the country and its people – not to mention Planet Earth – truly become reform proof? Going by the lack of any serious process before lining up dutifully behind the most strategically challenged president in American history and the most irresponsible Continue reading »
-
From the Nuclear Non-proliferation to the UN Prohibition Treaty
There are currently no negotiations or discussions on arms control being conducted at all between any of the countries that possess nuclear weapons (China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, UK, USA) Continue reading »
-
It’s high noon on the roof of the world
The territorial standoff in the Himalayas is a lose-lose proposition for both India and China. Continue reading »
-
The parliamentary eligibility law is an ass – but it is the law.
Australia’s restrictive eligibility criterion for entering Parliament is out of touch with modern reality but, as long as it is the law of the land, it has to be enforced and be seen to be impartially enforced. Continue reading »
-
Japan on the wrong side of nuclear weapons ban treaty
Many nations that previously championed their nuclear disarmament credentials have now been outed as part of the problem Continue reading »
-
Modi’s actions fail to live up to his words
Three years on, it’s hard for even the most ardent Indophile to remain optimistic about the nation’s future. Continue reading »
-
Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump: The godfathers of the UN treaty to ban the bomb
With a protector-in-chief like Donald Trump, who needs enemies like Kim Jong-un? Clearly, history does irony: the president with the least previous foreign policy interest and experience could end up having the biggest impact on global affairs in a century. Continue reading »
-
I told you so: realists need to get real on nuclear policy choices
The DPRK is developing a nuclearised ICBM capability as fast as it possibly can because it fears a US attack and forcible regime change. And the dear leader fears the same fate as Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. So the US threatens him even more as the answer to make Kim Jong Un desist from Continue reading »
-
How a regional nuclear-free-weapon zone can benefit Japan
More the half the word’s countries are parties to nuclear weapon-free zone treaties. A regional Northeast Asian nuclear weapon-free zone would quarantine the region from the real risks of nuclear war. It would delink regional tensions, disputes and conflicts from the geopolitical equations between the nuclear powers, and would aim to prevent any cross-contamination of Continue reading »
-
Moral hazard in modern democratic politics
While all Western democracies accept the need for social safety nets, conservative governments point to moral hazard to justify less generous public provisions, while progressive parties prioritize more assistance to the needy over additional minor inconvenience to the better off Continue reading »
-
Nuclear-free New Zealand turns 30
The 1987 nuclear-free act was a milestone in New Zealand’s development as a nation. Continue reading »
-
Strong anti-nuclear weapons advocacy by Asia-Pacific leaders.
Nuclear weapons pose an existential threat to humanity and indeed to all forms of life on planet Earth. Serious threats persist from the use or misuse of weapons – whether by design, accident or system malfunction – by nuclear-armed states and terrorist actors, and from the misuse of the civil fuel cycle. Continue reading »
-
Manchester and terrorism. Part 3 of 3.
In this three-part article, Ramesh Thakur argues that the scale of the terrorist threat to Western societies must be kept in perspective, that Western actions in the Middle East may have fomented more terrorism than they have defeated, and that an attitude of denial regarding the potential for problems of large-scale Muslim immigration feeds mutual Continue reading »
-
Manchester and terrorism. Part 2 of 3.
In this three-part article, Ramesh Thakur argues that the scale of the terrorist threat to Western societies must be kept in perspective, that Western actions in the Middle East may have fomented more terrorism than they have defeated, and that an attitude of denial regarding the potential for problems of large-scale Muslim immigration feeds mutual Continue reading »
-
Manchester and terrorism, Part 1 of 3.
The swamp fights back In this three-part article, Ramesh Thakur argues that the scale of the terrorist threat to Western societies must be kept in perspective, that Western actions in the Middle East may have fomented more terrorism than they have defeated, and that an attitude of denial regarding the potential for problems of large-scale Continue reading »
-
The UN draft treaty to ban the bomb is an important milestone on the road to nuclear abolition
The recently published draft text of a convention to ban the bomb provides a good basis to complete negotiations of a treaty to prohibit the acquisition, development, production, manufacture, possession, transfer, testing, extra-territorial stationing and use of nuclear weapons as major steps on the road to abolition. Continue reading »
-
The White Man’s Media — Part I
Ramesh Thakur highlights how a biased coverage of the war on terror and the Iraq War by the US media eroded US soft power. Continue reading »
-
The White Man’s media – Part 2
In the second part, Ramesh Thakur extends his analysis of bias in the Western media to their coverage of Iran, Russia, Ukraine and India. Continue reading »
-
Is the sun setting on the US imperium?
China is on the march to a dominant military footprint while American policy lacks strategic intent. Continue reading »
-
Appeasement and learning the right lessons of history
The lesson of Munich for major powers Britain and France was that you do not buy peace with fellow major powers tomorrow by giving in to their demands today. But for smaller powers, the lesson was that faced with the prospect of war with a major power, your allies and guarantors will rather sell you Continue reading »
-
RAMESH THAKUR. Between tragedy and farce in the Korean peninsula
The world’s options on North Korea can be summarised as bad (strategic patience), worse (growing strategic impatience), and worst (military strikes). Continue reading »