-
Subscribe to our weekly and daily Pearls and Irritations newsletter!
-
Most viewed recently
- MUNGO MacCALLUM. A prime minister progressively shriller and less coherent.
- IAN DUNLOP. A Parliament Without Trust or Legitimacy Must Go
- EMMA ALBERICI. There’s no case for a corporate tax cut when one in five of Australia’s top companies don’t pay it.
- HENRY REYNOLDS. A HUNDRED YEARS OF MATESHIP.
- SUSAN RYAN. The Irish teaching orders in Australia.
-
Recent posts
- GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND 18 August 2018
- GREG BAILEY. Australia and Canada: Mirrors of each other 18 August 2018
- MICHAEL PASCOE. Why Australia’s latest wages figures are worse than they look (the New Daily 16.08.18) 18 August 2018
- JERRY ROBERTS. West Australian white ants move into interesting territory. 18 August 2018
- JOHN TULLOH. The death by stealth of an independent Palestine. 18 August 2018
Categories
- Arts and Reviews (39)
- Defence/Security (814)
- Drug Reform (19)
- Economy (1,078)
- Education (205)
- Environment and climate (340)
- Health (514)
- Housing (72)
- Human Rights (417)
- Indigenous affairs (65)
- Industrial relations (33)
- Infrastructure (160)
- International Affairs (1,573)
- Asia (206)
- Links (10)
- Media (518)
- NBN (74)
- Politics (2,463)
- Refugees, Immigration (539)
- Religion and Faith (505)
- SERIES: Freedom, opportunity and security (60)
- SERIES: Making housing affordable (15)
- Sport (52)
- Technology, start-ups and new media (1)
- Tributes (36)
- Uncategorized (195)
Archives
Category Archives: Defence/Security
RAMESH THAKUR. Japan’s nuclear options.
Hiroshima was the first city in the world to be attacked by an atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945. The last time that an atomic weapon was used was to bomb Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945. By the end of … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Defence/Security, International Affairs
Leave a comment
ALISON BROINOWSKI. Many happy returns of al-Qaeda.
On 11 August 2018 the members of what became al-Qaeda met in Peshawar, Pakistan to form the movement which is now 30 years old. With Osama bin Laden’s money, political vision, religious fervour, and capacity as a modern communicator, it … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
3 Comments
MIKE SCRAFTON. The need think more seriously about war
Government justifications for major investments in ADF new capability and assertions by defence experts that Australia should substantially expand its defence spending rarely address two important issues. The prospect for military success in a war in East Asia and the … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
5 Comments
JUDY HEMMING. The US Marines in Darwin according to precedent: neither in the national, nor the local interest.
Australian Defence Policy, in lockstep with the US as regards “managing” the rise of China, embraces the deployment of US Marine to Darwin as being consistent with the national interest. Where the social fabric of the Northern Territory is concerned, … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
2 Comments
American Imperium – Untangling truth and fiction in an age of perpetual war. (Repost from 1/1/2018)
In this article ANDREW BACEVICH says ‘Republicans and Democrats disagree today on many issues, but they are united in their resolve that the United States must remain the world’s greatest military power. This bipartisan commitment to maintaining American supremacy has … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
1 Comment
GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.
Posted in Defence/Security, Economy, Human Rights, SERIES: Freedom, opportunity and security
Comments Off on GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
JOHN MENADUE. Who is in charge of Australia’s relations with China? The Australian Prime Minister or ASIO? (Repost from 28/5/2018)
ASIO is on a roll in co-ordinating the attack on China and its alleged covert operations in Australia. Only last Friday we learnt that super patriot Andrew Hastie, formerly an officer in SAS and currently Chair of the Parliamentary Joint … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Politics
Comments Off on JOHN MENADUE. Who is in charge of Australia’s relations with China? The Australian Prime Minister or ASIO? (Repost from 28/5/2018)
HENRY REYNOLDS. Australia’s perpetual ‘war footing’. (Repost from 7/5/2018)
We should have paid more attention at the time. It was September 2013 and the Abbott government had just been sworn in. The new Defence Minister, Senator David Johnston, gave an interview to a Fairfax journalist which was reported on … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
10 Comments
RICHARD BROINOWSKI. Defence Plan B.
Canberra’s foreign and defence bureaucracy is appalled by Donald Trump’s monstering of the Anglo allies and of NATO, his enthusiasm for Kim Jong-un and his appeasement of Vladimir Putin. Where to without the comfort of a great, powerful and reliable … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
7 Comments
ALAN BOYDE. Australia spy trial carries hidden dangers (Asian Times)
Whistleblowers who exposed Australia’s eavesdropping on Timor Leste during oil and gas negotiations go on trial this week in a free expression test case.
Posted in Defence/Security, Politics
2 Comments
JOHN MENADUE. Our security agencies are not accountable. (Repost from 29/5/2018)
To cover up illegal activities in East Timor, the government has embarked on a campaign to charge whistle-blowers. The wrong people are being charged. The performance and integrity of our security services is a serious national problem. These are particular … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
2 Comments
JOHAN LIDBERG. When whistleblowers are prosecuted, it has a chilling effect on press freedom in Australia.
Fear is a tricky thing. It’s often hard to distinguish between what is real and perceived danger. US President Donald Trump, being more comfortable with autocrats than democratic leaders, is arguably a real danger to the world order.
Posted in Defence/Security, Human Rights, Media
3 Comments
ROSS BURNS. From Deraa to Deraa.
Syria’s seven-year conflict is favouring those who play the long game.
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
1 Comment
JOHN MENADUE Why are Australian defence correspondents so quiet about complaints to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on the use of Australian and Latin American mercenaries by UAE in the war against Yemen (Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK)
ANCILE Avocats French law firm filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the use of an army of mercenaries trained in the UAE and sent to participate in the ongoing war in … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Human Rights
4 Comments
ALISON BROINOWSKI. A law to end all wars?
Hamlet was depressed about the law’s delay. To this day, legal processes take a notoriously long time, and international ones take even longer. International lawyers, and the world, have been waiting at least since 1998 for the crime of aggression … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
Comments Off on ALISON BROINOWSKI. A law to end all wars?
TONY KEVIN. Trump-Putin Summit 16 July: an assessment
This was a most unusual summit, preceded and followed by a torrent of mostly negative Western MSM comment on the theme that ‘Putin will win this, and Western interests will lose’.
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
5 Comments
ANDREW FARRAN. Special Forces: The Downside – Impossible missions out of country and out of culture
The Australian Special Forces are again in the firing line for alleged misconduct in combat, in relation to which the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force is expected to hand down a report in the near future. The number of … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
2 Comments
KATHRYN KELLY. Armed Neutrality for Australia?
The talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un give some reason for a glimmer of hope for the Korean Peninsula, but given Donald Trump’s predilection for middle of the night tweets, that could come unstuck at any moment. The international … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
5 Comments
JEAN-MARIE COLLIN. The Nuclear Illusion Strikes Again (La Tribune, 08/06/2018)
The issue of NW’s, everyone’s, is riddled with hypocrisy. This is a great example; from France, an ardent defender of the Iran agreement and, a country which played a major role in Israel’s acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
Comments Off on JEAN-MARIE COLLIN. The Nuclear Illusion Strikes Again (La Tribune, 08/06/2018)
TILMAN RUFF. The treaty banning nuclear weapons one year on: history made, a solid start, here to stay, and miles to go before we sleep
One year ago, on 7 July 2017 at the United Nations in New York, 122 nations took a historic step when they voted to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty filled a gaping hole in … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
2 Comments
RICHARD A. BITZINGER. US, China cash in on Asia’s growing appetite for arms.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has just released its data on the global arms trade for 2017, and it is big news for Asia as a whole, and for China and the United States in particular.
Posted in Asia, Defence/Security, International Affairs
1 Comment
JOHN MENADUE. Bugging a Cabinet room, keeping sweet with News Corp and a pointless Australian Federal Police investigation of a leak
Andrew Wilkie MP has asked the AFP to investigate the improper disclosure of ‘protected information’ disclosed by News Corp. journalist Niki Savva on the ABC Insiders program on 1 July 2018. She said that Attorney General Christian Porter had been … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Politics
2 Comments
LIZZIE O’SHEA. Witness K and foreign interference hypocrisy (Eureka Street 2/7/2018)
‘This Parliament will not allow interference in our elections or in our democratic processes,’ Senator Penny Wong declared recently. ‘We will not allow these to be subject to foreign interference, and we will not allow the covert subversion of our politics by … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Politics
2 Comments
WILIAM J PERRY. Why I’m Still Hopeful About Trump’s North Korea Deal (Politico)
For a euphoric moment, it seemed everything was about to change on the Korean Peninsula. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un—two leaders with a flair for the dramatic and a willingness to shatter precedents—fanned expectations of a diplomatic breakthrough that … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
Comments Off on WILIAM J PERRY. Why I’m Still Hopeful About Trump’s North Korea Deal (Politico)
IAN CRAWFORD. Korea: the forgotten war and Australians still missing
Understandably, the agreement of the Singapore Summit on the recovery of the bodies of US military from sites in North Korea has attracted less public interest than the denuclearisation issue. Ian Crawford, National President of National Korea Veterans Association, points … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Uncategorized
Comments Off on IAN CRAWFORD. Korea: the forgotten war and Australians still missing
MIKE SCRAFTON. Hunting for the reason-The new frigates.
In line with normal practise, the government has plenty to say about the economic and employment benefits to flow from the acquisition of the new Hunter class frigates and a little bit about what they can do. But offers nothing … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
6 Comments
MIKE SCRAFTON. What MQ-4C Triton reveals of strategic policy
Government decisions on major equipment acquisitions can signal the government’s estimate of the future international environment and national strategic priorities. The government’s justification of the MQ-4C Triton leaves important strategic policy questions unanswered.
Posted in Defence/Security, Uncategorized
2 Comments
TONY KEVIN. Turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse? Maybe. Australia’s new package of national security laws
The Australian parliament is about to pass a complex package of national security laws aimed at strengthening Australia’s protections against espionage, sabotage, (covert) foreign interference and (overt) harmful foreign influence on Australian political life. The real target is China, but … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
2 Comments
SAM BATEMAN. Reflections on the United States Navy
The U.S. Navy had a horror year in 2017 with tragic accidents and a major corruption scandal. Rather than the cause mainly being a budgetary one with inadequate resources allowed the Navy, deeper cultural issues might also be involved.
Posted in Defence/Security
1 Comment
GARETH EVANS. How we should manage Donald Trump’s meltdown world (AFR 20/6/2018)
The assumptions that have sustained and underpinned Australian security and economic policy for decades are in meltdown. The post-Second World War global order – an open, rules-based system underpinned by a robust network of security alliances, and by effective multilateral … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
6 Comments