Defence and Security
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Lockheed Martin, Australian Government: joined at the hip
There is a remarkable “revolving door” of top people between Australian government and Defence Department roles and the world’s no 1 weapons-maker. Continue reading »
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The ‘necessary evils’ of Australia’s allies
“At a public meeting in 1971, C.P. Ellis – head of the Ku Klux Klan in Durham, North Carolina – tore up his KKK membership card in what was basically an act of love. Continue reading »
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The US and Western allies commit to another forever war
Ho hum, the US has just committed itself to another ‘forever war.’ Its faithful obedient Western allies, like puppies wagging their tails, have fallen in behind. One would think they would tire, or at least learn lessons from, the game. Seemingly not. Continue reading »
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Nuclear and gas expansion weakens our national security
Former Australian defence force chief and admiral retired, Chris Barrie frankly discusses with Michael Lester his deep concerns that Australia is complacent in its unwillingness to face up to the threat to our national security posed by global climate change. Continue reading »
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Why won’t the US help negotiate a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine?
For goodness’ sake, negotiate! Continue reading »
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How Dutton’s HALEU nuclear power could lead to nuclear weapons
If a future Prime Minister Dutton was able to get the fuel for a HALEU power station, would you be absolutely confident that he might not want to also dabble in some nuclear weapons procurement as well? Continue reading »
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The US is preparing for WWIII while expanding draft registration
So I guess we should probably talk about the way NATO powers are rapidly escalating toward hot war with Russia at the same time the US is expanding its draft policies to make it easier to force more Americans [to] go and fight in a giant war. Continue reading »
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AUKUS and the Nuclear Agenda: the challenge for the labour movement
AUKUS is fundamentally part of a global program to reassert US dominance as its power fades. That is what AUKUS is about; it’s about tying Australia to that slowly sinking ship, the United States Empire. The Labor Government has been captured by this militaristic ideology, and it is our job to shake them out of Continue reading »
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AUKUS: An Australian tragedy
Euripides drama Medea about unpunished crimes infecting the Greek city-state contains some sobering lessons for Australia’s future in AUKUS. Continue reading »
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Defence policy an enigma
The logistics of crossing the sea to invade Australia are insurmountable. In terms of cost/benefit analysis, invading Australia is simply not worth the trouble. Continue reading »
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Down-payments on our own destruction
Australians used to be scared off voting Labor by Coalition predictions of debt, deficit, and disaster. Labor used to shame Liberals and Nationals with promises of spending to end child poverty, close the indigenous gap, and create a clever country. All that was before AUKUS. Continue reading »
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Serious concerns about the AUKUS submarine deal are not going away
Despite continuing optimism from Prime Minister Albanese and Defence Minister Marles and the defence commentariat about the AUKUS submarine deal it continues to attract significant uncertainty and doubt in the wider community. This centres around issues such as sovereignty , our industrial capability to manage the construction and longer term maintenance and the massive donation Continue reading »
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The risks of world war III
I have been thinking about the unthinkable. Maybe you have too? Continue reading »
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War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing
War may good for absolutely nothing. But the spectre of war is great for business if you are part of the “military industrial complex”. And if that spectre can be painted in the shape of China, then that’s hitting the jackpot. Continue reading »
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AUKUS: Beazley, Richardson, Dibb are old men pushing ignorant economics
On 28 May, a Defending Australia Summit was held in Sydney by “The Australian Newspaper” which showcased three former Australian defence officials who seemed confused by their old age and indulged in ignorant and historically romantic group think. Continue reading »
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Will the Cocos Islands become like Diego Garcia, highjacked by the US?
The 2000 residents of Diego Garcia were forcibly removed to make way for a giant US military base. Continue reading »
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Defence: who are we, what do we stand for?
Allan Behm, head of international and security at the Australia Institute, discusses foreign affairs, defence, AUKUS and security issues facing Australia. Behm poses the question: do we know who we are and what we stand for in attempting to secure our national interest? Continue reading »
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Ghost shark
The Ghost Shark, a new underwater drone being developed for the Australian Navy, could kill off the deeply flawed plan to acquire eight nuclear submarines for a projected cost as much as $360 billion. Continue reading »
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Dangerous ‘outside agitators’ have infiltrated Western universities
Students have established solidarity encampments at 11 universities in Australia since April 23rd when the first camp was established at the University of Sydney. Many of these students have for the last 7 months been watching a continuous stream of war crimes and their aftermaths on Tiktok and Instagram, uploaded by Gazans enduring horrific conditions. Continue reading »
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We “share values” with people committing genocide
Western leaders like to talk about values, shared values, common values. They talk about this a lot. America itself is obsessed with two things: conflict resolution through violence and moral preening. Nowhere is this contradiction more glaringly on display than in the genocide being committed in Gaza. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) says Continue reading »
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The US empire deliberately stokes hatred and violence in the Middle East
I sometimes see people expressing bafflement that the US would back a genocide in the middle east knowing that it will radicalise the region against them, mistakenly thinking this goes against US strategic goals. Continue reading »
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World War III and The Grand Chessboard
Imagine being Tony Blinken, and facing the arduous responsibility as US Secretary of State to rule the globe! This seems a daunting task, but fortunately, Blinken doesn’t have to strain his brain too much because he has a manual already written to instruct him. Continue reading »
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Labor Budget 2024-25: $10b to support nuclear shipyards of ageing US/UK empires
Grassroots anti-AUKUS campaign, Labor Against War, has called on the Federal Labor Government to come clean about just how much it is pouring into US and UK coffers to rebuild their ageing nuclear shipyards, both of which build nuclear-armed submarines. Continue reading »
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Albo muddies the waters
Labor’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has a strange attraction to muddying the political waters in areas that are going well, such as its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Serious gains are already occurring in the efficiency of battery storage of electricity from solar, wind and pumped hydro sources. Bigger gains seem likely as breakthroughs Continue reading »
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Is New Zealand slurping the AUKUS Kool-Aid?
Drinking the Kool-Aid is not only believing a foolish and dangerous idea but acting on it leads to unnecessary self-destruction. It refers to the 900 American cult members who drank cyanide-laced Kool-Aid at Jonestown in Guyana in 1978 in an act of “revolutionary suicide”. Critics of AUKUS on both sides of the Tasman think our Continue reading »
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Australia’s stunted mainstream defence and security imagination
With Australian defence writers now arguing for society to be reimagined as an ‘input to defence capability’, we are witnessing further incursions in the Democracy – Defence Nexus. Continue reading »
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China dropped a flare near an Aussie copter in its EEZ. What’s wrong with that?
Patriotism, they say, is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Judged that way, there seem to be a large number of scoundrels around within the Australia media and also the Canberra political elite. Continue reading »
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The end of US primacy: facing Australia’s existential security question
“Nothing Australia does – with or without AUKUS – will make any difference to the collective capacity to either deter or defeat China in the next decade, which is the time frame that counts. That means the only prudent choice for Australia’s military strategy is to prepare to defend ourselves from major powers such as Continue reading »
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Washington’s new man in Manila eases the burden on Canberra
In an essay entitled “Australia’s Choice” published in Australian Foreign Affairs in 2022, the leading Singaporean commentator on international relations, Kishore Mahbubani, highlighted how Australia needed to choose whether to be “a bridge between East and West in the Asian Century – or the tip of a spear projecting Western power into Asia” It transpires Continue reading »
