Defence and Security
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The Anzac Myth
Conservatives and militarists want us to cling to a disastrous imperial war. They encourage us to focus on how our soldiers fought in order to avoid the central issue of why we fought. Continue reading »
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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 »
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JAMES O’NEILL. Just Who Does Pose the Greater Threat in Korea?
The election of Donald Trump as US President has seen the ramping up of US rhetoric about North Korea. Trump recently demanded that China should use its influence with the North Koreans and if China did not intervene, then, according to an interview Trump gave to the UK Financial Times, the “US would act alone.” Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. Korean Peninsula – just where are we right now?
So much is going on in the different channels between the US and China, China and the DPRK and by now maybe US and DPRK that reading the tea leaves is an almost impossible – if not frantic – task. The situation remains extremely high risk and crystal ball gazing is near to fantasy. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. With talk of war, what should Australia do?
As the United States Trump administration now confronts North Korea, there is talk of war. Also confronted, but more indirectly, is China itself with President Donald Trump’s declaration that the US would go it alone to disarm North Korea if China and President Xi Jinping did not help in that objective. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BROINOWSKI. Still demonizing North Korea
Following recent North Korean missile tests and American declarations that they have run out of ‘strategic patience’, the Western media and the governments they serve, are busily repeating time-honoured myths about North Korea. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. DPRK: The “New Cuban missile crisis”?
The DPRK nuclear weapons programme does not constitute a new Cuban missile crisis. Any military attack upon DPRK would be disastrous. A new political negotiation must be constructed. This is not a problem to be solved by the US alone. Continue reading »
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Our misguided wars of choice.
In this article in the Boston Globe of April 16, JEFFREY D SACHS speaks of the risks that the US and the world are running. He speaks of the US ‘wanton addiction to war’. John Menadue. “There is one foreign policy goal that matters above all the others and that is to keep the United Continue reading »
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JAMES O’NEILL. Scientific evidence exposes the falsity of US government claims about Syrian gas attack.
The irresistible conclusion is that those same senior politicians know that the White House claims are false and misleading and therefore highly dangerous to Australia’s national security. That they should maintain their silence on this while continuing to perpetuate a barrage of lies and half-truths about the ongoing Syrian tragedy raises serious questions about their Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Donald Trump is more believable and moral than Putin – Seriously?
Instead of cheering US resort to increasingly robust use of military firepower as the first response to international crises, Western leaders should be ring-fencing Trump’s instinct to reckless behaviour in order to avoid a catastrophe. Continue reading »
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Trump is Ignorant of History and So is His Chump Sean Spicer
This article by Middle East expert, ROBERT FISK, was first published in The Independent on 12 April 2017. Fisk comments ‘Gas, cruise missiles, barrel bombs, Hitler and the American media. Mix them all up and I suppose you get Trump’s new policy in the Middle East.’ Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. US Missile Attack on Syria
The US missile strike on Syria was an act of aggression the consequences of which could be immense. The facts of what happened at Khan Sheikhun must be established. Continue reading »
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KEITH JOINER. Negating the Impact of the Future Submarine at Next Election
Australia’s future submarine project has already been a factor in Australia’s political pulse, in both the fever of pre-elections and in the now omnipresent prime-ministerial instability between these all-too-frequent elections. South Australia’s Xenophon factor has become powerful, and appointments like the new Defence Industry Minister from South Australia are probably an attempt to mitigate that Continue reading »
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MICHAEL McKINLEY. The Foreign Policy White Paper: A Plea To See Things As They Are
“We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.” George Orwell. Continue reading »
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JAMES O’NEILL. American missile strikes in Syria raise fresh questions.
Not for the first time, unilateral and illegal actions by the Americans pose a grave threat to the safety of the planet and its inhabitants. Continue reading »
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ALLAN PATIENCE. Is globalization ending?
It is the fashion to declare that globalization is coming to an end. Evidence for this includes: nationalism being on the rise; protectionist policies making a come-back; borders being slammed shut; populist politicians multiplying at rabbit-like rates. Trump and Brexit, it is said, are the isolationist tips of two vast metaphorical icebergs that both represent Continue reading »
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ROSS BURNS. After Khan Sheikhun
The 4 April attack on Khan Sheikhun using CW (chemical warfare) weapons was almost certainly the work of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. This is the only explanation which ticks off all the boxes—means, motive and opportunity. The hastily assembled US retaliatory attack on the Syrian air base at Shayrat near Homs, however, might not have been Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Decoding the Trump strikes on Syria
The use of chemical weapons in Syria and the US air strikes in punishment are part of the continuing descent into lawlessness by various actors with unforeseeable consequences in an already inflamed region. Continue reading »
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JAMES O’NEILL. Verdict First, Evidence Later: How the Australian Media Misrepresent Geopolitical Events
The reporting of the tragedy from Syria is but the latest illustration of an all too common phenomenon: a pre-determined verdict on little or no evidence. Continue reading »
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NICK BISLEY. Learning to live with a nuclear North Korea?
North Korea perceives it is isolated in a world that is hostile to its existence. However loathsome the regime may be and however badly it misallocates resources to bolster the ruling elite, the reason for acquiring nuclear weapons is entirely rational: they are a vital means for North Korea to protect itself. Continue reading »
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ANNETTE BROWNLIE. Keeping Australia out of US wars
It is time we, the people, asserted our sovereignty, took control of our foreign policies and reviewed the presence of U.S. bases and troops in Australia. It is time we started promoting genuine peace and security, human rights, a sustainable environment and our independence. Continue reading »
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SUE WAREHAM. How independent is the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
ASPI’s oft-repeated claim of independence – immunity from the influence of the corporations who help fund the organisation – does strike one as rather naive for experts who might otherwise be seen as “hard-headed realists” in a tough world. Corporations are, after all, accountable to their shareholders to whom they must demonstrate that funds are Continue reading »
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EDITORS, EAST ASIA FORUM. The consequences of the Trump-Xi meeting in Florida.
ANU East Asia Forum has posted a new item, ‘The consequences of the Trump–Xi meeting in Florida‘ All eyes will be on Florida this week, where US President Donald Trump will ANU host an inaugural summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Fake news?
Trump’s threats against DPRK and May’s against Gibraltar, as reported, are fake news. The US’ stance on nuclear non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is a fake. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Nuclear powers and umbrella states must engage with, not obstruct, the international community.
It is time for the so-called realists to get real about the existential dangers of a world brimming with nuclear weapons. Continue reading »
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JAMES O’NEILL. The London Attack: What We Fail to Acknowledge
“The idea”, … “that you can set fire to countries in the Middle East, collapse their societies, and traumatize entire populations sowing carnage on a biblical scale, and not expect any reaction in the form of blowback is utterly insane.” Continue reading »
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KELLIE TRANTER. Unreasonable silence
So what are we left with? The burial of truth. A closed bloc hunkered down in Canberra who conceal information and who fail to condemn the loss of life of innocents at the hands of either our country or our allies, and who are cut off from the consequences of their own cruelty, stupidity and collaboration. Continue reading »
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PAT POWER. Nuclear disarmament.
I find it incredible that Australia is refusing to be part of the UN negotiations on a new treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. Stirring a Witch’s Brew – Selling military equipment to Saudi Arabia.
Australia is busily involved in selling military equipment to Saudi Arabia which is engaged in the civil war in the Yemen whose features exceed in brutality and crimes against humanity those in Syria. Has the government clearly thought through where this might lead, and does the risk of adverse consequences outweigh a few commercial contracts Continue reading »
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JAMES O’NEILL. A tale of two cities: Aleppo and Mosul.
The double standards of the western media are clearly demonstrated in the different treatment accorded the liberation of Aleppo by Syrian and Russian forces and the ongoing battle for the liberation of Mosul by ‘coalition’ (i.e. US) forces in northern Iraq. Also completely missing from western accounts is the fact that prior to the March Continue reading »
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