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Archives
Category Archives: International Affairs
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
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JOHN TULLOH. Turkey – Erdogan faces his toughest test.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would have been pleased when a recent edition of Time had him on the cover as one of the ‘Strongmen Era’. The Turkish president is indeed and he hopes the election this weekend will make him even … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
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PETER RODGERS. Israel-Palestine – Vale the two-state solution; where to now?
With the two-state solution in the morgue, governments around the globe will need to consider anew the unpalatable realities of this long-running conflict.
Posted in International Affairs
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FERGUS PEACE. Australia’s pitiless migrant policy is no model for Europe.
Italy’s refusal to let a migrant rescue ship dock feels alarmingly familiar to many.
Posted in International Affairs
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RICHARD BROINOWSKI. North Korea and the Trump Bashers
President Trump declared at his post-Summit press conference in Singapore on 12 June that US-ROK war games were expensive and provocative and he would abolish them, starting with ‘Ulchi Freedom Guardian’ next August. His decision has drawn some surprising reactions.
Posted in International Affairs
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RICHARD GLOVER. Move over, Emmanuel Macron. Australia has the true Trump whisperer. (Washington Post 19/6/2018)
Australia is the last U.S. ally standing. We’ve escaped America’s new tariffs, our leader has yet to be labeled weak or a liar, and the United States has even agreed to accept some of Australia’s unwanted refugees. President Trump called … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs, Politics
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DER SPIEGEL Italy Sends a Jolt Through Europe.
Euro-skeptic Italian populists are posing a serious threat to the European Union. Following the drama over Greece and Brexit, the political situation in Rome could throw Europe into its next major existential crisis.
Posted in International Affairs
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LEE JEON-HO. China adds to nuclear arsenal amid military modernisation drive
China now has 280 warheads, according to think tank, which calls nuclear states’ renewed focus on deterrence and capacity ‘a very worrying trend’
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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GEOFF RABY. How Kim Jong-un can bring his economy in from the cold.
In the early spring of 1990, Pyongyang was more prosperous than many foreign analysts, who had never been there, had thought. The CIA, for decades, had believed the country was on its knees, on the verge of economic collapse, although … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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ATUL ANEJA. India rebalancing ties with Pakistan to open path to Eurasia
In a significant gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain shook hands and exchanged pleasantries after a press conference by the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) here on Sunday.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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MIKE SCRAFTON: NATO 2018 and Communique Dread
Dread and angst must be haunting the corridors of Europe’s foreign and defence ministries. The NATO Heads of State and Government will meet over 11 to 12 July 2018 in Brussels and the question of the communique will already be … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
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German chancellor’s tense standoff with hardline interior minister “endangers existence of gvernment as substantially as the stability of the country”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing strong pressure to tighten her country’s refugee policies to avoid the collapse of her coalition government as the heated row over the handling of migration intensifies.
Posted in International Affairs
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KEN MOAK. US-led naval operation will not change China’s posture.
At the 2018 Shangri-La Dialogue, the defense ministers of France and the UK announced that their governments will send warships to join those of the US in challenging China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea (Naval Today, April 6). … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Defence/Security, International Affairs
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RICHARD BUTLER. Singapore: Sound and Lights
Trump told us that, in Singapore, he would make it up as he went along. It appears that he kept his word on that. Afterwards he told the world that if it all tanks, he will “make up an excuse … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. America’s frightened allies.
Donald Trump has spent the last three years scaring the crap out of his allies, but suddenly it has become serious. His predilection for ruthless dictators, traditionally anathema to America and its allies, has now got to the point where those … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
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GEOFF MILLER. Trump-Kim Summit: What happens after a “day from a science fiction movie”?
Kim Jong Un was reported to have said that his meeting with Trump was like scenes from a science fiction movie. At times the TV coverage—all those banners—did seem rather like that, but what happens next? I think that at … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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North Korea: Beyond Charismatic Politics, an Interview with Byung-Ho Chung
The following is an interview of Byung-Ho Chung Professor at Hanyang University and President of the Korean Society for Cultural Anthropology, conducted by AAA Executive Director Ed Liebow.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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MICHAEL KELLY SJ. Bangladesh wake-up call on sexual abuse for Asia’s bishops.
The case of Father Walter Rozario bears all the hallmarks of denial, cover-up and silencing victims seen in the West.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs, Religion and Faith
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MACK WILLIAMS. North Korea – managing Donald !
Amid the avalanche of reporting and commentary of the Singapore Summit one needs to step back to assess just how the Trump’s much vaunted (by him) negotiating style so far has played out . This is not just an academic … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
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RAMESH THAKUR. The Kim–Trump Summit: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Australian Outlook. 15/6/2018)
Despite praise for Tuesday’s “unprecedented” meeting, there were good reasons why previous US administrations had refused multiple requests from North Korean leaders to meet. The results of the Kim–Trump summit so far can be divided into the good, the bad … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
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MIKE SCRAFTON. Looking down from the Trump/Kim summit: a geopolitical view
Of the risks attendant on the summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim Jung-un, the most grave is that the geopolitical consequences will be ignored.
Posted in International Affairs
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ANDREW FARRAN. The fog of the Irish Sea still overhangs Brexit.
The House of Commons vote on 12th June has saved Prime Minister May for another day but has also left open the role Parliament might play in the outcome of the EU negotiations. A (definitive) White Paper on Britain’s negotiating … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
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SIMON ROUGHNEEN. How Beijing is winning control of the South China Sea (Nikkei Asian Review 13/6/2018)
Erratic US policy and fraying alliances give China a free hand.
Posted in Asia, Defence/Security, International Affairs
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AURELIA MULGAN. Deja vu all over again in US–Japan trade.
From the late 1970s until the 1990s, US-Japan trade relations were marred by regular bouts of economic friction. These periods often peaked in tandem with rises in the United States’ trade deficit with Japan and ended in ‘voluntary’ Japanese concessions … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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PAUL KRUGMAN. Debacle in Quebec. (New York Times, June 9,2018)
For all their pomp, most multilateral summit meetings are boring and of little consequence. I once spoke to a State Department official who had a role in putting these meetings together; he described his job as “policing the nuances,” which … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
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DANIEL RUSSEL. A Historic Breakthrough or a Historic Blunder in Singapore?
Kim Jong Un May Have Outwitted Trump at the Summit.
Posted in Asia, International Affairs
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PEPE ESCOBAR. The key word in the Trump-Kim show
By reaffirming the Panmunjom Declaration, the US President has committed to bringing its military back from South Korea and thus a complete denuclearization of the South as well as the North.
Posted in Asia, Defence/Security, International Affairs
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HANS HENDRISCHKE and WEI LI. Chinese investment in Australia falls as political debate hits confidence
Chinese direct investment in Australia has declined, according to a new report by the University of Sydney and KPMG. In 2017, the value of investment fell by 11% in US dollar terms, from $11.5 billion in 2016 (A$15.4 billion) to … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Economy, International Affairs
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GARETH HUTCHENS. Australia should not join US in South China Sea operations, says retired defence chief (The Guardian 21/2/2017)
Activities in the South China Sea continue to be in the news. Published below, are comments made in February last year by Sir Angus Houston, who was formerly Australia’s defence chief. John Menadue.
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
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CAVAN HOGUE. Digger mates in Singapore?
We have two countries and individuals with a well established record of breaking treaties, agreements and promises who tell us they have established a relationship of trust. How reassuring! At least for the time being they have stopped threatening and … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
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