World Affairs
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WILLIAM PESEK. Toyota driving into a fierce economic storm.
What GM used to be to America, Toyota is to Japan: a weathervane for macro trends. On Friday, the carmaker admitted it is downhill from now. Continue reading »
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JEFFREY SACHS. Trump is robbing America of what makes it great (Washington Post)
American prosperity since World War II has been built upon science and technology breakthroughs spurred by a powerful innovation system linking the federal government, business, academia and venture capital. U.S. innovation policy has been successfully emulated in Europe and Asia, most recently by China. President Trump’s trade war against China aims to slow China’s technology Continue reading »
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ANTHONY PUN. The Battle for Indo-Pacific.
China is surrounded by at least 16 countries, some with common borders and territorial disputes with her. Japanese PM’s proposal in 2005 to form a Quad alliance (US, Australia, India and Japan) is seen by China as the introduction of Cold War in the Asia Pacific. Former Australian Ambassador to China, Geoff Raby provides a Continue reading »
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TONY KEVIN. Australian foreign policy – Riding two horses.
Australian foreign policy at present seems to be trying to ride two horses at once: an inherently dangerous pursuit, requiring the skills of a trained and superbly fit circus acrobat. Are we really up to this, or should we be pursuing safer courses, with our feet more firmly planted on the ground? Continue reading »
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GEOFF MILLER. Trump’s unilateral use of economic power: will it work, and what about the consequences?
Trump’s actual and threatened use of the United States’ economic power to bring about changes in other States’ behaviour raises questions about the utility of such behaviour and its likely consequences, as well as about the United States’ commitment to multi-lateral institutions. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL JENSON. Nigerian farmers are under attack, so why don’t we hear about it?
We’ve heard a lot lately about white South African farmers being killed in farm murders. But another group of African farmers are being killed in far greater numbers and we’ve barely heard a whimper. Continue reading »
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GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media. Continue reading »
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SCOTT BURCHILL. Syria – a few definitive outcomes.
As the war in Syria grinds towards some kind of resolution, it is possible to say a few definitive things about what is going on in the region and the role of external players. Continue reading »
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VINCENT CHEOK. If spirituality or religion has a bearing on geopolitics then Australia needs to understand what moves the spirit and soul of India and China for our Asian neighbours will be the new global superpowers in a new multipolar multilateral world.
This post is prompted by the release of the final draft of the National Register of Indian Citizens in Assam Province on 30/7/18. This verification exercise was made in accordance with the terms of the Assam Accord of 1985. Not surprisingly more than 4 million did not qualify as they could not prove that they Continue reading »
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NY TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD. A New Batsman for Pakistan.
Imran Khan, cricket-star-turned-politician, promises a new path for Pakistan. But his ties to the military, and his own at-times erratic behaviour, may stand in the way. Continue reading »
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AMITENDU PALIT. Does Australia need a lesson in Indian economic strategy?
The recently released Indian Economic Strategy to 2035 report outlines three core objectives for improving the Australia–India economic relationship. These include making India one of Australia’s top three export markets by 2035, making India the third-largest Asian recipient of Australian foreign direct investment by the same year and bringing India ‘into the inner circle of Australia’s strategic partnerships and Continue reading »
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MICHAEL JENSEN. Nigerian farmers are under attack, so why don’t we hear about it? (ABC NEWS, 02.08.18)
We’ve heard a lot lately about white South African farmers being killed in farm murders. But another group of African farmers are being killed in far greater numbers and we’ve barely heard a whimper. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Brexit means Brexit – or does it? Repost from September 13 2016
After the surprise referendum vote 52-48 for the UK to leave the EU, the new Prime Minister, Teresa May, rejected any suggestion of a new referendum or parliamentary intervention to reverse the ‘advisory’ referendum result. She said “Brexit means Brexit”. I am sure that she was genuine . To repudiate the referendum result so early Continue reading »
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‘Matter of death and life’: Espionage in East Timor and Australia’s diplomatic bungle (Lateline, 26.11.15)
East Timor’s most senior leaders have accused Australia of committing a crime and acting immorally after a spying scandal that rocked the relationship between the two countries. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. Brexit – August holiday time for urgent reflections to avoid disaster
In that other hemisphere August is a time for holidays and reflection. For some it may be more a matter for reflection as they contemplate the virtual stalemate surrounding the UK’s quest to be rid of the EU. The fact is that having so inextricably integrated itself with the EU over so many decades extrication Continue reading »
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OMRI BOEHM. Did Israel Just Stop Trying to Be a Democracy?
Last week, Israel’s government pushed through Parliament a new law calling Israel the “nation-state of the Jewish people.” That statement may sound like a truism — and in some respects it is one — but the implications of it officially being made are monumental. Continue reading »
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GEOFF RABY. An Australian-ASEAN Hedging Strategy on China
Australia’s diplomacy in recent years can at best be described as underwhelming, if not at times inimical to Australia’s national interests. In March, however, the presence of ASEAN Heads of Government in Australia, meeting at Prime Minister Turnbull’s initiative, was an event of major significance. It is to be hoped that it will mark a Continue reading »
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CHARLES A. KUPCHAN AND EDWARD ALDEN. Trump Is Poised to Do Irreparable Harm to World Trade (Foreign Affairs 24.07.18)
During his trip to Europe this month, U.S. President Donald Trump derided his NATO counterparts over defense spending, undermined British Prime Minister Theresa May by second-guessing her approach to Brexit, and then groveled before Russian President Vladimir Putin. A firestorm of controversy has ensued. But at least the trans-Atlantic security alliance emerged intact from Trump’s Continue reading »
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JAMES ONEILL. Australia’s Foreign Policy: the Rhetoric and the Reality.
A recent article on the ABC website by Andrew Probyn and Andrew Green suggested that Australia may be poised to play a role in a threatened United States attack on Iran. That role would, it was suggested, be played by the United States controlled spy facility at Pine Gap in the Northern Territory. The prospect Continue reading »
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GEOFF MILLER. Iran: No bombing until…..
It’s a relief that last week’s story has been hosed down both here and in the US, but causes for concern remain. Continue reading »
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HENRY REYNOLDS. A HUNDRED YEARS OF MATESHIP.
The poster was launched by the Australian Embassy in Washington on July 4th, Independence Day. It attracted no attention at all locally which may have been a blessing. I only heard about it when reading the Australian edition of the Guardian online. It featured the faces of 15 men. It was a strange collection of Continue reading »
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GIDEON RACHMAN. Revenge on the US is sweet for Vladimir Putin.
The Russian president draws satisfaction from embarrassing America. Continue reading »
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KUNWAR KHULDUNE SHAHID. Khan is saying the right things, but can he really deliver?
The ex-cricketer has already triumphed over 22 years of adversity, but there will be more pain ahead as he tackles an ailing economy and security issues Continue reading »
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GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Is the sun setting on the US imperium? (Repost from 15/5/2018)
China is on the march to a dominant military footprint while American policy lacks strategic intent. Continue reading »
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GARETH EVANS. How we should manage Donald Trump’s meltdown world (Repost from 22/6/2018)
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 institutions in which rules could be agreed and norms reinforced – is the only one Continue reading »
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JOHN CARMODY. Current British Politics.
Political time seems absurdly compressed at present. Everywhere. It used to be that a week is a long time in politics: currently, in Britain, even a day seems long and bafflingly eventful. Writing about those events – let alone actually understanding them – seems almost impossible. Is it because modern politics induces otherwise sensible people Continue reading »
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ANTHONY PUN. The Battle for the South Pacific.
The Battle for the South Pacific is on! China is already in Australia’s backyard, the South Pacific, wooing and cultivating friends with soft power. As part of China BRI initiative, Chinese investment with the South Pacific nations totalled US 1.78 billion outstripping Australia’s AUD137M for subsea internet cable connecting Australia-PNG-Solomon Islands. The current scorecard is China Continue reading »
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DUNCAN MACLAREN. Scotland and a Very English Brexit: the looming constitutional crisis
A glance at the increasingly Monty Pythonesque British/English Brexit illustrates the intra-European constitutional crisis of just how difficult it is to leave a multinational partnership of 40 years’ vintage – and how disastrous it will be economically, socially and, since it has a xenophobic tinge in origin, morally. A side effect of Brexit is an Continue reading »