World Affairs
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RAMESH THAKUR. Trump is Master of the Art of Making America Grate.
Trump’s decision yesterday to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal is a global tragedy likely to unsettle an already volatile Middle East and a world in some disarray. Trump has pulled out of the deal not because it was flawed, but because it was working as intended and this posed an insurmountable obstacle to potential military Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING AND JON STANFORD. Australia’s strategic risks and future defence policy; Part 2: Future defence strategy, capability and submarines
In this second article we discuss the need to develop a defence strategy that involves shifting from a force structure designed for coalition warfare to one optimised for the independent defence of Australia. We focus on the requirement for new submarines, given that these are the assets best suited for the prosecution of asymmetric warfare Continue reading »
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Turnbull Government may be toning down anti-China stance
Canberra is giving indications it believes an 18-month tilt to a marked anti-China stance might now be corrected. There are hints the Turnbull Government recognises that being the most rhetorically hostile to China of all US allies does not serve our national interest. Continue reading »
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Iran’s nukes redux
It takes chutzpah for a country that has an unacknowledged nuclear arsenal to point the finger at another country for clandestine nuclear activities and to demand military action to halt them. Continue reading »
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MARIAM MOKHTAR. Mahathir’s Last Hurrah.
Critics of Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, used to joke that he would like to be prime minister for life. Today, that prediction may have a ring of truth, although others believe the incumbent PM, Najib Abdul Razak, would like to stake the same claim. Continue reading »
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GEORGE EATON. The local elections in the UK were not a “bad night” for Labour – but Jeremy Corbyn needs another great leap forward
Britain has entered a new era of ultra-hung politics. Were last night’s local election results replicated on a national level, Labour would win 283 seats (up 21), the Conservatives 280 (down 38) and the resurgent Liberal Democrats 22 (up 10). Continue reading »
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SUSANNE ROBERTS. Hugh Mackay reimagines a more compassionate Australia (Book Review)
Esteemed social researcher Hugh Mackay’s latest book Australia Reimagined: Towards a more compassionate, less anxious society is exquisitely timed. As the daily headlines tell of bank and church scandals and failures in the health, education and housing systems, many of us are asking what went wrong and are increasingly preoccupied with searching for solutions. We Continue reading »
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SCOTT BURCHILL. The China Syndrome
The deceitful exaggeration of the threat that China’s rise allegedly poses for countries in the Asia-Pacific has been exposed by a number of analysts in Australia, including Brian Toohey. There is no need to reprise their arguments here, other than to say that in what passes for scholarship in the West, it is has become Continue reading »
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Malaysia Calls On Authoritarian Regimes To Monitor Its Democratic Elections!
The Malaysian Election Commission has just issued a staggering list of seven countries which they say have taken up its offer to come and monitor the up-coming elections to ensure they are free and fair – and free from fraud. The list includes three of the world’s most authoritarian regimes; two countries described as ‘Hybrid’ Continue reading »
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BRIDGET WELSH. This Malaysian election is different.
Malaysia’s government has dissolved the Parliament to make way for the 14th General Election (GE14). The country will go to the polls on 9 May. From afar, this election seems like a repeat of the last election in 2013, when a polarised electorate was divided over the governance of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. Korea : After Panmunjeom
Much has been written about the recent Kim:Moon Summit and its communique. The signs on the interKorean front are encouraging but all still hinges on how the Kim:Trump Summit. It will have to address the absolutely critical issue of “denuclearisation” – what it actually means and how could it be achieved. There is still far Continue reading »
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CAVAN HOGUE. What rules based order?
Australia proclaims the importance of a rules based international order but it is not at all clear what those rules are, let alone who observes them and who doesn’t. Even where there is agreement on what the rule is countries interpret it to suit their interests. There are no countries in a position to cast Continue reading »
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Choreographing a wallaby-elephant pas de deux.
In January, Greg Sheridan wrote about a forthcoming report to the government by former foreign secretary Peter Varghese on how to elevate relations with India. Peter, who served also as High Commissioner to India, gives three reasons why India’s economic turnaround is transformational for Australia: its sheer scale, the complementarity between the Australian and Indian economies Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Macron tests his entente cordiale with Turnbull on climate change.
France’s President Macron is taking the opportunity while briefly in Australia to bully, embarrass, shame, blackmail, whatever, Prime Minister Turnbull into taking meaningful action on climate change and become the real leader the Australian people and Macron himself are looking for. He’s got a hard task ahead of him but we need whatever help we Continue reading »
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BEN GRAHAM Australia must warm to China or face economic punishment, expert claims
CHINA is not a rising power, it has already risen – and we can either embrace it now or face “punishment”, an expert says. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. An Avalanche of Advocates
While the US will be without an Ambassador in Canberra for a while it can be forgiven for thinking it will be able to rely, on our own home-grown Alliance advocates. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL McKINLEY. War talk, China phobia and Australia’s Hobbesian choices.
Australia’s choices and policy debate on China are in need of clarification and rethinking. Currently, they are mired in an idealised past which has gone and cannot be recovered but the resulting nostalgia, now indulged, requires accepting phobic propositions by the US which reflect its preoccupation with decline and not with understanding the imperative to Continue reading »
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MARK KULASINGHAM. ‘Malay tsunami’ to decide Malaysian election.
‘MALAY TSUNAMI’ TO DECIDE MALAYSIAN ELECTION Next Wednesday 9 May, Malaysia’s fourteenth general election will take place.I think it’s going to be a cracker.After speaking to Malaysians across the country – I sense there is something different about this election. In previous polls, there was always a sense of resignation that the ruling coalition would Continue reading »
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RICHARD BROINOWSKI. Iran on the ground
Iran continues to be stereotyped in western media as a rogue state full of corrupt mullahs ,an abuser of human rights, an exporter of Islamic terrorism to Syria, Iraq, the Gaza Strip and Yemen, and an extremist theocracy with territorial and nuclear ambitions on a collision course with Saudi Arabia, Israel and their backer, the Continue reading »
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DUNCAN GRAHAM. Finding ties that bind with Indonesia
In early April, NSW Governor David Hurley spoke about Indonesian-Australian relationships. Although largely ignored by the mainstream media his speech was not the usual white bread served by those elevated to positions supra-politics. Hurley launched some awkward statistics: * Thirteen percent of Australians see Indonesians as trustworthy. Switch that around and the figure is 53 Continue reading »
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JOHN McCARTHY. Australian foreign policy needs more silence.
Simon and Garfunkel sang of the dangers of the sound of silence. But in Australian Foreign Policy, we need more of it. Continue reading »
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BEVAN RAMSDEN. Glimmer of hope for peace on Korean Peninsula glows more brightly.
Technically North and South Korea are still in a state of war. The cessation of hostilities in 1953 ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. Now South Korea says it is considering how to change a decades-old armistice with North Korea into a peace agreement. So the “eyes” of the world are currently on Continue reading »
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CLIVE KESSLER. Malaysia’s electoral fantasy belies worrying reality.
Malaysia’s fourteenth general elections (GE14) have finally been called. For almost a decade Prime Minister Najib Razak has ruled on recurrent hints of a snap, surprise election; this is the second time he has let the Parliament run close to its full five-year course. On 7 April, Najib dissolved the Parliament, leaving it to the Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. The international press at Panmunjom for the KIm-Moon Summit were much more impressed than the Australian press.
I was struck by the response, amazement and obvious excitement of the international press at Panmunjom, near Seoul last Friday. See link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw8mROuQs44 But the media interest in Australia seemed remarkably low key and almost disinterested. At least our media was not as sulky and cynical as the Japanese media, Continue reading »
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EMIRZA ADI SYAILENDRA. Indonesia’s elite divided on China
The diffuse nature of policymaking in Indonesia discourages its leaders from departing from the country’s status quo policy towards Beijing. The status quo aims to allow Jakarta to have its cake and eat it too — that is, enjoy close relations with Beijing while preserving its strategic autonomy in ASEAN. Continue reading »
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ROGER COHEN. The insanity along the Gaza fence
Israel has the right to defend its borders, but not use lethal force against unarmed protesters. Continue reading »
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SAM BATEMAN. South China Sea Encounters
Australian and Chinese warships recently had what has been called a robust but polite encounter in the South China Sea. This was always likely and the Australian Government has been correct in not over-reacting. Rather than unnecessarily confronting China, Australia should be sensitive to the views of its Southeast Asian neighbours. Continue reading »
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LINDSAY MURDOCH. Former Islamic cleric could be Malaysia’s kingmaker.
Unlikely election alliance between PAS and UMNO could result in the country taking a stronger Islamic direction. Continue reading »
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MARGARET O’CONNOR. Institutional reform following the Royal Commission on child sex abuse is women’s work.
Women – from those who quietly brought pressure on parliamentarians through to the Prime Minister and Governor General – brought about the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Yet the response to the Commission is being handled as if it is all blokes’ business. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Admiral Harris is not coming: does it matter?
The decision by incoming US Secretary of State Pompeo, to withdraw the nomination of Admiral Harry Harris as US Ambassador to Australia, is something within his gift. Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull had fervently welcomed the proposed appointment. Presumably she and Malcolm Turnbull will now formulate ways in which to suggest that it’s of no Continue reading »