World Affairs
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RICHARD BUTLER. The showdown between principles and interests.
The conflict between principles and interests now afflicting the US polity is stark. Participants from all sides of the political mainstream know that Trump’s presidency is proving disastrous and that they will need to act to rectify this. For now, the Republicans are continuing to prefer the pursuit of their partisan interests to acting to Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Iraq 2003: the Fabricated War of Choice
Gordon Brown has revealed a report showing that US intelligence Agencies knew Iraq did not have WMD and told the Bush Administration so. The invasion of Iraq was a war of choice, preferred by Bush, and Blair which Howard joined with alacrity. Continue reading »
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MARTY NATALEGAWA. The Menadue Oration-“Can Democracy Deliver?”
Inaugural Menadue Oration of the Centre for Policy Development (CPD), delivered in Melbourne on 2 November 2017,the tenth anniversary of the establishment of CPD. John Menadue was the founding Chair. Can democracy deliver? As one who has traversed Indonesia’s now more than a decade-long transformative democratic journey – such that today it constitutes the world’s Continue reading »
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SPENCER ZIFCAK. Australia elected to UN Human Rights Council – despite international condemnation.
Two weeks ago, Australia was chosen as one of two new member nations on the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). Before one gets too excited about this achievement it is worth noting that our country’s election was uncontested. There were three countries vying for two positions on the HRC – Australia, Spain and France. France dropped Continue reading »
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The Manus Island agreement is a failure; Turnbull and Shorten need to accept that: Robert Manne, Tim Costello, Frank Brennan and John Menadue.
There is now a humanitarian disaster on Australia’s doorstep. And it’s our responsibility. The refugees on Manus Island must be resettled promptly. After four years, all options other than Australia have come to nothing or have been rejected by our government. There is now no option but to resettle them in Australia. There are 600 persons, most of them proven refugees, Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Heading over the nuclear cliff.
The answer to growing regional uncertainty isn’t to build up nuclear arsenals. Continue reading »
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TRAVERS McLEOD. Patient policy-making for a region on the move.
There are no quick fixes for a crisis like the forced displacement of Myanmar’s Rohingya, but a new collaboration has been preparing the way for an effective regional approach. Continue reading »
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JOAN STAPLES. Civil Society Highs and Lows
Australian civil society has seen the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) win the Nobel Peace Prize, the High Court uphold Bob Brown’s challenge to Tasmanian protest laws, and the Coalition extend its attacks on NGO advocacy, targeting GetUp. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. Middle East World Cup – match schedule unravelling – a report.
The Middle East World Cup should be advancing towards the Finals but the match schedule is in disarray due to disqualifications and suspensions. Continue reading »
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GEOFF MILLER. Xi Jinping’s China: this too will pass?
Xi Jinping’s first five years have produced a China in which the Communist Party is in more control of more things, and restrictions on dissent and the free expression of opinion have grown. The recently concluded Party Congress seems to offer more of the same. But how will this recipe stand with a population growing Continue reading »
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JOSEPH CAMILLERI. For our misdeeds in Korea we shall pay dearly
The result of the recent snap election called by Shinzo Abe and Japan’s steady military build-up are a portent of things to come. The Korean crisis, which owes at least as much to Washington’s flexing of military muscle as to Pyongyang’s misguided nuclear antics, holds the key to many of these ominous developments. Continue reading »
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An open letter to the Prime Minister on climate and nuclear perils
This open letter was initiated by Dr Andrew Glikson (Earth and Paleo-climate science, ANU School of Anthropology and Archeology) and signed by over 200 Australian scientists, including those in the medical, environmental and physical disciplines, as well as scholars in the humanities. It clearly shows the immense perils we now face due to climate change and Continue reading »
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ALLAN PATIENCE. Is Australia a morally backward society?
Earlier this year a national conference of First Nation Australians at Uluru recommended that a Council representing all Indigenous Australians be enshrined in the Constitution. The purpose of the Council would be to advise governments on policies affecting Indigenous Australians. It would not have legislative powers; it would be a strictly consultative body, advising governments Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Multiple risks and limited options on the Korean peninsula
By 2020, North Korea will either be a post-atomic wasteland; an active war zone; or a de facto nuclear-armed state with a fully developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capability, and grudgingly accepted as such. To paraphrase Churchill’s familiar bon mot on democracy, learning to live with that reality would be the worst outcome, except for Continue reading »
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JOHN TULLOH. Seven days in Peking, 40 years ago.
Pearls and Irritations has printed memoirs of mine to mark the 50th anniversary of two notable news assignments: one was the Six-Day War, the other was a trip across the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. This one marks the 40th anniversary of my first trip to China – to Peking, as Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KELLY. The weakest to the wall.
The eyes of the world have been fixed on and appalled by the sight of more than 580,000 Rohingya fleeing the violence gratuitously inflicted on them by the military in Myanmar. And the story isn’t over yet. More will be targeted and more will run for their lives in what is the most serious humanitarian Continue reading »
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WALTER HAMILTON. When Nothing Happened in Japan
After Sunday’s election, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would be entitled to quote Mark Twain: ‘Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated’. Political death, that is. His ruling coalition threw back all challengers and retained the crucial two-thirds majority in the lower house required for a constitutional amendment. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Malcolm Turnbull and Daniel Andrews.
The success of Victoria’s Labor government in passing its Assisted Dying legislation through the lower house is surely an object lesson in how to handle a sensitive and contentious subject. Continue reading »
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STUART HARRIS. The US and North Korea: the importance of history.
North Korea’s belligerent missile tests have given rise to fears that the hardening rhetoric on both sides will lead to military conflict involving nuclear weapons. These fears have resulted in moves to moderate this tension by some of the players, with US Secretary of State Tillerson seeking to communicate with the North, and South Korea’s Continue reading »
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MAX HAYTON. NZ election finally produces a government.
A stunning election outcome has given New Zealand a new government with the potential to transform the country’s economy and society. Risen star and youngest ever New Zealand woman Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, aged 37, leads a coalition that ends the nine-year reign of the conservative, centre-Right National Party under former money dealer John Key Continue reading »
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PETER RODGERS. Australia and capital punishment – rhetoric and reality
In pursuing Australia’s ultimately successful bid for election to the UN Human Rights Council, Foreign Minister Bishop declared that Australia would be ‘unrelenting’ in its efforts to abolish capital punishment globally. But Australia’s track record of selective outrage gives little hope for an energetic, universalist approach that goes beyond the rhetorical. Continue reading »
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JULIE BISHOP. Foreign policy in an uncertain world.
“We have an independent foreign policy and we do not outsource our decisions to other countries.” Julie Bishop Yesterday, we posted a speech by Shadow Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, ‘Engaging with China’. Today we post a presentation by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to the Australian Institute of International Affairs, 2017 National Conference in Canberra. Continue reading »
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MERRIDEN VARRALL. Chinese student furore reveals Australia’s poor integration strategy
Why does Australia encourage international — including Chinese — students to study within its borders? Australian universities are about teaching and learning, but they need to be properly resourced to do so, so one reason for encouraging foreign students is the funding they bring to Australian universities. Another more important aspect is the potential to Continue reading »
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PENNY WONG. FutureAsia – Engaging with China (A speech to the Australian Institute of International Affairs, Canberra, 16 October 2017)
Last month, my friend and colleague Chris Bowen, the Shadow Treasurer, delivered a major speech to the Asia Society in Sydney. In it he outlined Labor’s approach to Asia. FutureAsia will be a whole-of-government framework underpinning our efforts to deepen and broaden our engagement. As the Shadow Treasurer said, Asian economies are changing, and Australia isn’t keeping Continue reading »
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JAMES O’NEILL: Requiem for a democracy
The Australian Security agencies have asked again for further powers to enable them to prevent terrorist attacks. Among the requests made are for extended detention powers, increasing the time a “terror suspect” can be detained without charge from 14 to 28 days. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. Trump is being reckless with the Iranian nuclear deal
President Trump’s decision this past weekend to de-certify the nuclear deal with Iran displays a recklessness almost on a par with his apparent readiness to vaporise North Korea with nuclear bombs. He is in error in citing non-nuclear aspects of the Iranian government as bearing on the agreement. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BROINOWSKI. Trump’s foolishness over Iran
Those with short memories forget what a gem of non-proliferation the Iran Framework Agreement of July 2015 is. Trump wants to trash it. If he succeeds it will create regional uncertainty and the likelihood of nuclear proliferation that the Framework currently postpones. Along with his posture towards North Korea, Trump’s contempt for Iran makes him Continue reading »
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IAN MACPHEE. In Defence of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Rohingya crisis in Rakhine state in Myanmar (formerly Burma), one of the most unknown situations in the world, is now dominating daily news worldwide. Many commentators have rushed to judgment about the leadership of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi without understanding the challenges she faces. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Five Steps to Peace in Myanmar
The bloodshed in Myanmar has uprooted hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya, eroded the prestige of government leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and damaged the credibility of ASEAN and the United Nations. The crisis can be resolved, but not without international intervention. Continue reading »
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WALTER HAMILTON. Big changes mean more of the same in Japanese election
Early signs of trouble for the Abe government in Japan have seemingly evaporated under the more intense heat of election campaigning, and “more of the same” is now the likely outcome of the 22 October poll. Continue reading »