World Affairs
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PAUL FRIJTERS. What does the North Korean situation say about China?
It is easy to get drawn into the drama of rockets fired over Japan, and massive hydrogen bombs tested by a North Korean regime that likes to threaten mass extinction of its enemies, particularly with the tweeter-in-chief responding in kind. I worry though that the real game is in China, because the suspicion is that Continue reading »
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TEJSHREE THAPA. Watching Burma in Flames from Bangladesh
I stood at the edge of the Naf River on the Bangladesh border watching heavy smoke rise from a village on the Burma side. Bangladeshi border guards talked of fires all along the border targeting villages of Rohingya Muslims. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. In the ‘Graveyard of Empires’, the US Military Presence Is on Life Support
As a private citizen, Donald Trump advocated for full US withdrawal. As president, he has chosen to perpetuate, prolong and expand the war, at further cost to US treasure and lives. Continue reading »
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K. HUSSAN ZIA. American Objective in Afghanistan
The Afghans are not a nation as such but a composition of numerous tribes. These form loose groupings based on ethnicity. Individuals owe their allegiance first and foremost to the tribe and after that to the ethnic group. Among the latter, Pashtoons constitute the dominant force and are the main element in the insurgency. They Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. India and China provide rare glimmer of hope
A confrontation in the Himalayas could have turned violent, but mature diplomacy won the day. Continue reading »
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ARCHBISHOP FISHER. Does Pope Francis support same-sex marriage?
A number of commentators have recently suggested that loyalty to Catholic teaching, and especially to Pope Francis, would allow, even require, support for same-sex marriage; by implication, the Australian bishops misunderstand Catholic teaching and have been disloyal to Pope Francis by saying Catholics should vote NO. But what has Pope Francis actually said about this? Continue reading »
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FRANK BRENNAN. The Copenhagen breakthrough in the Timor Sea.
There has been an agreed breakthrough in the long running dispute between Australia and Timor Leste in relation to maritime boundary demarcation and control of the resources in the disputed area in the Timor Sea. The breakthrough came on 30 August, the 18th anniversary of the bloody referendum at which the Timorese voted for their Continue reading »
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PETER DAY. When Church leaders forget to tell the story that liberates.
Human sexuality is a complex and fragile thing; far greyer than black or white. It is best tended to by gentle, wise, and humble hands – religious leaders might like to consider dropping their megaphone diplomacy, then? Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. What a post-war contrast – Germany and Japan; Angela Merkel and Shinzo Abe.
For all its atrocities in the 1930s and 1940s, Germany has become an exemplar country promoting prosperity and peace. Angela Merkel stands out as a world leader more than any other. By contrast, Japan has again become a divisive country in its region and its Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has been acquiescing and promoting an Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Iran: Trump is demanding fake facts.
President Trump is demanding that US intelligence agencies provide material on which he can base a declaration that Iran is not in compliance with the international agreement to curb its nuclear programme. The material does not exist, so they’ll need to be fake facts. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. When will Saudi Arabia be brought to account for its malign influence and promotion of terrorism?
Through its support of extremist Wahabism, the Saudi government has been promoting radical Islam around the world. Its influence has included funding schools, universities and mosques in over 80 countries. But like the issue of the burqa, few Australians want to discuss the highly dangerous activities of the Saudi government. Continue reading »
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. Till war do us part.
A survey reports a significant movement of Australian opinion about the US alliance, away from current government policy which unquestioningly supports the Afghanistan deployment. Continue reading »
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‘Theresa May. Hang your head in shame.’
From Dublin to the Somme: How the Death of an Irish priest exposes the tragedy of Brexit, by Robert Fisk. Continue reading »
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JAMES O’NEILL. American blueprints for war pose an existential threat to Australia.
The recent statement by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to the effect that on defence issues Australia and the United States were “joined at the hip” raises the serious question of how far Australia will actually go in support of the United States as it embarks on one foreign policy misadventure after another? A possible change Continue reading »
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ADAM BROINOWSKI. Picking up the pieces amid the U.S.–North Korea nuclear stand-off
North Korea is often righteously condemned for being the only nation to have conducted five nuclear tests and a barrage of missile tests in the 21st century. Led by a young chubby dictator with a bad haircut, we have long been told that the paranoid hermit kingdom known for its undeniably bombastic, intensely patriotic and Continue reading »
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John Menadue. The burqa and hijab – public space must be neutral and secular.-a repost
The burqa and the hijab are stale news in France. There has been an important debate and discussion on Muslim head and body covering in France for many years. The simple head dress or hijab, turbans and kippas have been banned in French schools since 2004. The burqa has been banned in public spaces since Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Trump’s “Principled Realism” : details withheld
President Trump’s speech on a new Afghanistan strategy was partly designed to mitigate the extreme harm he did by his Charlottesville outbursts. Apart from claiming that the US would win in Afghanistan, no details were given. He bashed Pakistan, embraced India and made clear that allies, such as Australia, would be expected to support the Continue reading »
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JOSEPH A. CAMILLERI. Australia’s engagement with Asia and the world has fallen on hard times.
In the vain hope of minimising the catastrophic consequences of America’s 16-year long military intervention, Donald Trump has just announced yet another surge in its military presence in Afghanistan. Australia, like other allies, will also be asked to do more, and will almost certainly agree to the request. This is part of the now familiar Continue reading »
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DENNIS ARGALL. Pine Gap and national strategic independence.
For a long time people have focused concern on Pine Gap. But Pine Gap is but an element of our entanglement with United States strategic policy, which is the big thing to be addressed and turned around. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. We should discuss Pine Gap!
Whether the leaked documents from the US National Security Agency were revealing, as claimed by the ABC’s Background Briefing on Sunday morning (http://ab.co/2vSXdhD), enough has been known about the Pine Gap facility long enough for some searching questions about its accountability to be well overdue. Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. The South Koreans are a critical part of the equation
As the shouting match becomes more heated between Kim Jong Un and President Trump the role of the popular new President Moon has become more difficult. The most likely casualties in any outbreak of military exchanges would be the population of Seoul and would be very large. These must be considered properly in advance of Continue reading »
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GEOFF MILLER. Korea: Missiles or exercises or both?
Despite President Trump’s latest supercilious Tweet, North Korea may still seek to make the cancellation of exercise Ulchi-Freedom Guardian the price of not firing its missiles into waters near Guam. Continue reading »
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JOHN McCARTHY. The West needs to talk about Russia.
The place Russia occupies in the political maelstrom in Washington, the recent sanctions bills in Congress and Putin’s cuts to the American diplomatic presence in Russia are driving the US’s relationship—and hence the West’s relationship—with Russia from bad to worse. However, the following thoughts—from a Russia neophyte after a trip to Moscow and road journey Continue reading »
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MICHAEL SAINSBURY. Religious and ethnic persecution sours ASEAN’s birthday party
Against the backdrop of a rising China, positive news out of the region is being undermined by several major crises. Continue reading »
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JEAN-PIERRE LEHMANN. Aug 15: A day to mark Western imperialism
The date marks the 70th anniversary of the independence and partition of India, an event that has its roots in Western colonial conquest of the Indian sub-continent. It should also be remembered by the imperialists who plundered the planet. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Has Bishop’s time come?
The publication by a leading journalist of an extraordinary puff piece on Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and her leadership skills, is bound to set political hares running. But, where to? Continue reading »
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. Existential threats
In a sequence of events that recall the Cuban missile crisis, the world has again come within a brain-snap of nuclear destruction. This is the moment Australia should have been ready to deal with properly and democratically, by having a parliamentary debate to decide whether and why we should or should not go to war. Continue reading »
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GREG LOCKHART. An old imperial reflex
Rawdon Dalrymple’s 4 August blog ‘A personal link to World War One’ presents us with an automatic defence of the old imperial order. Continue reading »
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GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. Malcolm Turnbull’s response to the Korean crisis has been contemptible.
In his grovelling ‘hip to hip’ statement on 10 August, he served up to the Australian people an utterly false and misleading version of the ANZUS Treaty and its meaning. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. All the way with Donald J? No way Jose
Has the quality of Australia’s decision making on issues of life and death for the country and its people – not to mention Planet Earth – truly become reform proof? Going by the lack of any serious process before lining up dutifully behind the most strategically challenged president in American history and the most irresponsible Continue reading »