World Affairs
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BRUCE ARNOLD. Open Government, Open to interpretation
If we are indeed open to Open Government a salient demonstration would be facilitating Australian Human Rights Commission access to what is happening on Australia’s behalf in offshore detention centres. That would be a fine national Christmas present from Turnbull, Dutton and Brandis, with or without tinsel. Continue reading »
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FRANK BRENNAN SJ. Will the refugee deal with the US come off?
IF United States President-elect Donald Trump decides not to honour an agreement to accept refugees from Nauru and Manus Island then they should be settled permanently in Australia, Jesuit theologian and lawyer Fr Frank Brennan says. Continue reading »
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We need a transformational foreign policy.
The following submission to the Hon. Julie Bishop for the White Paper on Foreign Affairs and Trade has also been sent to the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and Senator Wong, as well as selected MPs and Senators. Continue reading »
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JOHN McCARTHY. Preparing for Trump
ANZUS has morphed from an alliance to a sacrosanct ethos to which all Australians are supposed to subscribe. It is time it went back to what it was supposed to be – an alliance. … To differ with the Americans may require political courage of an order to which the Australian political class are unaccustomed. Continue reading »
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TRAVERS McLEOD. General Mattis, the new US Defence Secretary – the right choice for an ahistorical President
With General Petraeus, General Mattis changed the mindset of the US military. Let’s hope that if duty and ethics call, Mattis can change the President’s mind too. Continue reading »
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REG LITTLE. Understanding cultural differences between Australia and China.
Australia’s most urgent challenge today is overcoming two centuries of ‘false education’ about China. Western thought culture tends to be characterised by assumptions, abstractions, rationalities, theories and belief. In contrast, Chinese thought culture tends to be holistic, fluid, intuitive, reflective, strategic and practical. Continue reading »
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WALTER HAMILTON. When all else fails, try Pearl Harbor
Prime Minister Abe of Japan is running out of tricks, but there is no viable alternative. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. White man’s media
The Australian media behave as if Australia is a large island parked off London or New York. Our media is remarkably derivative as a result of media systems laid down over a century ago. It is very unresponsive to the needs of Australia in the 21st Century in relations with our own region. Our media Continue reading »
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Aung San Suu Kyi’s government appears unable – or unwilling – to halt what some describe as ‘ethnic cleansing’.
The Rohingya in Myanmar are facing increasing attacks and harassment. Australia and the region must be prepared to respond. Continue reading »
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Dealing with China
China will look to play a greater role in existing institutions and to craft new institutions and arrangements which place it at the centre in a pattern perhaps reminiscent of the Middle Kingdom … We must continue to pursue policies designed to avoid invidious choices [between China and the US]. Continue reading »
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JOHN TULLOH: Fidel’s ghost teases Washington.
John Tulloh argues that for Trump to renege on Obama’s changes, would be fraught with legal problems, specially for those businesses which have already invested tens of millions in infrastructure in anticipation of Cuba becoming more accessible. Continue reading »
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Asia Dialogue on Forced Migration – the desperate situation of Rohingya in Myanmar.
Situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar of grave concern – the region must be on high alert. Mass displacement inevitable if violence continues to escalate. Continue reading »
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IAN WEBSTER. Amid chaos, ethics.
Speaking particularly of the treatment people in Manus and Nauru, Professor Ian Webster argues that in this secular and chaotic world, the values and principles of the professional codes of health workers could be used to frame their future contributions to a civil and humane society. Continue reading »
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VINCENT MAHON. China ready to step up and lead on climate change.
Vincent Mahon contends that China is poised to promote global leadership on climate change should the US under Trump walk away from its Paris commitments. Continue reading »
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PAUL BARRATT. Managing ANZUS in the age of Trump. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. Australia should do a ‘really deep stocktake of what is in our vital national interests and what we are prepared to sign up to’ . Continue reading »
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The Global Strategic Landscape – present realities, and prospects under Trump. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Australia should call on all the nuclear weapon states – in particular, the two major arsenal-holders US and Russia – to return to the prudent protocols and courtesies of classical great power diplomacy, within the protocols and disciplines of the UN Security Council system of global collective Continue reading »
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. Trump – Seize the moment. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. We have a unique moment to do something Australia has never done – make a rational distinction between our national interests and our enduring regard for the US. Continue reading »
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CAVAN HOGUE. Has the alliance got us into more trouble than it has got us out of? Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. Trump does give us an opportunity to do things we should have done long ago. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. ANZUS – Reality check coming soon! Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. We need diplomacy of the highest order, not military interventions which, as we have seen, generally make conflict situations worse. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. ANZUS in the time of Trump. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. Trump has the potential to mark an inflection point in the evolution of Australia as a self-confident and independent Indo-Pacific actor. Continue reading »
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GARRY WOODARD. Trump and ANZUS. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. Will Australia allow itself to be drawn into Sino-American tensions in the incorrect belief that it has no choice under ANZUS or ‘five eyes’. Continue reading »
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RICHARD WOOLCOTT. The Trump Presidency and Australia. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS Summary. Our relationship with the US is of course very important and substantial. This does not mean that we should be seen as not responding quickly to the greatly changed world of 2016. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. Donald Trump and the ANZUS Alliance – Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. Dennis Richardson, the Secretary of the Defence Department, recently informed us that the ANZUS Alliance was ongoing, irrespective of who was President of the United States. Of course, this is true, but so what? What was the point of Richardson’s admonition, and what was he hoping to Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Quo vadis – the future of the US-Australian alliance. Part 3.
Summary. Is war in the American DNA? In his book ‘Dangerous allies’, Malcolm Fraser warned us how we can be drawn into US conflicts that are of no immediate concern to us. He warned of ‘dangerous strategic dependence’ on the US. The US has a long history of involvement in wars. In Washingtonblog.com in Continue reading »
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Quo vadis – the future of the US-Australian alliance. Part 2.
Summary. Malcolm Fraser warned us that we no longer have an independent capacity to stay out of America’s wars. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Quo vadis – the future of the US-Australian alliance.
Next week I will run a series of short articles entitled ‘Quo vadis – the future of the US-Australian alliance’. In anticipation of that series, I will be posting three articles this week. Part 1, posted today, is by Michael McKinley concerning our reliance on the US relationship. He argues that whilst US military power Continue reading »
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MICHAEL McKINLEY. Quo vadis – the future of the US-Australian alliance. Part 1:
Summary. Donald Trump, Dylan Thomas, and the Australia US Alliance – A great power in decline. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Our white man’s media.
In this blog, I will be posting occasional pieces under the title ‘our white man’s media’ about the inadequate coverage of important issues in world affairs and in particular, in our region. So much of our media coverage reflects the interests and views of the US. Is the Wretched situation in Yemen of no interest Continue reading »
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CHRISTIAN DOWNIE. Why China and Europe should form the world’s most powerful ‘climate bloc’.
Filling the void created by Donald Trump! It seems almost certain that US President-elect Donald Trump will walk away from the Paris climate agreement next year. In the absence of US leadership, the question is: who will step up? Sadly this is not a new question, and history offers some important lessons. In 2001 Continue reading »
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MARK BEESON. Trump’s America: the irresponsible stakeholder?
Will China fill the void that will be created by Trump? How times change. A decade or so ago, former World Bank president and deputy secretary of state Robert Zoellick suggested to China that it needed to become a “responsible stakeholder”. Even at the time this advice looked slightly condescending and patronising. Now it looks Continue reading »