World Affairs
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Richard Butler. Ukraine, not Sarajevo
In recent months, there’s been no shortage of suggestions, indeed warnings, that Russia’s absorption of Crimea and now it’s pressure on eastern Ukraine, is the equivalent of the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand, in Sarajevo almost exactly 100 years ago: the “ shot heard around the world”, which saw the beginning of the First Continue reading »
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John Menadue. We ‘warn the Tsar of Russia’.
In September 1892, the headline ‘The Hobart Mercury warns the Tsar’ did not threaten Russia sufficiently to attract a response or change its belligerent behaviour. I don’t think the Tsar thought it necessary to respond to people who have an exaggerated view of their own importance The Hobart Mercury over-reached itself. Australian Prime Ministers, particularly Continue reading »
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David Isaacs and Ian Kerridge. Asylum seeker’s ‘brain death’ shows failure of care and of democracy.
The news that Hamid Kehazaei, a 24-year-old Iranian asylum seeker detained on Manus Island, has been diagnosed as brain dead following his transfer to the Mater Hospital in Brisbane is a tragedy. That it is a tragedy for this young man and his family is unquestionable The news – but the extent of this tragedy Continue reading »
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Annette Brownlie. No new war in Iraq.
Both major political parties are once again standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the US, in support of what amounts to a new military intervention in Iraq. The process began with the dropping of humanitarian aid supplies to the Yezidi. It has now moved on to the delivery of weapons and munitions to Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Meanwhile, Defence Continue reading »
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John Tulloh. Canberra’s fork in the road – the humanitarian way or the warpath?
What interesting, fraught and changing times we live in. This month marks the 75th anniversary of the start of World War Two. Britain and France with little ado told Germany to get out of Poland or else. Three days later King George VI made a radio speech to the British nation that good must prevail. Continue reading »
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Ben Lewis. The false advertising of mandatory detention and “Stopping the Boats”
Spend any amount of time listening to Australian policy makers or reading Australian media and you’re certain to hear a familiar phrase: “Stop the Boats”. It has become such a political imperative within the Australian asylum seeker debate that “Stop the Boats” is rarely even challenged. But putting aside the question of whether Australia should Continue reading »
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Tony Smith. The failure of imagination
Australia has rushed to despatch even more armaments into the already troubled areas contested by men of violence across Iraq and Syria. It is clear that once again, our national government has assumed that this action is necessary and unavoidable. In reality, there are always choices and it is disappointing that the Coalition has failed Continue reading »
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John Menadue. MH17 – At last a thank-you to Malaysia may be on the cards.
In ten days’ time, Tony Abbott will be visiting Malaysia and India. The visit to Kuala Lumpur will at last be an opportunity for him to thank on our behalf the Malaysian Government’s significant contribution to ‘Operation Bring them Home’. Without fanfare the Malaysian Prime Minister secured two key outcomes that have been of great Continue reading »
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Walter Hamilton. Copy and Paste
The Japanese have coined a new word, kopipe, from the English phrase ‘copy and paste’. It featured, for instance, in recent reporting of the discredited stem-cell researcher caught out copying images and data from one research paper to another. But the word kopipe has many possible applications, such as in the ongoing debates about history Continue reading »
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Cavan Hogue. Stick versus Carrot in Ukraine?
A major problem with the situation in Ukraine is that you can’t believe anything anyone says because they all have their political agendas to push and don’t hesitate to lie. Crimea, Odessa and the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine have Russian majorities who would produce a majority for being part of Russia in any free Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Scott Morrison at the Human Rights Commission.
Minister Morrison, assisted by the Secretary of his department, continued his aggressive ways at the hearing on August 22. He said that his policies discouraged asylum seekers risking their lives at sea. He described himself as the champion of the voiceless, ‘the ones that are at the bottom of the ocean’. He clearly wants to Continue reading »
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Richard Woolcott. Indonesia under President Widodo.
Australia will be dealing with a new Indonesian government in just two months. This will involve challenges and opportunities for both countries. The Constitutional Court in Jakarta has now confirmed the election of Joko Widodo as President-elect with 53.15% of the eligible vote. The Court’s decision is not appealable and he will be sworn in Continue reading »
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Elizabeth Elliott. Compassion goes missing on Christmas Island
When it comes to children in need, most Australians feel compassion. Most will applaud today’s announcement that ‘Boat Kids’ will be released into the community. However this decision does not go far enough. It includes only kids aged less than 10 years (excluding many vulnerable teens); only those detained on the Australian mainland (excluding kids Continue reading »
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An abuse of power by the Israeli lobby.
In 1967 the Israeli military attacked the USS Liberty, an American spy-ship which had been monitoring Israeli transmissions about the conflict during the Six-day War. Intercepted Israeli communications indicated that the goal was to sink the Liberty and leave no survivors. As the story reveals, – see link below – both the US President Lyndon Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Who triggered the disaster in Iraq?
George Bush and his neocons must bear the principal responsibility for the disaster which is continuing to unfold in Iraq. In Australian terms, the most guilty partners are without doubt the Howard Government and News Corporation. The Howard Government’s decision to support the invasion of Iraq in 2002 was loudly supported by Tony Abbott. He Continue reading »
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Saree Makdisi. The catastrophe inflicted on Gaza – and the costs to Israel’s standing.
The Israeli public relations is almost as powerful as the Israeli military machine. An alternative view is expressed below by Saree Makdisi, a professor of English and comparative literature at UCLA, and the author of ‘Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation’. This article was published in ‘Mondoweiss’ which describes itself as ‘a news website devoted Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Is there light at the end of the dark tunnel?
In my blog of April 17 I outlined ways in which we might find a way out of the refugee quagmire. It is reposted below. There is speculation that the government may announce an increase in the refugee intake to help the Christians and other minorities suffering dreadful persecution in Iraq and Syria. I hope Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Missing in action when Kerry and Hagel come calling?
I can understand Tony Abbott’s wish to direct attention away from the budget by going off to The Hague and London. But are Australia’s national and policy interests being served by his absence when John Kerry and Chuck Hegel visit us. In my blog of July 31 ‘Overplaying one’s hand’ I quoted Tony Abbott’s comments Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Will the new Colombo Plan work?
Julie Bishop has announced a ‘signature initiative’ of the Australian government which aims to lift knowledge of the Indo-Pacific in Australia by supporting Australian undergraduates with internships in the region. This initiative is commendable but I hope it avoids the problem of earlier attempts to lift Australian understanding and skills for our region. The main Continue reading »
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Cavan Hogue. Russia boycott.
Anyone with any knowledge of Russia could have told the Prime Minister that his gratuitous public and personal attacks on Mr Putin and on Russia in general would lead to retaliation. Russia was left with no other option except humiliation and Russians are too proud and too sensitive to accept that. So the Australian Government Continue reading »
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David Stephens. The children suffer.
Osbert Sitwell’s The Next War, published in 1918, depicts some plutocrats deciding what would be an appropriate war memorial. The senior plutocrat puts a suggestion which his colleagues eagerly take up. “What more fitting memorial for the fallen Than that their children Should fall for the same cause?” Rushing eagerly into the street, The kindly Continue reading »
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Michael Sainsbury. Will China’s crackdown save or sink the Communist Party?
In launching an investigation into former security chief Zhou Yongkang, Chinese President Xi Jinping has entered uncharted and possibly dangerous territory. It not only raises the stakes for Xi’s increasingly iron fisted rule, but also for the Communist Party itself. The case announced last week targets an official who until recently was ranked the third Continue reading »
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Kerry Murphy. The persecutions.
In March 2001, the Taliban dynamited the ancient Buddha statues of Bamian because the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, claimed they were ‘idolatrous’ and idolatry is banned in Islam. In July 2014, ISIL destroyed the ancient tomb of the prophet Jonah in Mosul for the same reason.[1] This site was considered a sacred site for Jews, Continue reading »
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Tessa Morris-Suzuki Rare Earth, politics and human rights.
On 5 July 2014, the ABC’s PM program ran a report which revealed that “a leading Asian human rights activist has urged the Federal Government to investigate a Queensland-based resources company and a prominent Australian geologist over mining deals with North Korea that he believes may breach United Nations sanctions”. (http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2014/s4061381.htm) The report looked at Continue reading »
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Mike Steketee. Mandatory detention punishes but it does not deter.
“It has not been easy for organised world opinion in the United Nations or elsewhere to act directly in respect of some of the dreadful events which have driven so many people from their own homes and their own fatherland but at least we can in the most practical fashion show our sympathy for those Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Suffer the little children to come unto me…
Well, not so if they are Palestinian children or asylum seeker children in our detention centres. At last counting there were 1,230 Palestinians killed in Gaza as a result of 3,000 or more air and artillery strikes. 56 Israelis have died. Close to 1,000 of those Palestinians killed were civilians, including children. Only three Israeli Continue reading »
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Richard Butler. US: What Leadership?
There is continuous debate, within the US, about President Obama’s handling of international affairs. To some, he has responded to their wish to see the US less entangled, everywhere; to others, he’s a feckless weakling and should be impeached. The only thing that seems clear about this debate is that it is agitated, apparently, interminable Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Overplaying one’s hand.
With the benefits that governments get with incumbency, presidents and prime ministers need to be careful not to overstate their case or overplay their hands. The temptation is great, particularly when there are national outpourings of grief and when a global stage awaits. Tony Abbott was certainly on the world stage over MH370. On 21 Continue reading »
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John Tulloh. The Grief and Pain of Life in Gaza.
‘Gaza is a tragic place’, observed John Lyons, The Australian’s Middle East correspondent, the other day. It certainly is. Gaza must be one of the worst places in the world in which to live or at least try to survive. For starters, its population of more than 1.7 million long-suffering Palestinians has to live in Continue reading »
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Noura Erakat. Five Israeli Talking Points on Gaza Debunked.
Five Israeli talking points on Gaza debunked. Why does the mainstream media keep repeating these false claims? Israel has killed almost 800 Palestinians in the past twenty-one days in the Gaza Strip alone; its onslaught continues. The UN estimates that more than 74 percent of those killed are civilians. That is to be expected in Continue reading »
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