World Affairs
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John Tulloh. Iraq’s road to disintegration.
As far-fetched as this scenario was until recently, it is just possible that international governments may one day face an unprecedented dilemma: whether to recognise a caliphate as an independent country. The newly-declared Islamic State (IS) – formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – is indicating it is separate to Continue reading »
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Kerry Murphy. The four questions quiz for refugees.
When Malaysian Flight MH370 disappeared, the Australian Government made a major contribution towards the international search operation. Almost daily there were announcements by Prime Minister Abbott and other Ministers about new information they were checking and hopes of finding the plane. Media accompanied the air force on the search and the Australian contribution was a Continue reading »
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Japan and comfort women.
In 1993 the Japanese government issued an apology to comfort women who had suffered sexual abuse by the Japanese military during WWII. This apology was called the ‘Kono Declaration’. Kono was the chief cabinet secretary. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying to undo the words of the Kono Declaration without officially withdrawing the Continue reading »
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Thailand – toppling a democratically elected government.
The best article I have seen recently about the confused state of politics in Thailand was in the London Review of Books. It was written Richard Lloyd Parry. See link below. John Menadue http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n12/richard-lloydparry/the-story-of-thaksin-shinawatra Continue reading »
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Frank Brennan SJ. How the Bishop was forced to resign because he played too much for the local team
I have followed the Bishop Bill Morris saga closely. My one new insight from reading Bill’s book – “Benedict, Me and the Cardinals Three” – is that he was sacked because he was too much a team player with his local church. By sacking their local leader, the Romans hoped to shatter the morale and Continue reading »
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Walter Hamilton. A Death in Tokyo
A bespectacled, middle-aged man wearing a suit and tie climbed onto the steel rafters above a footbridge in Tokyo’s busy Shinjuku district and, using a megaphone, began to address passers-by below. According to witnesses, he spoke out against the Japanese Government’s impending decision to embrace the right of ‘collective defense’, which until now has been Continue reading »
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Michael Kelly SJ. The banality of evil
Denial has many faces. Some of them are necessary. If any of us entertained what might befall us each day and the harm we could come to, we would never get out of bed. But denial also has corrosive and destructive effect if we deny the facts of our experience or refuse to be honest Continue reading »
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All at sea again.
Lt Gen Angus Campbell, the Commander of Operation Sovereign Borders is at it again highlighting the policy and political achievements of the Coalition government on asylum seekers rather than sticking to his last, and ensuring that Australian naval vessels don’t stray into Indonesian waters. Gen. Campbell says that as a government employee, he doesn’t comment Continue reading »
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Bill Van Esveld. Dispatches: What’s in a Name? A lot, in the West Bank.
Is it occupied, disputed, or contested? Some are finding it hard to find the right words to describe the West Bank. In a move widely seen as an effort to demonstrate its pro-Israel bona fides, Australia’s attorney general said on June 5 that the Australian government would stop referring to East Jerusalem – which is Continue reading »
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Emily Howie. Australia’s dangerously close relationship with Sri Lanka..
In March 2014 the United Nations Human Rights Council established an historic and long-awaited international investigation into war crimes and human rights abuses committed during the final phases of Sri Lanka’s civil war. The resolution is widely regarded as an important step towards reconciliation and peace. In addition to establishing a mechanism for examining past Continue reading »
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Richard Butler. The Dissolution of Iraq?
On June 10th, some 1,500 fighters from the Jihadist group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria) seized Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. Half a million citizens fled to the Kurdish areas. ISIS then moved further south, towards Baghdad, and took the cities of Tikrit and Samarra, a sacred Shia site. On June 13th, Continue reading »
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Kieran Tapsell. Canon Law and the Truth, Justice and Healing Council.
In his more than 40 blogs posted on the Truth Justice and Healing Council’s web site, Francis Sullivan, its CEO, has never, until last week, mentioned any difficulties that canon law might have posed for bishops in reporting sexual abuse by clergy to the police or in dismissing them through the Church’s own internal disciplinary Continue reading »
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John Tulloh. Misery accomplished in Iraq as disintegration threatens.
Perhaps dictators have their place after all. Saddam Hussein presided over Iraq for 24 years. While he was cruel and vainglorious, he generally succeeded in ensuring Iraqis stayed in line and kept the peace. He was toppled in 2003 when the U.S., with the support of Australia and other allies, invaded the country with the Continue reading »
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Frank Brennan SJ. Why I am not just “getting over” the boats stopping.
Some people keep saying, “The people have spoken. The Abbott government is right. The boats have stopped. So just get over it.” I am getting a little weary of this populist refrain. I am quite prepared to accept that the majority of Australians want the boats stopped. Then arise the questions: how can this be Continue reading »
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Nicholas Carney. Advancing the Australia-India relationship under Prime Minister Modi
Narendra Modi’s ascension to the prime ministership of India has sparked interest around the globe, including here in Australia. The world is right to pay attention to Mr Modi’s rise. In the recent Lok Sahba (‘House of the People’) election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that he leads took 282 of the 543 seats in Continue reading »
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Persecution of Tamils.
Last weekend Tamil asylum seeker Leo Seemanpillai committed suicide in Geelong. His colleagues are bereft as a result. They believe that he feared deportation back to Sri Lanka and would suffer persecution. Tamil refugee advocate Aran Mylvaganam said ‘the particular area where Leo is from you are automatically branded as a Tamil Tiger sympathasiser if Continue reading »
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Mark Isaacs. The Salvos on Nauru.
Judging the Salvation Army’s role in Nauru is difficult. Their job was to provide humanitarian support to asylum seekers in a detention centre that was established to deter desperate people from seeking protection by subjecting them to cruel conditions. The contradictory nature of the Salvation Army’s position meant they were damned by the government if Continue reading »
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Walter Hamilton. Postcard from Poland and Auschwitz
Poland this month is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its rebirth as a democratic state. It is also marking 10 years since it became a member of the European Union. The country thus provides an interesting vantage point from which to observe Europe’s schizophrenic politics. To the west––notably in the UK, France and Germany––so-called Eurosceptic Continue reading »
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Hugh Mackay. Immoral acts – that’s one way to stop the boats.
“No boats have arrived for 36 days!” That was the recent proud claim of our immigration minister, Scott Morrison, delivered in a tone that suggested we should all cheer such a wonderful accomplishment. In fact, given the strategies employed to achieve this result, we should hang our heads in shame. We are living through a Continue reading »
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Richard Butler. The Invasion of Iraq,the decision and it’s consequences
It was reported on May 29th, that Sir John Chilcot, the head of the UK inquiry into the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, had reached a “breakthrough” on the issue of how much of the official records of the decision to invade can be published. The publication of the Chilcot report is some two Continue reading »
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John Tulloh. Egypt’s new would-be Pharaoh.
The headline in The Australian was stark and brutal: SISI VOWS TO ERADICATE BROTHERHOOD. Eradicate? This is a word you associate with efforts to get rid of a disease or an agricultural pest. But in this case it was meant as a kind of cleansing of religious adherents and caused barely a ripple of protest Continue reading »
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Geoff Hiscock. Onus on Abbott to forge closer ties with India
As a young man, Tony Abbott backpacked across India in 1981, and spent six weeks at the Australian Jesuit mission in Bihar state. He was fascinated by the country’s many contrasts, from its bullock carts to its nuclear power stations. His Indian exposure since then has been limited, but the Australian Prime Minister says he Continue reading »
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Michiya Matsuoka. Japanese collective ‘atmosphere’ and the power of the media.
In John Menadue’s blog of 31 March, 2014, he expressed strong concern for recent events concerning Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and warned that Japan was fast approaching a nationalistic agenda and revisionist view of history. (See re-post today) I have these same misgivings about Japan and fully agree with John Menadue’s concern, including the Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Australia-Japan – friends should be frank.
Tony Abbott is shortly to visit Japan. He should be aware of the serious ultra-nationalist trend in Japan. That ultra-nationalism in the past has brought tragedy to the Japanese people and our region. The chief exponent of this ultra-nationalism in Japan is Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe,who will be his host. I believe that Japan is Continue reading »
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John Menadue.The vendetta against the ABC and the cost to Australia
Tony Abbott’s vendetta against the ABC is prejudicing Australia’s regional diplomacy. The ABC is the most trusted media organisation in the country but Tony Abbott wants to bring it to heel. He has grown used to the fawning Murdoch media. According to Essential Research, 70% of Australians have a lot of or some trust in Continue reading »
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Gavan Hogue. Quo Vadis Thailand?
Thaksin undoubtedly engaged in some corrupt activities. Whether he was more corrupt than the other mob is hard to say but he did get the numbers by actually doing something for the poor peasants especially in the depressed areas of the north and northeast. His critics accuse him of pork barreling but that is a Continue reading »
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Elaine Pearson. Cambodia: A poor choice for Australia’s refugee resettlement
“It’s not about whether they are poor, it’s about whether they can be safe,” Australia’s Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said in defence of Australia’s plan to resettle refugees currently housed on Nauru to Cambodia. It appears Cambodia and Australia are in the final stages of signing such an agreement. But is Cambodia a safe place for Continue reading »
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Geoff Hiscock. Economic time is right in India for Modi and his mandate
Narendra Modi comes to office in India with two big advantages: the economic cycle is starting to turn up at last, and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a clear majority in parliament that frees him from the coalition-style shackles that plagued his predecessor, Manmohan Singh. The timing is right for Modi. After two years Continue reading »
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Michael Keating. Part 2. The Budget and our Values
The Budget is always the clearest guide to a government’s priorities and values. In the present instance, the Coalition Government wants to define this budget as being all about “contribution”. Their rhetoric is that we should all make a contribution towards restoring the nation’s finances. Spreading the burden would be fair and therefore consistent with Continue reading »
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Michael Kelly SJ. A powerful minority or an elected majority!
In a process that shows no sign of ending soon, Thailand’s unstable governance has reached another crisis. The Acting Prime Minister has been tipped out only to be replaced by an Acting Acting Prime Minister who is himself to face judgment for his part in the failed scheme to stabilize the price of rice. These Continue reading »