World Affairs
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Is it people with disability or people with disabilities
The term “people with disability” as it is so often used when discussion turns to the “rights” of people sounds misleading and incorrect to me. Continue reading »
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China’s Ukraine dilemma
China has clearly been vacillating about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, abstaining from votes in the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly and in various public pronouncements avoiding any reference to “war” or “invasion.” Continue reading »
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Hong Kong’s assured future beyond 2047 by China is a fillip for everybody
Local people, foreign investors and the commercial world can now put their minds at rest. It will be business as usual after 2047, not least for the common law legal system and the rule of law Continue reading »
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Jake Johnson-Ukraine, Russia reportedly making ‘Significant progress” on a 15-Point peace deal
“Our position at the negotiations is quite specific—legally verified security guarantees; ceasefire; withdrawal of Russian troops,” said an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Continue reading »
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Tobias Debiel and Herbert Wulf: Escalation and de-escalation in the Ukraine War-A German perspective
Demonization and humiliation do not pave the way to the negotiating table. Continue reading »
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Russia and Ukraine
Moscow (read Putin) had his reasons for wanting to invade Ukraine. Continue reading »
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Jim Green-Nuclear facilities targeted in Russia’s war on Ukraine
Several nuclear facilities in Ukraine have been attacked by the Russian military over the past fortnight: a nuclear research facility at Kharkiv; two radioactive waste storage sites; the Chernobyl nuclear site (which no longer has operating reactors); and the operating Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Continue reading »
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Rodney Lewis -The Morrison Government is proposing astounding discrimination against vulnerable aged care residents
When our Parliament is presented with a Bill which removes fundamental rights and liberties of a discrete cohort of Australians only, a cacophony of objections may be expected. In this case however, the victims have no voice. Continue reading »
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Double standards by the International Criminal Court
Are the people of Ukraine more worthy and valuable than the people of Yemen? Continue reading »
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Russian, Western and Ukrainian perspectives on the crisis
It is sometimes said of the war in Syria that there aren’t even any bad ideas for resolving the conflict, let alone good ones. The war in Ukraine is quickly approaching a similarly intractable state. This is how it looks through Russian, Western and Ukrainian eyes. Continue reading »
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Measuring the decibels of piety in Indonesia
Visitors to Indonesia beware: Sound off about visual pollution from billboards or trash in rivers or the CO2 assaults on lungs and listeners will nod. Continue reading »
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Russia, China and the Game of Weiqi. Ukraine is not a predictor of Taiwan
Scott Morrison is beating up fear of an Arc of Autocracy in a bid to boost his electoral chances. This short-term objective will not help Australia win the complex game of Weiqi chess currently being played in our region. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is not a predictor of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, and Continue reading »
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Giving peace a chance in Ukraine
The final possibility would be a negotiated peace whereby the parties address the main issues in contention and come up with treaty language to resolve them. Continue reading »
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One SWIFT motion and the Israeli occupation is over
Imagine that Israel is invading the Gaza Strip once more. The usual killing, destruction and ruin. Continue reading »
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Not one inch Eastward
Nothing can excuse Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its bombing of residential suburbs and social infrastructure. It is nothing short of a war crime. But how did it come to this? Continue reading »
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Presumption of innocence under threat
A citizen’s inalienable right to her or his day in court has increasingly become seen as a quaint frivolity by some and a waste of time by many more – but the presumption of innocence is coming under some threat in Australia. Continue reading »
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US, Russia, NATO, Ukraine: Truth is out there, beyond the memes
“Today we face an avoidable crisis [between the US and Russia regarding Ukraine] that was predictable, actually predicted, willfully precipitated, but easily resolved by the application of common sense”. Continue reading »
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US hypocrisy and the role of Victoria Newland in the Maidan Coup.
There is an abundance of outrage in the United States about Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Continue reading »
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The Chinese face of globalization
The Six Faces of Globalization is an important new book, which prompts reflection on how Western media outlets have shaped our understanding of globalization and how China’s distinctive perspective on globalization may be yet do likewise. Continue reading »
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Tsar Vladimir’s scorecard – off to a bad start
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is not working out as he expected and may yet turn against him internationally and even domestically. At this stage, we can only speculate but things are not going well for Tsar Vladimir. Continue reading »
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UKRAINE: Open Letter from Russian international relations staff and students
Below is the text of an open letter to President Putin protesting the invasion of Ukraine from students, alumni and staff of Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO), Russia’s elite institution specialising in international relations. Continue reading »
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How the Netherlands is confronting past war crimes in Indonesia
The Dutch are squaring up to the wrongs of their nation’s colonial past, pushed by the conscience of young Hollanders shamed by revelations of villainy by their forebears. Continue reading »
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Putin has gambled everything on his Snap-Invasion of Ukraine. Now his political survival in Russia is in doubt
War transforms the political landscape in radical and unexpected ways. Continue reading »
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Australia descends further into toxic relations with China despite a generous gesture by the new Ambassador
Australia descends further into toxic relations with China despite a generous gesture by the new Ambassador Continue reading »
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Tokenism against racism in the US helps hide an Inconvenient Global Scourge
The decision of US President Biden to announce that he would replace the outgoing Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer by a black woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson may seem like a positive step in a country wracked by explicit and systemic racism. Continue reading »
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The Russian attacks on Ukraine are both immoral and illegal under international law but we ignore similar attacks by ourselves and our allies.
They should be unconditionally opposed, regardless of how they have been rationalised by the Kremlin. Ukraine is an independent state, its sovereignty has been violated, and there is no “self-defence” justification for the military strikes. Russia must accept full responsibility for this crime and the consequences that will follow. Continue reading »
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Russia should shrink from Morrison’s dressing down!!
When Vladimir Putin braved the risk of being shirtfronted by Tony Abbott to come to Australia for the G20 summit, a journalist asked him “What do you think of Australia? Continue reading »
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There will be no expansion of NATO to the East!
What would the United States do if it had a country on its borders that was a member of a threatening military alliance? Continue reading »
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Hysteria over China
On the 14 February I had an opinion piece published in the, CPC owned Global Times, which looked at the prospect of an improvement in relations between China and Australia. Continue reading »
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Cognitive dissonance fuels US antipathy to China
Cognitive dissonance, occurring when a deeply entrenched belief encounters countervailing facts, can cause the holder of the belief to deny or reinterpret the facts. Continue reading »
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