International relations
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Global tensions: Peacemakers must trump warmongers
China’s calls for calm stand in stark contrast to US provocations. Continue reading »
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Netanyahu’s nakedness: democracy – whose democracy?
“Look at the King! Look at the the King! Look at the King, the King, the King! Continue reading »
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Playbook for AUKUS campaign wins coveted award
Britain’s Oxford Dictionary and America’s Webster’s have moved quickly to shut down further nominations for the 2023 “Word of the Year”. They’ve declared “aukustrate” the unbeatable winner. Unsurprisingly, Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary found no reason to disagree, and fell into line. Continue reading »
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The Kashmir insurgency
One of the world’s oldest unresolved international issues, Kashmir, has experienced many stark vicissitudes over time. In 2019, it made headlines due to India’s controversial revocation of Article 35A and 370, which essentially eliminated Kashmir’s special status and autonomy. Continue reading »
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AUKUS: a collection of views not found in our Washington dominated media
AUKUS: signed and sealed by the Liberal government when it joined the pact in September 2021, the spoils of which have been delivered by the Labor Government in March 2023. The Labor Government and Australia will pay a heavy price for what is being done in our name. We are being humiliated by our own Continue reading »
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Investigating the terrorist attack on Nord Stream is a matter of Germany’s sovereignty
Who was behind the terrorist attacks on Nord Stream? Continue reading »
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AUKUS exists to manage the risks created by its existence
“NATO exists to manage the risks created by its existence,” Professor Richard Sakwa once wrote in an attempt to articulate the absurdity of the military alliance’s provocative nature on the world stage. At some point Australians must wake up to the fact that this is equally true of AUKUS: we’re told the military alliance exists Continue reading »
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Labor prepares return to disastrous Forward Defence doctrine
Nearly everything the Labor government says about nuclear subs is ludicrous and highly damaging. Continue reading »
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Australia is an important Quad partner that India cannot trust
Despite flourishing relations, Australia is governed by a ruling elite whose commitment to a rules based order is suspect, selective and risks dragging India into a catastrophic conflict with China. Continue reading »
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President Xi’s peace plan for Ukraine: plausible and implausible
At first sight, the Chinese President’s twelve proposals to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine appear plausible. Claims about common interests are supported by references to parties working together for peace and security, abiding by international humanitarian law, sustaining an existing world economic system and insisting that nuclear weapons not be used. Continue reading »
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The USA’s greatest threat
The biggest threat facing the USA is not the collapse of democracy. Even though a twice impeached former president talks of death and destruction if he is arrested, while New York’s Attorney General seeks his indictment. Continue reading »
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‘The media normalises war-mongering’: how Chinese Australians respond to talk of war in mainstream media
Early this month, the Daily Mail published a story online implying three Chinese men taking photos at the Avalon Airshow in Melbourne were spies. After complaints and an open letter condemning the paper for racially profiling the Chinese communities and throwing around baseless accusations, the story disappeared from the Mail’s site without explanation. Continue reading »
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AUKUS a test of NZ’s independent foreign policy
The AUKUS nuclear submarine deal presents New Zealand with a difficult dilemma. On one hand old allies are forming a military alliance to confront an emergent China, ramping up their AUKUS relationship and their rhetoric magnifying China’s threat. On the other hand is New Zealand’s long standing carefully nurtured relationship with its major trading partner. Continue reading »
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China warns US of three red lines over Hong Kong
With the cancellation of the much hated “Mask mandate” on March 1, Hong Kong is now onto the final strait of its recovery from both the 2019/2020 western supported insurrection and the subsequent pandemic. Continue reading »
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Syria: the US as dog in the manger
Inexorably, the war on Syria is coming to a close. Continue reading »
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American Fascism: A prior question to the AUKUS arrangements
The criticisms of the AUKUS arrangements announced by the government are entirely warranted, as is the outrage that has accompanied them, but, strangely, they miss a point which should have preceded them. And that has to do with the political complexion of the United States itself; in brief, it faces the world as a troubled Continue reading »
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India-ASEAN collaboration: shaping a new global agenda
India holds this year’s presidency of the Group of 20 and has boldly stated its vision as Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (One Earth, One Family, One Future). This is a departure from the previous (and often dry) themes of the G20 which are dominated by geopolitical issues and economic priorities of Western powers. Continue reading »
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Asian languages education: how did we end up in this mess?
How do we end up with an ALP government stupid enough to sign up for the ludicrous AUKUS proposal and the accompanying bogus, China threat scare? Continue reading »
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Majority oppose U.S. war on China
The majority of Australians prefer a policy of neutrality and oppose joining US wars under the ANZUS alliance, polling shows. Continue reading »
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Xi Jinping in Moscow: A historic partnership in the making
Since 2010, Xi Jinping has met Vladimir Putin on 40 separate occasions, but this last visit may prove to be their most significant meeting yet. The stakes for both have never been higher. Continue reading »
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China’s big foreign policy plays leave Australia in the cold
The Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Party Congress in October last year may be seen with the efflux of time as a watershed event, not so much for the extension of Xi Ping’s tenure in the job, but for subsequent sharp policy resets. Continue reading »
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AUKUS – “These are the horrors”
AUKUS. This is a horror for which I now fear for the lives of my children and their children. Every time a Labor member of parliament or senator puts foot outside their office to appear in public, turns up at a public meeting, we need to ask them: why have you betrayed us? Why have Continue reading »
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Will there be a reprise of the White Australia Policy?
With the publication of the series, “RED ALERT” in the two leading newspapers in Australia, predicting that China will invade Australia in three years, the constant push from the ASPI, and the increasingly strident rhetoric from the China hawks in both major political parties, will the Australian security apparatus be encouraged to re-establish a “Chinese Continue reading »
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Does the ABC regard Palestinians as humans, equal to Ukrainians?
An open letter to the ABC, 22 March 2023. Continue reading »
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Submarine sovereignty? The devil is in the detail…
Our Defence Minister said that Australia has not given any guarantees to the USA about what we would do with our submarines in the case of war but would take our own decisions at the time. This is welcome but what are the implications? Does it only apply to the submarines? As always, the devil Continue reading »
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Asylum cases in Australia for first time exceed 100,000
In February 2023, the number of asylum cases in Australia for the first time exceeded 100,000. Continue reading »
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Goodbye to Ukraine? US prepares public for defeat
The New York Times report of 8th March that ‘Intelligence Suggests Pro-Ukrainian Group Sabotaged Pipelines, U.S. Officials Say’ elicited two sets of responses. Continue reading »
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The threat of war and the role of the propaganda machine
The relentless drive to war against China goes on. There is no longer any pretence that China is in the US sights and so Australia is prepared to spend whatever it takes to prove its fealty to Washington. No military outlay is too much, no threat to our economic future too risky for the Australian Continue reading »
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AUKUS: Submarines on the never never, or castles in the sky?
AUKUS has landed – well, sort of. Continue reading »
