International relations
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War mongering and the peace rally
Lest we forget the consequences, today we recall the great lie of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ in Iraq which led to the smashing of that country and the slaughter of hundreds of thousand of innocent men, women and children. Continue reading »
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Penny Wong’s faltering foreign policy
Little that was distinctive about Penny Wong’s foreign policy has survived the signing of the AUKUS agreement. Continue reading »
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Who stands for freedom?
I was recently sent an interesting article titled “Who Stands for Freedom” by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz. The article is a review of the book “The Big Myth” by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. It raised a fundamental question: Does China have more true freedom than the United States? Continue reading »
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Paul Keating excoriates AUKUS as exercise in security policy stupidity
There are few who think as clearly, who are as articulate, and who are prepared to speak out in the face of incredible stupidity in Australian politics as Paul Keating. And, as he made clear in his address to the press club this week, AUKUS is nothing if not an exercise in security policy stupidity. Continue reading »
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From Yellow Peril to Red Alert
Although it is in America’s interests that we are urged to prepare for war against China within three years, the graphic image that accompanied the ‘Red Alert’ alert series in the Age and Sydney Morning Herald was designed to speak directly to Australia’s own deep and distinctive historic fears and sense of geographic isolation. Continue reading »
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International Best Practice? Australia could do better
A couple of decades ago the phrase international best practice seemed to be on the lips of just about every business leader, business and economics journalists and the odd politician. Continue reading »
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Judicial coup threatens Israeli democracy
Israel is facing the most significant challenge to its existence since the establishment of the State in 1949. Continue reading »
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Imperial power: The Iraq war, 20 years on
Iraq’s trauma is regarded in some quarters as an ill-gotten remnant of the past: something to be air-brushed from history. But not so for those experiencing the ravages of imperial power. On the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq – March, 20, 2023 – the people of Iraq await a historical reckoning. Continue reading »
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Taiwan to the rescue
Regular readers of this journal will be dismayed at the breakneck speed at which Australia is party to the goading of a potentially catastrophic war in our region. With Western mainstream media in anti-China mad dog mode, both sides of the aisle in Canberra sleepwalking, and with nothing at all to win and everything to Continue reading »
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Opportunities foregone in AUKUS submarine decision
Rex Patrick’s analysis of the government’s AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine decision (Michael West Media 14 March 2023) illustrates the one-sidedness of this insane deal. Patrick also sets out a rational and cost-effective alternative to the expensive and inappropriate nuclear subs which serves to highlight some of the significant opportunities lost by the wasteful and ill-considered over-spend. Continue reading »
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AUKUS and the drive to war with China: Special Issue
A Labor government has puts guns before butter… how extraordinary! Today, Pearls and Irritations has taken the unusual step of devoting our issue line up entirely to articles on the drive to war with China and the disastrous commitment of $368 billion dollars of Australia’s public funding to nuclear submarines. Continue reading »
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Time to change the story on war
Last week we witnessed some extraordinary interventions by two mainstream media mastheads, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in pursuit of both headlines and an agenda. The three part “Red Alert” series begins with a paragraph that could have been found in Edward Bernays book, Propaganda: Continue reading »
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An Iran-Saudi peace deal made in China
Whilst it is certain there may be some people in the world who do not want to see a peaceful Middle East, there are many millions more, especially those who live in the region who do. Continue reading »
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Lock up your resources, the Aussies are coming
Ignorance and fear can be effective weapons in a manipulative politician’s arsenal. They’re guaranteed to pierce the armour of those least protected by doubt and most susceptible to flannel. Continue reading »
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AUKUS: A greedy pup
It seems that poor old Albanese has been sold a very greedy—though only virtual—pup. Think of the comparison with another Labor PM, Ben Chifley. Albanese doesn’t come out of it very well. Continue reading »
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Who are the ‘gang of five’ pushing Australia to war?
The Age and Sydney Morning Herald have failed to publish, except in the most cursory sense, the current or recent past associations of their gang of five experts who apparently believe Australia could be at war with China in as little as three years. Continue reading »
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Understanding the Austral-Americans
Embedded within the foreign policy debate in Australia is the claim that an epochal shift of Copernican significance is underway. So disturbing is this transformation in world politics – seemingly from light to darkness, from joy to woe – that its troubling possibilities have dissolved the sense of national self. Continue reading »
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Red Alert? Follow the money instead: ASPI is a front for US propaganda
What is the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), what are its sources of funding, and why does it so consistently advocate for positions favourable to the United States and the weapons industry? Follow the money trail. Continue reading »
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Can Albanese be an “honest” friend to Modi?
The comparison between Australia’s response to China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims with India’s treatment of Kashmiris highlights that a commitment to human rights is not the driving force in determining Labor’s position on foreign affairs matters. Continue reading »
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Neo-colonial dreams: Australia eyes the Indian education market
Over the last week or so, Australian politicians and representatives of the university sector got busy pressing flesh in India, hoping to open avenues that have largely remained aspirational. It was timed to coincide with G20 talks in New Delhi, which has seen a flurry of contentious meetings traversing security, economics and education, all taking Continue reading »
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The greatest propaganda campaign in human history
China is the victim of the largest and greatest propaganda campaign in human history. Whether this is a sign of things to come or an aberration based around a particular point in time remains to be seen but propaganda it is. Continue reading »
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Modern Olympics: Russian athlete bans violate the charter
Will Australian athletes face a similar ban on participation in the Olympics for their government’s wars of aggression? Continue reading »
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The Windsor framework: oven-ready fudge
More than three years after Boris Johnson got Brexit done with his ‘excellent’ and ‘oven-ready’ deal, his second successor Rishi Sunak may have actually baked it, but only after changing the recipe from cake to fudge. But is there enough fudge to go around? Continue reading »
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An open call for genocide in Palestine
Some might think that state genocide is a new phenomenon in Israeli occupied Palestine. I can assure you that this is the very essence of Zionism. The point was, and still is, to occupy the land, get rid of the people by any and every means, and change the topography and the demography of Palestine Continue reading »
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Beyond words: Labor’s betrayal of Australia
From our Minister for Foreign Affairs Australians must expect ever more duplicity, more smoothing the path to war orchestrated by America, for America’s ends. It’s a struggle for words to convey the enormity of what we face. It is beyond our politicians. Australia is being dragged into war. No doubt. Continue reading »
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‘Dealers’, ‘bleeders’, and a negotiated peace in Ukraine
After a catastrophic year of war, there is talk of a negotiated peace in Ukraine. But those suggesting that it should be explored are often instantly slapped down. Familiar rhetoric is deployed. A negotiated peace is supposedly impossible – or dishonourable. Continue reading »
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Ha’aretz: Israel is now a “formal, full-fledged apartheid regime”
Following yet another Israeli Settler killing spree and the “annexation of the West Bank”, Israel is now a “formal, full-fledged apartheid regime”, writes leading Isreali newspaper Ha’aretz. Continue reading »
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Richard Marles and the betrayal of Australian sovereignty
It’s clear that Australian sovereignty is being seriously, perhaps fatally, imperilled by the policies of successive Australian governments populated by Australians with divided loyalties. Continue reading »
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Yemeni officials assess damage to ancient sites bombed by Saudi-led coalition
The Saudi-led coalition and its allies on the ground have been accused of systematically targeting Yemen’s cultural heritage through indiscriminate strikes and looting campaigns. Continue reading »
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Some things don’t change: the alarming attitude that still surfaces on the edges of Australian cricket
There was a bothersome moment on television late in last week’s first cricket Test between Australia and India in Nagpur. Continue reading »
