International relations
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The US silence on Israeli nuclear weapons and the right-wing Israeli government
The Israeli protests against its new right-wing government have now touched on Israel’s nuclear weapons. To underline what is at stake, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak cast aside Israeli ambiguity over whether it possesses nuclear weapons to warn his compatriots that Western diplomats are worried that a Jewish messianic dictatorship could gain control over Israel’s nuclear Continue reading »
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India straddles competing global concepts
India as the Chair of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) hosted the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting on 28 April. Largely unreported in Western media, the meeting underlined important divergences in the narrative promoted by US-centric media that suggests India and China have irreconcilable differences. Continue reading »
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China, America and the Saudi-Iranian normalisation
The Saudi-Iranian normalisation deal brokered by China has sent shockwaves throughout the region. Regional actors had not expected China to suddenly desire a political role in the Persian Gulf. Others were skeptical of Beijing’s diplomatic capacity and skills. Few, however, were as surprised as foreign policy hands in Washington – even though it is the Continue reading »
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What’s mine and not yours
Enclosure in the US and Israel Continue reading »
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King Charles’ coronation brings Australia closer to a republic
It is about being subjects rather than citizens. It is about ancient oaths of loyalty and fealty. It is about pomp and ceremony paid for by the state. Continue reading »
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The ‘Ugly Aussies’ rubbishing our reputation in Indonesia
Here’s a rough guide to Westerners visiting Indonesia. Continue reading »
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A women-led long fight against Malaysia’s discriminatory citizenship laws
Water broke in the wee hours on the day of Headry’s flight back to her homeland Malaysia. Continue reading »
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North Korea: same old, or another ticking bomb?
Continued missile testing by North Korea invites the question, why do they do it? It’s tempting to regard it as “just what they do”, but is that all there is to it? Is it “urgent but not important”? What about the response? Continue reading »
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Bitter polarisation of American society undermines case for US alliance
It is difficult to imagine a scenario for next year’s Presidential elections which does not increase the already bitter polarisation of American society. The level of irrationality and violence in the United States means that in the coming decades it may well veer between bellicosity and isolationism. In the face of an uncertain American polity, Continue reading »
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The coming war: Time to speak up
Silences filled with a consensus of propaganda contaminate almost everything we read, see and hear. War by media is now a key task of so-called mainstream journalism. Continue reading »
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‘National Defence’ takes Australia closer to war with China
The 2023 Defence Strategic Review has recommended Australia adopt a new strategic conceptual framework dubbed ‘National Defence’ that incorporates a ‘strategy of denial’. This approach is tied to a broader concept of ‘collective security’ in the Indo-Pacific and is aligned with America’s framework for ‘integrated deterrence’ of China. ‘National Defence’ is consistent with American force Continue reading »
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Reminder: the media once bashed Trump for transgressing the One-China Policy the US now spits on
The US has been increasingly treating Taiwan like a sovereign nation with whom diplomatic relationships and alliances can be formed, in violation of its longstanding One-China policy that has kept the peace for decades. And I just think it’s worth noting that the western media who’ve lately been condoning these moves became outraged at Donald Continue reading »
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What the Defence Strategic Review does not tell us
There are a number of salient points arising from the Defence Strategic Review which have not been exposed to clear light – which might explain why the government has taken the approach it has. There are two scenarios behind the DSR: war over Taiwan with the US, or war with Indonesia by ourselves. Continue reading »
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The American way: exporting US dysfunction to the world
The United States of America is not well, a fact that even as an acolyte the Australian government does not seem to be aware or care about, on account of our unconditional love for the Americans. Continue reading »
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Challenging editors of the New York Times, Washington Post on their censorship of Nordstream and Ukraine
Jose Vega confronts Editors of the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times and Reuters on their censorship of Seymour Hersh, Tucker Carlson, Russiagate and Ukraine. Continue reading »
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France bets on future by backing best global alternative
Recently, the former senior Singaporean diplomat and respected geopolitical consultant Kishore Mahbubani offered Australia some acute advice: Stop betting on the past. Mahbubani’s article was figuratively bookended with visits to Beijing by President Emmanuel Macron of France (shortly before publication) and President Lula da Silva of Brazil (soon after publication). Continue reading »
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War prevention depends on respecting invisible geopolitical faultlines
If we look back on the major wars of the prior century and forward to the growing menace of a war fought with nuclear weaponry, there is one prominent gap in analysis and understanding: in an imperfectly governed world, spheres of influence in certain regional settings play crucial war prevention roles. Continue reading »
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The DSR’s desultory treatment of nuclear submarines
The Albanese government’s Defence Strategic Review is marred from the outset by its bald assertion that China’s military build-up is the largest and most ambitious of any country since the end of the Second World War. Continue reading »
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Australia pays Washington swamp monsters for war advice
Australia has been paying insiders of the US war machine for consultation on how to run the nation’s military, a massive conflict of interest given that Washington has been grooming Australia for a role in its war agendas against China. Continue reading »
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Direct access to Australian citizenship for New Zealanders is a good thing
The Albanese government decision to restore direct access to Australian citizenship for New Zealanders living here is a good thing. It defuses a social time bomb and removes an irritant in Australia-New Zealand relations. Continue reading »
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Act of self-harm: US ‘Defund China’s Allies’ bill targets Solomon Islands
Lawmakers in the US Imperium are getting stroppy. China is on the rise. Russia is not folding. Iran and Saudi Arabia have decided, if not to bury the hatchet then certainly cover it. So it comes as little surprise that Congress now has, before it, the Defund China’s Allies Act (HR 2511), an instrument that Continue reading »
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Japan’s ‘strike north’ military faction
As a Quad member Japan is supposed to be focussed on Taiwan and the South China Sea. Continue reading »
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New Defence Review further enslaves Australia to US war agendas
The Australian government has released the declassified version of its highly anticipated 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR), and the war propagandists are delighted. Continue reading »
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Does the Vatican’s road to Beijing run through Hong Kong?
An invitation to visit Beijing was issued late last year to Stephen Chow, Sau-yan, the Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong. His recently completed visit is the first by a Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong to the Mainland since the recovery of Hong Kong by China in July, 1997. It may help provide a strengthened framework Continue reading »
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AUKUS this ANZAC Day
‘I’m proud of what we did in less than 24 hours.’ That was Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s 4 March comment this year on the time he took back in 2021 to decide on supporting the then Liberal government’s startling AUKUS agreement. Continue reading »
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Soft power is the way forward
Having worked in all developing countries in East Asia and several in South Asia (World Bank definition), I am very conscious of the value of soft power. Australia is a very small country in all aspects except size and my experience has been that soft power is the best way of expressing our good intentions. Continue reading »
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Australia’s China illiteracy has dangerous consequences
The deficiency of Australia’s Asia literacy — and as a subset, China literacy — has been recognised for decades by successive federal governments. Despite government investments to boost Asia literacy, the result has been dismal. Continue reading »
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Gaping contradiction in Australian Foreign Policy
Dear friends, an excellent piece has been published by Professor Hugh White in the Lowy Interpreter that highlights a contradiction in our federal government’s foreign policy. Continue reading »
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US hypocrisy: serial rules-breaker forfeits global credibility
On May 3, 2021, when the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was interviewed by 60 Minutes, he said, “Our purpose is not to contain China, to hold it back, to keep it down. It is to uphold the rules-based order that China is posing a threat to.” Continue reading »
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AUKUS and Australia’s national sovereignty
The value of AUKUS depends critically on how far it increases the chances of Australia being dragged into an unnecessary and potentially catastrophic war at the behest of the US. Continue reading »
