USA
-
DeepSeek’s success challenges assumptions about Chinese tech companies – and the US-China competition
The release of the new DeepSeek-R1 artificial intelligence (AI) model has shocked the tech world. Continue reading »
-
A massive mandate?
Donald Trump and the MAGA gang point to the ‘massive mandate’ he obtained to justify any policy he may implement. Continue reading »
-
Is America marching in the final footsteps of the British empire?
Yu-Book Lim used to head a Singapore think tank and was Executive Chairman of IMC Plantations before that. He has just published an extended, thought-provoking essay: “Xi Jinping’s “Once-in-a-Century Upheaval” Prophecy. Continue reading »
-
A five-minute scroll
The West Bank attacks continue since the Gaza ceasefire. In India, poor Muslim’s shops are being bulldozed. In the US, Caroline Kennedy speaks of her concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr leading the HHS. Continue reading »
-
Trump’s Greenland for Odessa deal
In late February 2022, I was walking on a street in Irkutsk (in the middle of Russian Siberia) when I met a former female student of mine who had just come from her work office. She was upset by the invasion of Ukraine but even more so by the attitude of some women in the Continue reading »
-
How the Chinese beat Trump and OpenAI
The hype around Artificial Intelligence, the now failed U.S. attempt to monopolise it, and the recent counter from China are a lesson in how to innovate. They also show that the U.S. is losing the capability to do so. Continue reading »
-
Donald Trump at the National Cathedral Washington
Addressing Donald Trump at the National Cathedral’s inauguration service, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, looking the incoming president in the eye, pleaded with him: “to have mercy on people who are scared and help those facing persecution”. Continue reading »
-
1st call between Marco Rubio and Wang Yi
Neither State Department nor MOFA is gonna like this piece. Continue reading »
-
I’m going ‘Trump sober’ in 2025
Pearls & Irritations have graciously published the many articles I have written over the last five years on Donald Trump. I’ve written about his inciting the insurrection on 6th January 2021; examined his lack of moral virtue using Aristotle’s taxonomy as a template, contrasted him with other world leaders; and critiqued his negative influence as Continue reading »
-
Donald Trump’s return: gloves off reset
Donald Trump’s return to power for a second term has sent ripples across the globe. On his first day in office, he wielded executive authority with vigour, signing many executive orders, including withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement for the second time. This move reversed the country’s climate commitments yet again, signalling Trump’s prioritisation Continue reading »
-
How stupid is America’s ruling class?
Yes, there is an American ruling class, and we’ve now got the photos to prove it. Continue reading »
-
Democracy promotion, regime change and US foreign policy: the case of Bangladesh
The deeply entrenched authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina was toppled by a student-led movement on August 5 2024. The global community cheered the moral courage and the phenomenal organisational skills of the student leaders. The redoubtable Economist magazine voted Bangladesh as ‘the country of the year’ (2024) because students led a movement that ‘toppled a Continue reading »
-
US “blunt force trauma” trade strategy treated with Chinese acupuncture
At this time it seems impossible to avoid discussing President Trump and his approach to China. What is less often discussed is China’s approach to Trump. Continue reading »
-
Under Trump, the US and China may be greater friends than ever
Much has been said about the impending trade war amid Donald Trump’s threats to implement new tariffs against China, Mexico and Canada. But while many fear this could exacerbate tensions between China and the United States, we could find China is not as impacted as first thought. Continue reading »
-
Australia must choose between economic prosperity and subservience to the US trade and military agenda
Australian Government cabinet papers from 30 years ago show that Australian leaders suspected that the claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were probably false. However, Australia committed troops because Australia wanted to ingratiate itself with the United States and was prepared to break international law to do so. This sets the standard for Continue reading »
-
A five-minute scroll
A new day in the world. Israel rewrites history by criminalising the truth of events of October 7, 2023. In the US, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde delivers a sermon for the ages to the new President, whose thoughts on Gaza were recorded from the Oval Office. Meanwhile Australia’s media is called out for its lack Continue reading »
-
Elitists touched up by one of their own – The Callick case
The Murdoch Press sure knows how to whip up an eye-catching headline – it may be its longest suit. True to form, on 19 January 25 The Weekend Australian ran a corker – “HOW THE AMERICAN HATERS IN OUR MIDST GO EASY ON CHINA.” Continue reading »
-
Vassal states of the imperial order pay homage to their US master
The spectacle of Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Ambassador Kevin Rudd lining up for their security passes to the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States is nauseating. It is a grotesque example of hypocrisy and the deviant practices of realpolitik. Both leaders have previously criticised Trump for what he Continue reading »
-
Will Trump’s hard line on Beijing ‘blow up’ Canberra’s China policy?
Canberra insiders fear the second coming of Donald Trump could bring pressure on Australia to disown its “stabilisation” policy with Beijing. Continue reading »
-
Thanks Trump, for helping make China great again
Donald Trump’s second term may not be all bad for all nations, including and especially China. For many Chinese internet users, Trump’s policies have unwittingly strengthened their country. This is why he has earned the popular nickname “Chuan Jianguo,” which means “Make China Great.” Continue reading »
-
Humpty Dumpty and the Rules Based International Order
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.” Lewis Caroll-Through the Continue reading »
-
Confidential letter to Trump on AUKUS
Dear Donald, I know that you are a great deal-maker, but you will be seen as even greater if you do as I suggest. Australia is already providing $4 billion to the United States under the AUKUS deal without any guarantee that Virginia class nuclear submarines will ever be provided to it. I suggest that Continue reading »
-
‘Damning’ new poll shows price Kamala Harris paid for backing Israeli genocide in Gaza
“Israel is a liability,” said one Palestinian-American rights advocate. Continue reading »
-
The ceasefire charade
Israel, going back decades, has played a duplicitous game. It signs a deal with the Palestinians that is to be implemented in phases. The first phase gives Israel what it wants — in this case the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza — but Israel habitually fails to implement subsequent phases that would lead to a just and Continue reading »
-
President Trump and Australia’s National Security
Australia needs to try and persuade the Trump Administration that no country can expect to dominate our region and the benefits of cooperation. But if, as is likely, Trump refuses to accept a multipolar region then Australia must be prepared to act on its own and seek its security within Asia. Continue reading »
-
“Barbarians and their accomplices”- Israel and Western media
The year just past, and we had all better face this, will be remembered as the year the Zionist regime in Israel dragged the Western post-democracies into a state of barbarism we, the inheritors of “the Judeo–Christian tradition,” were supposed to have left behind many centuries ago. I offer this assertion after lengthy reflection. In Continue reading »
-
Joe Biden’s legacy? The Palestinian genocide
American presidents are big on talking about what they believe to be their legacy, even if there is no substance to the claims they make. With Joe Biden, it is crystal clear what he can claim as his legacy: the genocide that has resulted in close to 70,000 Palestinian lives being snuffed out. Continue reading »
-
With friends like these…
Despite the decades both major parties have spent ingratiating themselves with the leaders of the United States, Australia is unlikely to receive any favours from the Trump administration. Continue reading »
-
Western media believe 24 Californians matter more than 46,000 Palestinians
Last week, news headlines heralded the disaster of 24 lives lost in Californian wildfires. Yet the same media outlets petered out the news of thousands more being killed by deliberate man-made bombing, starvation and destruction of homes and hospitals by Israel in Gaza. Continue reading »
-
Another victim of the United States’ obsessive anti-China strategy
The law and politics can be callous. And it certainly has been in the case of 56-year-old Dan Duggan, a former US Marines pilot, now an Australian citizen. Five days before Christmas the federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced Mr Duggan would be extradited to the United States to face charges relating to allegations, vehemently denied Continue reading »