USA
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Syria’s Assad has fallen – just as the Pentagon planned 23 years ago
When westerners see ‘enemy’ governments fall, or civil wars erupt, they are led to think they are the geopolitical equivalent of a natural event. Nothing could be further from the truth. Continue reading »
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Trump’s economic delusions
Trump’s economic strategy is based on a series of delusions that will result in higher inflation, a bigger trade deficit and a loss in the value of the American dollar. How can that Make America Great Again? Continue reading »
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A five-minute scroll
In 24 hours the Middle East has changed. Craig Murray gives the perspective of distances and the significance of the change, Netanyahu speaks to the opportunities and challenges while Wikileaks reminds us of notable moments. Peter Cronau reveals the lopsided outrage over the Melbourne Synagogue fire, and a former Chief Adviser to the British Prime Continue reading »
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The end of pluralism in the Middle East
A truly seismic change in the Middle East appears to be happening very fast. At its heart is a devil’s bargain – Turkey and the Gulf States accept the annihilation of the Palestinian nation and creation of a Greater Israel, in return for the annihilation of the Shia minorities of Syria and Lebanon and the Continue reading »
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Assad is out, woke Al-Qaeda is in
Well it looks like the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is on its way out, likely to be replaced by one or more US puppet regimes depending on whether the nation maintains its current borders or is carved up into separate states. The empire notches another win. Continue reading »
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The demon in the mirror
Incoming US President Donald Trump will force us, as citizens of the ‘West’, to face the demon in the mirror. Continue reading »
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Chomsky is right says Professor Walt
The wide-ranging political views of the exceptional, international public intellectual, Noam Chomsky, have recently been searchingly assessed in the journal, Foreign Policy, by Professor Stephen M Walt, in an article entitled, “Noam Chomsky Has Been Proved Right”. Continue reading »
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Google faces verdicts from anti-trust trials as Trump term approaches
Search behemoth Google is under pressure in the US after three anti-trust trials concluded, with one of the remedies proposed being a call for it to be forced to sell off its web browser, Chrome, an app that dominates the browser space. Continue reading »
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Biden Pardons his son: The US “rules based order” in action
When I’m asked what I think of Biden granting a pardon to his son for offences, which Biden himself has spoken openly about as deserving of prison, I don’t have much to say. On the same day, I see criticism of China because a senior military official has been removed from his post and is Continue reading »
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Trump’s tariffs are a fool’s game
US President-elect Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies — marked by high tariffs — have been a major economic setback for the United States. The costs of these policies have harmed domestic buyers and caused job losses in sectors related to the targeted industries. Rather than resolving the trade imbalance issue as Trump intended, his administration’s Continue reading »
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America’s decline: An Australian-American’s response to the US elections
My friends will have to excuse me for not being sufficiently riled up about the second coming of Trump. To me, he’s a phase in America’s inevitable decline, on the way to the end of the US Empire. Continue reading »
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Feng Yujun on the prospects of Russia-Ukraine war after Trump’s reelection
The leading expert on Russia says Trump’s bold claim to end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours is highly unlikely to materialise, and only a just peace can lead to lasting peace. Continue reading »
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Biden’s last hurrah against Russia and Putin
Frustration escalates for the lame duck president. Continue reading »
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Obtuse China Policy and the “International Rules-Based Order” in a Trumpian world
In the ballyhooed, strident context of Trumpian change, if not, hysterical disruption, it is especially important to pinpoint and consider the real and the “factually alternative” content of Chinese foreign policy and international relations. Continue reading »
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From non-aligned Indonesia, a picture paints a thousand misunderstandings
There is more to the eye in the official photo and video of Indonesia President Prabowo on the phone to President-elect Trump. Australia misses the vital details. Continue reading »
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It can’t happen here
The novel It Can’t Happen Here, written by Sinclair Lewis was published in 1935 during the rise of fascism in Europe. It tells the story of Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip, a demagogue who is elected President of the United States, after fomenting fear, and promising drastic economic and social reforms while promoting a return to patriotism and traditional values. After his Continue reading »
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Gross inequality and economic injustice: How did it come to this?
“Remoteness between ownership and operation … is an evil in the relations between men, likely or certain in the long run to set up strains and enmities which will bring to nought the financial calculation.” – John Maynard Keynes Continue reading »
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Satellite honours for AUKUS: Joe Courtney’s Order of Australia Award
Joe Courtney, who serves as Congressman for Connecticut’s second district, has received a rather curious honour. It has come in the form of a tribute from a US satellite – some would rightly say annexure or some other subordinate status. A press release from his office on October 22 announced that Rep. Courtney had been Continue reading »
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On the verge of WWIII?
‘Joe Biden allows Ukraine to use long-range US-supplied ATACMS missiles on targets in Russia, prompting threat of world war’ – so runs the ABC headline of 18 November. Serious stuff, not to be lightly discounted, and yet perhaps what we are seeing is primarily performative politics, viewed through the smoke of uncertainty and reflected in Continue reading »
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Trump’s wake-up call to Australia’s leaders
Trump’s anti-China 60% import tax barrier will weaken China’s economy and is predicted to have flow on effects impacting negatively on Australia’s economy. Will our political leaders now realise that Australia’s involvement in a military war against China for which they are furiously preparing, would have a devastating impact on our economy and Australian life Continue reading »
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The American-style Cultural Revolution is taking root in the US
Trump’s shocking cabinet picks are reminiscent of what Mao Zedong did after launching the tumultuous Cultural Revolution in 1966. Under his slogan “revolution is no crime; to rebel is justified,” Mao encouraged the firebrand Red Guards and grassroots loyalists to take over power at central and local government levels across the country, writes Wang Xiangwei. Continue reading »
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America, We are out of your China fight
Australia must leave the China debacle, constructively. In withdrawing from America’s aggression against China, we should offer our diplomacy as a patient bridge between China and the US. That will take time. America will become even more extreme before it considers peaceful coexistence with China. Meanwhile our action will be a moderating influence, as we Continue reading »
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The US political system and its capitalist, imperialist agenda has failed
Trump’s victory has exposed, for a second time, the failings of the entire US political system and its pursuit of a capitalist, imperialist agenda. Continue reading »
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A five-minute scroll
Not being reported? President Xi Jinping gives President Joe Biden boundaries. Jason Clare MP says you can’t bomb your way to peace while a Gaza Psychiatrist shares footage of bodies in Gaza. Peter Garrett calls out AUKUS and Senator Barbara Pocock supports the issues raised by Senator Lidia Thorpe. Footage of Keir Starmer from 2014 Continue reading »
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Trump Redux: what matters to foreign relations
As the novelty of Donald Trump’s win wears off, we have moved beyond the superficialities of the views of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Ambassador Kevin Rudd about the Trump agenda and persona. Continue reading »
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A five-minute scroll
Three times smaller, Israel has dropped the equivalent of three atomic bombs on Gaza, and still they continue unabated, exposing Governments in their complicity and media alike. In New Zealand Māori leaders mobilise on a 1000 kilometre plus walk to Wellington in protest of legislation from the right-winged government. In the US the analysis of Continue reading »
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Detaching Australia from the death grip of the United States
Our challenge now is to detach Australia from the death grip of the United States and to pursue an independent future, which we are quite capable of doing. To do so we will need not only to remove the old sycophantic parties but also to root out the US ‘security’ zealots from our own secretive Continue reading »
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Trump Act II spells the end of the American empire
The re-election of Donald Trump indicates a fundamental change in the United States’ relationship with the world, reflecting a growing lack of confidence in international institutions, and a weariness of global responsibilities, likely leading to significant damage to multilateral organisations. Trump’s characteristically transactional approach and aggressive tariff policies will spell trouble for Asia. The consequences Continue reading »
