World
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Western democracy now finds itself in a parlous state
In 1947, former British prime minister Winston Churchill famously observed that: “Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms Continue reading »
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A five-minute scroll
Australia will pay an increasingly heavy price for its belief in US propaganda, writes Scott Burchill. IDF film shows soldiers damaging humanitarian aid, while the plight of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails is brought to light. CCTV footage shows the moment a bomb explodes in a University hospital in Idlib, Syria. In Asia, South Korea’s Continue reading »
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Will Joe Biden pardon Julian Assange?
Julian Assange may no longer be behind bars, but his conviction casts a shadow over press freedom and the safety of journalists everywhere—a wrong Assange and his supporters world-wide are determined to set right by overturning his wrongful conviction via a presidential pardon from Joe Biden. Continue reading »
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Australia: The epicentre of US power projection in the Indo Pacific
Australia has willingly become the “epicentre of the projection of US power in the Indo-Pacific”. It does not make Australia safer. It makes Australia the epicentre for any retaliation to that projection of power. Continue reading »
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Orban and Netanyahu: the transnational Right’s pervasive Islamophobia
Viktor Orbán’s obsequious letter to Benjamin Netanyahu offering him sanctuary from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hungary is not a surprise. It is another red flag in the Islamophobic world of the transnational Right. The mass and prolonged slaughter of Palestinian Muslims (and Christians) cannot be seen as a crime committed against other humans Continue reading »
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A triumph for greed over commonsense and humanity
For the third year in a row the nations of the world, meeting in solemn climate conclave, have vowed to cook their children and grandchildren alive. Continue reading »
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Negotiate, don’t escalate
A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. Continue reading »
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What ails America – and how to fix it
America is a country of undoubted vast strengths—technological, economic, and cultural—yet its government is profoundly failing its own citizens and the world. Trump’s victory is very easy to understand. It was a vote against the status quo. Whether Trump will fix—or even attempt to fix—what really ails America remains to be seen. Continue reading »
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In the death throes of Ukraine’s lost war, we witness the birth of WWIII
In the space of a couple of days this week two completely unprecedented attacks occurred that have the potential to rewrite world history. The US and UK directly attacked Russia and, for the first time ever in war, an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile was fired – by Russia. Naturally, most people in the West paid Continue reading »
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COP 29: grossly inadequate funding signals a deepening East–West divide
Developing countries at COP 29 presented the Western world with an annual US$1trillion financial transfer bill for the cost of their profligate carbon fuelled global warming inducing industrialisation. That sum was no NGO rule of thumb figure but one produced by an organisation funded by Western governments themselves – the International Energy Agency, the world’s Continue reading »
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The North Atlantic allies are killing democracy
Historically, many of its members have waged and/or supported wars in the name of democracy. Continue reading »
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Time to take China and Latin America more seriously
The invitation said: ‘Global Multinational Corporations Summit.’ Main Topic: ‘An opening China and the World.’ Continue reading »
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Poetry in times of despair
In a search for light in the tunnels of previous dark times, poets responded with lines depicting cruelties yet leavened with resilience and hope. The English romantic Percy Bysshe Shelley and the Russian resistance poet Osip Mandelstam cherished what they judged to be a panacea like quality in poetry. Shelley forecast that by crafting images 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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Is “knowing what’s going on” too much to bear?
The courage it takes to “know”, to “realise”, to “comprehend” when “trusted” global powers act against humanity is a profoundly personal effort. Your success will only ever be relative. Yet your choices will and do affect the collective (society). They also affect your identity: where and how you feel alliances, where and how you draw Continue reading »
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Are APEC and G20 irrelevant?
There are 21 members of The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and its purpose is to ease trade throughout the member countries. The aims of APEC are noble and good, they are to create greater prosperity for the people of the region by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth and by accelerating regional Continue reading »
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A new global economic order
Over recent decades, the Western economic system has undergone a profound transformation, veering increasingly toward financialisation—a framework that privileges speculative gains and the accumulation of paper wealth over tangible economic output. This shift reflects a structural prioritisation of elite interests, as financial markets serve as mechanisms for wealth extraction rather than wealth creation for the Continue reading »
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Are we locked in a dangerous illusion?
Two weeks ago, I was at a public event in Northern NSW listening to five speakers reflect on the state of the climate and what we might do about it – that, at least, was how it was pitched. Continue reading »
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Honour the war dead, by ending war
On the original Armistice Day in 1918, there was rejoicing at the return of peace as well as the grief, sadness and horror at the appalling human cost of World War 1 – “The War to End Wars”. Continue reading »
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Sado-populism: the political trap that could end human civilisation
Every time a fascist-flirting regime is defeated in an election, more column inches and podcast minutes are devoted to the sense that the moral arc of the universe bends towards justice. When Trump, Bolsonaro, Sunak’s Tories or the Law and Justice Party in Poland lose elections, the centrist commentariat breathes a sigh of relief, believing Continue reading »
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APEC – Disintegration or defiance?
The APEC Peru agenda has been hijacked by the spectre of a Trumpian attack on its foundational principles. China provides the only viable counterbalance. Continue reading »
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Coups are not electorally disqualifying, just look at the dismissal
Many Australians will be surprised that voters across the US could cast a vote for Donald Trump after a (poorly) attempted coup on January 6, 2021. The only reason we might find this shocking is because we don’t talk about the Dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975 as what it really was – a Continue reading »
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Western values, what Western values?
The death and displacement of millions of Muslims in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen mean little. But if they are Muslims in Xinjiang, suddenly, their lives take on phenomenal value – propaganda value. Continue reading »
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Environmental breakdown: We have been warned
Sometimes a single event can throw global problems into sharp relief. The recent flood in Spain is one such phenomenon. If past experience is anything to go by, however, the implications of this catastrophic ‘weather event’ are likely to be studiously ignored by those in a position to do something about them. Continue reading »
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Two paramount human-made existential threats: Nuclear weapons and our climate
“I don’t see a pandemic finishing us off, and climate change itself would (to quote Keating) ‘do us slowly’. The one sure path to extinction is nuclear war.” – Professor Peter Doherty AC, Nobel Laureate, communication to the author, 9 Sep 2024. Continue reading »
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Trump’s impact on the rest of the world, and Australia in particular
Somewhat surprisingly, careful analysis and modelling show that Trump’s crude attempt to Make America Great Again, mainly damages the American economy. The rest of the world, and Australia in particular, should proceed with their own business as usual. Continue reading »
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Like Kamala, Albanese doesn’t seem to get it
This was a mood election; It was not a referendum about Kamala Harris. Nor was it a referendum of Donald Trump’s character. Continue reading »
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Trump victory increases hazards for climate and global health
The well documented and steadily increasing health problems globally, directly associated with climate change, have been discussed with appropriate alarm by many expert contributors to P & I. Continue reading »
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2024 ‘Virtually certain’ to be hottest year on record: EU climate agency
A new report contained “the bleakest news possible, especially with a climate denier U.S. president in office for the next four years,” said one climate scientist. Continue reading »
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Trump: a reality check for Australia
On Tuesday the American people spoke with clarity and determination. They voted for jobs, secure borders and to be able to look to the future in an uncertain world with confidence and optimism. What we know from Trump 1.0 is that he his true to his word. Continue reading »
