World
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RAND: Ukraine procrastination unwise for American imperialism – Biden must negotiate
The unravelling military situation in Ukraine means that Biden’s best option is to negotiate, a new RAND report argues. The sooner the better. There is the awful danger that continued procrastination will propel the hapless Biden administration into precipitating nuclear war. Continue reading »
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Lessons for UK Labour from Australia
Anthony Albanese’s electoral success and the quiet competence of Labor’s administration has not gone unnoticed by the commentariat and political analysts here in the UK. A sea change from the noisy and brash Morrison days. Continue reading »
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2023: a make-or-break year for the global order
Many of the accounts we hear of the current Russia-NATO conflict are deeply flawed. and risk degenerating into pure farce – a crude melodrama, in which an upright, democratic Ukrainian government headed by hero Zelensky is pitted against a corrupt and brutal autocracy led by the deluded ogre, Putin. What is really in question, is Continue reading »
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White man’s brutality and the educated middle-class
In Ukraine and in other parts of the world, Western violence and supremacy has been abetted by its educated more than any other group. Continue reading »
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The US is preparing Australia to fight its war against China
The United States is not preparing to go to war against China. The United States is preparing Australia to go to war against China. Continue reading »
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Japan – failed peace state?
A little over 75 years ago, a Japan-designed Asia-Pacific community collapsed, leaving not only Japan itself but much of the region in chaos, millions dead, cities in ruins. Continue reading »
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Efforts to combat climate change and biodiversity loss are inseparable as new mass extinction looms
Recently, I had a catch-up conversation on climate change and November’s UN climate change conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh with one of Hong Kong’s most conscientious students of the subject. Continue reading »
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Ukraine: the war that went wrong
NATO support for the war in Ukraine, designed to degrade the Russian military and drive Vladimir Putin from power, is not going according to plan. The new sophisticated military hardware won’t help. Continue reading »
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Our planet is on the cusp of the third world war
A re-energised peace movement is urgently required. To date, at least $100 billion dollars in armaments has been committed by the US and its NATO allies to press for the continuation of the war in Ukraine. Continue reading »
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Pride, power and exorbitant privilege: There’s more to US decline than loss of face
It is not just pride which motivates the US elite’s fear of China and of multipolarity. Their ‘exorbitant privilege’ rests on power conferred by hegemony. The struggle of Australia, and countries around the world, to reclaim sovereignty in resistance to that power will be difficult because so much hinges on it. Continue reading »
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Democracy and the winning formula
The rallying call of the Western democracies to form a united front against those who dare to challenge their supremacy has always been “common values”. Our hearts burst with pride and gratitude to think that we have the freedom of speech, of assembly, of dissent and other such privileges that those in other systems do Continue reading »
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National security after Russia’s “special military operation”: Kazakhstan and China
In the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, have been reevaluating their foreign policy. These nations are seeking to strike a balance between their relationship with Russia and their engagement with other countries and international organisations. Continue reading »
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2023 will be make-or-break year for Russia
As the West throws the whole shebang at Moscow, the world’s largest country faces a moment of truth. Continue reading »
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Now is the time for nonalignment and peace
War is an ugly part of the human experience. Everything about it is hideous. War is most obviously the act of invasion and the brutality that goes along with its operations. No war is precise; every war hurts civilians. Each act of bombardment sends a neurological shudder through society. Continue reading »
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Ukraine: can we make sense of the war situation?
There is hectic media attention to the pressure on Germany to allow a few of its Leopard 2 tanks to be given to Ukraine by countries that have bought them from Germany. The words “self-deception and fantasy” come to mind. But it does make clear Ukraine’s underlying logistical problem. Continue reading »
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America’s strategy of failure comes to Ukraine
US mission creep in Ukraine follows in the fatal footsteps of ultimately failed war campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. Continue reading »
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We are at war, with no strategy adequate to the challenge
Unlike the Ukraine war, the war I am referring to is not a military war; it’s our battle for planetary health, and we have no strategy adequate to the challenge. Continue reading »
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Japan is not the most warlike nation in history
Jimmy Carter called the US ‘the most warlike nation in the history of the world,’ and said that ‘peaceful’ China is ‘ahead of us in almost every way’. Continue reading »
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The eerie parallels between Vietnam and Ukraine
Ukrainians have become cannon fodder for the US geopolitical goals, just as the South Vietnamese were. Continue reading »
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The Ultra High Net Worth Individual’s strongest weapon: News Corp
We are at a crossroads. The Ultra High Net Worth Individual (UHNWI) class is creating a new international feudal order, assisted by the professional enabler class including politicians in pursuit of their money. One of those enabling mechanisms is the media. In Australia, News Corp serves as the strongest weapon in the creation of their Continue reading »
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US may help Ukraine launch an offensive on Crimea
In a new article titled “U.S. Warms to Helping Ukraine Target Crimea,” the New York Times reports that the Biden administration now believes Kyiv may need to launch an offensive on the territory that Moscow has considered a part of the Russian Federation since 2014, “even if such a move increases the risk of escalation.” Continue reading »
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New Zealand’s Prime Minister Ardern resigns
Jacinda Ardern who has led New Zealand with intelligence, kindness and humanity is leaving the stage. Her last day as Prime Minister will be February 7. Continue reading »
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Extremism and the sensible centre
The labelling of people as ‘extremists’ or ‘radicals’ – as abolitionists and women’s suffrage advocates were once called – is determined not by the soundness of the views expressed, but by the relative scarcity of the people expressing them in proportion to the amount of people holding different views in the ‘sensible centre’. Given the Continue reading »
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At war, the US dollar is on the brink of collapse
The US is at war, and the dollar is at risk of imminent collapse. Australia’s lobbying of the United States as a good ally should focus on these issues above all else. Continue reading »
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By the numbers: The de-dollarisation of global trade
Data suggests that US dollar reserves in central banks are dwindling, as is the influence of the US on the world economy. This presents a unique opportunity for regional currencies and alternative payment systems to enter the vacuum. Continue reading »
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Militarised Japan and the Biden-Kishida summit signal moment in the New Cold War
Across the Indo-Pacific, as well as in the escalating Ukraine War, humanity stands an accident or miscalculation away from the calamity of nuclear war. Continue reading »
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America’s cruel game with Australia
Australia’s security policy is a mess. We have been betrayed by our national leaders. Without exception, from Prime Minister Gillard on – with Anthony Albanese shaping up to join – the sell-out to America’s war neurosis is complete. Our leaders have been party to the fabrication of China as a military threat to Australia, by Continue reading »
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Europe and the legitimisation of deception
The U.S., having no need of or gift for statecraft, has long practiced what I’ve taken to calling the diplomacy of no diplomacy. You can’t expect much from bimbos such as Antony Blinken or Wendy Sherman, Blinken’s No. 2 at the State Department. All they can do is roar, even if they are mice next Continue reading »
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The new world economy
Belém, Brazil – I inaugurate this new series of columns in a New Year and a new beginning for Brazil with the inauguration of President Lula da Silva, His well-wishers poured out across the country in a revival of hope for Brazil after four years of disastrous rule under his right-wing predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who Continue reading »
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Will engaging China in WTO multilateral trade discussions help reset relations?
The current WTO rules were negotiated during the Uruguay Round without China involved or even in mind. The expectation was that China would evolve into a market economy and WTO rules would apply. China has not evolved as expected; should China change its state-controlled economy, or should WTO rules be rewritten to accommodate China? Continue reading »
