World
-
China, UK leadership transitions illustrate how the world has changed
The leadership transitions in China and the UK shed an illuminating light on their very different political systems. Continue reading »
-
Australia must overturn its listing of Hamas as a terrorist organisation
In or about October 2021 the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) – under the previous government – listed Hamas as a terrorist organisation under the Criminal Code. Continue reading »
-
Exit Liz Truss; enter lettuce
“When are you going to govern? The only thing you have governed for the past year is your own survival.” Jess Phillips, Labour MP, October 20, 2022 Continue reading »
-
A mighty challenge: The national energy market and net zero greenhouse emissions
The Commonwealth should use its clear Constitutional capacity to seize sole control of the national energy market. Continue reading »
-
How the US military/business complex works. Jobs in Saudi for the Generals
“The government fought us for two years to keep these records a secret,” said one Washington Post journalist. “We sued, and won.” Continue reading »
-
The flaws and fantasies of the new Biden doctrine
The US president’s new National Security Strategy is ambitious — and delusional about America’s role in the world. Continue reading »
-
US National Security Strategy: dogma for a misconceived crusade
American National Security Strategies (NSS) are a bizarre hegemonic specie. The latest version is saturated with more than usual hyperbole. The Biden Administration’s obsession that the defining characteristic of international reality is an ontological dichotomy between democracy and autocracy distorts the Strategy’s perspective. Continue reading »
-
Paramedics missing in health care debate
In a country with well-publicised shortages in the health workforce, it’s perplexing and perverse that policymakers don’t use paramedics better. It’s an anomalous situation that the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce can help to overcome. Continue reading »
-
Alex Jones’ $1.5 billion loss reignites free speech debate
The AU$1.5 billion dollar payout that conspiracy-monger Alex Jones is being forced to pay to the families devastated by the Sandy Hook massacre is the check on “free speech” that we all need to discuss. Continue reading »
-
Iranian and Turkish moves to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation challenges US hegemony
The SCO can further its goal of challenging the wider Western-dominated ecosystem and prevent Washington from setting the global agenda. Continue reading »
-
The Defence Strategic Review: Three dangerous assumptions underlying our defence planning
To navigate the rapidly changing international system, we must replace three dangerous assumptions underpinning Australia’s defence planning. Continue reading »
-
The changing world order with declining western influence
White Man’s Media misses it again. The recent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperative Organisation held 15-16 September 2022 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Continue reading »
-
The incoherent narrative of the AUKUS nuclear powered attack submarines-SSNs
In the year since the government announced the AUKUS arrangements – especially that they involved Australia’s acquisition of a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines – the relevant communications on this centrepiece have veered from the boastful to the oracular. Ostensibly, they emanate from the inner sanctums of Defence and National Security, or those recently within them Continue reading »
-
OPEC won’t back West on Ukraine, hostile to Biden
There will be myriad effects from the decision last week by the OPEC+ oil producers – led by Saudi Arabia and Russia – to cut production and increase the price of oil. Continue reading »
-
Ukraine’s revenge on the West
As the balance of power shifts again in Ukraine, its reverberations will impact the very unity of the EU project. Continue reading »
-
Jeffrey Sachs urges dialogue amid rising Taiwan-China tensions
Jeffrey Sachs, who has been named this year’s Tang Prize laureate for Sustainable Development, has urged Taiwan and China to commit to dialogue to find a peaceful resolution in the midst of rising tensions between the two sides. Continue reading »
-
How the US, not just Russia, helped bring the world closer to nuclear war
The West has effectively been challenging Russia’s right to be a hegemonic power. What if the proxy US campaign in Ukraine doesn’t lead to Russian regime downfall but instead to a desperate Putin using nuclear weapons? Continue reading »
-
Western anti-China rhetoric reeks of hypocrisy
The direction from whence comes most of the anti-China rhetoric in the world today is hardly surprising. It reeks of hypocrisy. Continue reading »
-
The Defence Strategic Review and the challenge of synchronising with foreign policy.
A reshaped foreign policy for Australia and the Defence Strategic Review are inextricably linked. Continue reading »
-
Renewable energy is not enough – we must reduce consumption too
Alan Pears explains why we must stop ignoring energy efficiency gains instead of just focusing on switching to renewables. Is Australia’s focus on “clean energy” part of our economic and climate problems? Continue reading »
-
Australia: An Electric Vehicle Battery manufacturing powerhouse?
Is it too late for Australia to enter the global market for Electric Vehicle Battery (EVB) manufacturing? It has become apparent that Australia’s exit in 2016 from local car production has made it more difficult for us to participate fully in one of the 21st century’s fastest growing, technically advanced and environmentally critical industries. Continue reading »
-
Climate change risk second only to nuclear war
Could anthropogenic climate change result in worldwide societal collapse or even human extinction? Continue reading »
-
We won’t recognise the annexation
Does any country buy Israel’s self-righteousness – it doesn’t recognise the annexation of the four provinces – at a time when Israel is trying to persuade world leaders to recognise its own annexations. Continue reading »
-
Truss misrepresentations on China
While the campaign for the UK prime ministership was more about domestic issues than foreign policy, China still made fleeting appearances. Prime Minister Liz Truss had long pushed for a more ‘hawkish’ approach to China, commenting in the past about the need for the United Kingdom to avoid ‘dependency’ on the People’s Republic. Continue reading »
-
25 Years ago, I warned expanding NATO ranked with the errors that led to WWI and II
Expanding NATO’s military demarcation point to the very borders of the former Soviet Union was an error which may rank with the strategic miscalculations which prevented Germany from taking its full place in the international system at the beginning of this century. Continue reading »
-
US ring-fencing of Russia weakened those prepared to give liberal democratic principles a go
When the Russians surrendered their empire in 1990, wouldn’t it have been better to have Russia as part of an enlightened framework of intelligent co-existence, to invite their people, battered by the twentieth century, into the comity and wealth of nations? Continue reading »
-
Peace, prosperity are ASEAN watchwords
Southeast Asian nations must call out US attempts to destabilise the region with anti-China rhetoric. Continue reading »
-
The Defence Strategic Review: National strategy or weapons shopping list?
Governments don’t hold inquiries to get unwelcome answers. The Defence Strategic Review is no exception. So what does the Albanese government want it to achieve? Continue reading »
-
Here comes the catastrophocene…
The good news is that the Anthropocene is almost over. It will have been the shortest geological epoch in all of Earth history. Continue reading »
-
The drumbeat of history sounds for the Monarchy
Australia is at an inflection point. The illusion of Pax Britannia is just that. The time for a historical reckoning has arrived. The gruesome facts of colonial violence and the heroism of past and ongoing Indigenous resistance can no longer be denied. Continue reading »