World
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Why does Albanese pander to his enemies and neglect his friends?
Before leaving the Labor Party, Senator Fatima Payman made it clear she did not sign up to a Labor Government whose caucus had not itself signed up to the Labor Party platform which required a recognition of the state of Palestine and a two-party solution to the Middle East’s endless malaise. She made that discovery Continue reading »
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Europe’s tariffs on Chinese EVs could be a boon for Australia
Moves by other countries to impose higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles could benefit Australians shopping for a new car. Continue reading »
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The “Invisible Doctrine” destroying our planet and controlling your life
Best-selling British writers, George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison, have very recently published “The Invisible Doctrine”, which is a powerful critique of neoliberalism, and the role they believe it is playing in destroying our human future. Continue reading »
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The Atlas Network’s transnational revolution
Twice in a fortnight, the president of the Heritage Foundation has declared that America is experiencing its second revolution. The revolution would remain bloodless (because their side is “winning”) “if the left allows it to be.” The two bodies whose acts provoked the announcements are leading Atlas Network partners. They are also spending millions of Continue reading »
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In our make-believe politics, the strings pulled by the super-rich are all too visible
Biden wanders offstage or walks like a geriatric robot. Yet we are meant to believe he’s carefully navigating us through the nuclear tripwires of the West’s serial wars. Continue reading »
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Pro-Gaza candidates in UK squeeze Labour vote in some constituencies
Overall it was a spectacular night for Labour, with the party winning a landslide victory.However, in areas with a high proportion of Muslim voters the party performed badly. Continue reading »
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USA – home of the brave?
Can you think of another country which has caused so much grief and violence throughout the world? Continue reading »
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America’s arrogant imperialism on full display in Tbilisi
The Black Sea country of Georgia was recently convulsed by protests over the passage of legislation requiring disclosure of foreign funding of NGOs. The controversy is a big deal in Tbilisi. However, the issue doesn’t matter much in America. At least, it shouldn’t. Continue reading »
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The renewable opportunities behind the climate politics
The world has made up its mind on the move to renewables. All you have to do is listen to the markets, look at what global capital is doing and ask businesses here in Australia. Continue reading »
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The ‘necessary evils’ of Australia’s allies
“At a public meeting in 1971, C.P. Ellis – head of the Ku Klux Klan in Durham, North Carolina – tore up his KKK membership card in what was basically an act of love. Continue reading »
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The US and Western allies commit to another forever war
Ho hum, the US has just committed itself to another ‘forever war.’ Its faithful obedient Western allies, like puppies wagging their tails, have fallen in behind. One would think they would tire, or at least learn lessons from, the game. Seemingly not. Continue reading »
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Labor’s cowardice on the world stage
Labor’s cowardice on the world stage stems from a deep-rooted fear that to do anything other than slavishly follow American policy would be to hand government over to a Coalition which has always done exactly that. Continue reading »
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The aimlessness of the G7 on Ukraine only delays the inevitable
At some point there must come a crisis. The G7 and their allies and partners will either have to cease their support for Ukraine as the toll and costs become too great, or decide that the defeat of Russia is of such importance to them collectively that they engage militarily in the conflict. Continue reading »
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Putin’s offer of peace
President Vladimir Putin has laid out a clear Russian position on how the fighting in Ukraine could stop immediately, says Jeffrey Sachs in an interview with Judge Napolitano. Continue reading »
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Narcissus at war
The manipulation of truth and the acceptance of self-fabricated narratives can have devastating consequences, akin to the fate of Narcissus in Greek mythology, who, entranced by his own reflection, was consumed by self-love to the point of destruction. Similarly, the propagation and strategic use of misinformation as a political tool has serious consequences. Continue reading »
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When the powerful control public opinion
“Under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.” – Albert Einstein, 1949. Continue reading »
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The afterlives of lies
The hoax of “weaponised rape” in Gaza takes what seems a fatal hit. Continue reading »
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Walking into war with China: an American trap hidden in plain sight
There is no question that the path to war has been set against Russia and China. Nor is there doubt that the brunt will be borne by US allies, as the US has repeatedly proclaimed its “gratitude” to allies without which its geostrategy would be impossible. The question remaining is when war will require allies Continue reading »
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Can China save the world?
As the climate crisis accelerates and intensifies, it’s easy to despair about the possibility of any country taking the lead in ‘saving the planet’. And yet Xi Jinping at least says encouraging things. Should we take China seriously? Continue reading »
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Shangri-la Security Dialogue heralds important shift in Australia’s language on China
The 21st Shangri-la Security Dialogue, held in Singapore between 31 May and 2 June, saw the United States’ Secretary of Defence unveil a new way to describe his country’s Asia-Pacific policy, and hold a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart. China was unyielding on its “core interests”. Australian Defence Minister Marles embraced the “global rules-based Continue reading »
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Hostages have been freed, who cares about the Palestinian unpeople?
It’s been a month since I relocated to a new town. It’s been traumatic. The emotions have run wild and the somatic reactions strong. At the epicentre of this emotional firestorm is a deep, wounding sense of dislocation, of severed connections with people and place. Continue reading »
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‘Two years to save the world’
This was the haunting title of a recent speech by UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, at Chatham House in London. Continue reading »
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Backing the US house of cards
“The United States of America is in competition with China, but not ideologically. Who initiated the first agreements with China to outsource factories if not the United States of America themselves? They cannot tell us that it is a fight for freedom… It’s [ ] because China is becoming the world’s leading power, and from Continue reading »
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Israel the grotesque, who supports that government?
Celebrations on Tel Aviv beaches followed news of the rescue of four Israeli hostages. As part of an alleged clinical, precise military exercise, as many as 300 Palestinians were killed and 700 injured, but in Israeli revellers’ eyes, this latest slaughter of Palestinians is of no consequence, even welcomed. Continue reading »
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When Confucius meets Machiavelli
The title of “Empire” is not ascribed to the United States by observers but revealed by astute journalists as indeed what the powers that be in the US think of itself. Continue reading »
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Biden’s distorted D-Day history seeks to rally others to his endless wars
President Biden’s bellicose nationalism was again on display during the D-Day commemorations. In a pair of addresses, Biden not only sacralised war and exalted the virtues of ‘the American’. In the finest populist tradition, he misrepresented the history of the Second World War to rally Europeans to never-ending-war. It all passed with little real deconstruction Continue reading »
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Four rescued Israels equals over two hundred dead Palestinians whilst we continue to support a rogue state
To rescue four Israeli hostages Israel massacred two hundred and ten or more innocent Palestinian souls to prove that the War on Gaza was worth it, just to prove their machismo. Continue reading »
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The saddest consequence of Donald Trump
The saddest consequence of Donald Trump’s conviction is that it changes little. It may seem inconceivable that a convicted felon can run for President of the United States with a good chance of winning, but he would not be the first person to be elected after spending time in prison. Continue reading »
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The perils and promise of the emerging multipolar world
The world economy is experiencing a deep process of economic convergence, according to which regions that once lagged the West in industrialisation are now making up for lost time. Continue reading »
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Could the rise of China eclipse the enlightenment
According to the dominant Western narrative, the history of the entire modern world has been prodigiously shaped by Western historical turning points beginning with the Renaissance and running through the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the science-driven, first Industrial Revolution. A recent, US-published book, “China’s Age of Abundance: Origins Ascendence and Aftermath” by Professor Wang Feng, Continue reading »
