World
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Maduro slams attempted ‘Coup against Venezuela’ as far-right cries fraud
One political scientist argued that “doubts about Venezuela’s elections appear less as concerns that the people’s voice will not be heard, than that it will.” Continue reading »
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Crying antisemitism drowns out the real problem
Zionism has become for some people a sort of ethnic superiority which denies equal claims to recognition by Palestinians. If we are unable to talk about this within the Jewish community we are doing a great disservice to both Palestinians and Israelis, writes Dennis Altman. Continue reading »
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US presidential races hide the criminality of the US empire
The thing I hate about western electoral politics in general and US presidential races in particular is that they take the focus off the depravity of the US-centralised empire itself, and run cover for its criminality. Continue reading »
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China: the global trading giant
An extraordinary chart from The Pioneer below compares nations whose largest trading partner was either the USA or China in the year 2000 and the year 2020. Over one short decade, it is a powerful visualisation of how the world’s economic centre shifted. Continue reading »
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Unleashing Australia’s potential
In 1992 I was teaching a class of year 11 students. They were concerned about climate change. I had some good news for them. The Rio de Janeiro earth summit had resolved to protect our future; Rio’s big idea quickly became known as a carbon tax. The aim was to protect earth’s future by making Continue reading »
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Donald Trump and God: not a match made in Heaven
One of the more noteworthy features of the recent Republican National Convention was the reverential reception of Donald Trump. Even before Trump’s brush with death, eighty per cent of evangelical Christians supported him. What does this say about their beliefs and motives? Continue reading »
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China forges its own path at Third Plenum as West, thwarted by special interests, proves fundamentally incapable of reform
“In the Chinese context, there are a lot of talks about remembering your original mission. The original mission is to eliminate inequality” – Wang Dan, chief economist of Hang Seng Bank China. Continue reading »
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The World Court has cleared the fog hiding western support for Israel’s crimes
The legal ruling by the world’s highest court obliges Western states not just to end their persecution of the boycott movement but to take up that cause as their own. Continue reading »
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Declaiming antisemitism: tribal solipsism or linguistic imperialism?
Claims of antisemitism are currently the pejorative de jour, an all-purpose prosecution intended to condemn any who engage in criticism of rampaging genocidal Zionist activity to instant and unchallengeable perdition. Continue reading »
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The crack in the facade where the light gets in
The genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and collective punishment in Gaza perpetrated by Israel has removed the masks from Western governments. Continue reading »
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Sunday was earth’s hottest day on record
“We are now in truly uncharted territory and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years,” one expert said. Continue reading »
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Why we filed a complaint against Netanyahu to the National Office of Investigation in South Korea
“An almost daily occurrence. At least eight schools hit in the last 10 days, including six @UNRWA schools. The war robbed the girls and boys in #Gaza of their childhood & education. Schools must never be used for fighting or military purposes by any party to the conflict. Schools are not a target. The blatant Continue reading »
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Loss of empire, loss of lucidity
As the United States’ imperial system and Western hegemony circles the drain, lucid thought is becoming a rare commodity. But there is hope. Continue reading »
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Martyrdom transforms Trump
Anyone watching the Australian diplomats at the Republican national convention would have quickly seen the backslapping, the warm handshakes with the republican tree people and the Australian understanding that, more likely than not, Donald Trump will be elected president in November. Our diplomats, and those with whom they have intercourse, can read the signs as Continue reading »
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‘Brain Dead’ & dangerous, NATO proceeds
The trans–Atlantic alliance’s true purpose of global dominance is too objectionable to profess. Instead, it operates on the basis of fantastic conjurings, which no member questions. Continue reading »
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Developing nations suffer for rich world’s climate complacency
If leading central banks can grow their balance sheets by billions of dollars during the pandemic, they can do the same to fight global warming. Continue reading »
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Crisis in the West, opportunity for the rest?
Whether we call it “polycrisis,” like Columbia University Professor Adam Tooze, or “the age of catastrophe,” like the distinguished Marxist Alex Callinicos, there is no doubt that we are living in a period where the very foundations of the contemporary world order are cracking. There is that enigmatic line Gramsci used to describe his era Continue reading »
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Legacy media outlets also stand in dock over Gaza
How RNZ, ABC and other Western media failed to challenge Israeli war narrative. Continue reading »
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Jacinda Ardern joins programme by major U.S. think tank the Center for American Progress
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s new international role is leader of a project created by the think tank the Center for American Progress, known as CAP. Reactions to this apparently counter intuitive move have been varied. Continue reading »
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The drums of war
Elite drums of war are drowning out the desire for peace Continue reading »
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The moral and strategic bankruptcy of US policy in Gaza and Ukraine
John Mearsheimer discusses Ukraine’s dire situation on the battlefield and its bleak political future; and Israel’s use of the “Hannibal Doctrine” on October 7. Continue reading »
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The Tao of Terra: the fate of East and West are intertwined as never before
In our highly interconnected world, the fates of both the East and West are intertwined as never before. In the face of existential challenges, it becomes imperative for humanity to work together for the common good. Our survival now hinges on our ability to foster mutual understanding, promote global cooperation, and embrace our shared humanity. Continue reading »
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Vassalise allies, destabilise the rest is now US strategy in Indo-Pacific
Divide and conquer, well-honed in Middle East and Latin America over decades, is being applied to only real growth engine of world economy. Continue reading »
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Allies playing gods
Every generation, or thereabouts, has its moment of unlearning or forgetting two salutary lessons that should be indelibly imprinted on the memory and the consciousness with the advent of war: first, idiosyncrasies or hubris, or both, can overpower political leaders; second allies are not necessarily friends no matter how much they may seem like us, Continue reading »
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The left-right, barking mad, marching machine
And so we march on blindly, striding robot-like ever closer towards the precipice. For those who care to listen, the point of no return is rapidly approaching. Continue reading »
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The predicament of climate scientists on the road to a supertropical earth
As temperatures in large parts of the Earth are soaring (cf. 52.3oC in Delhi), flames engulf large regions in California, tornadoes ravage the Gulf of Mexico states, severe drought starve populations in southern Africa and climate extremes continue to take over large parts of the Earth. Continue reading »
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A time for multipolar peace
NATO has been shaping up to go global for quite some time. It has singularly failed as a so-called ‘defensive alliance’, having been involved in assorted bouts of warfare and bloodshed in Europe over the past three decades. Having come into existence ostensibly as a defensive bulwark against the threat of the Soviet Union, the Continue reading »
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“The Sun has won”: exponentially growing solar destroys nuclear, fossil fuels on price
It’s not known if Peter Dutton reads The Economist but if he does, he must probably think from time to time that it is sometimes dangerously left wing. Continue reading »
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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 »
