August 13, 2023

Clearing the fog of Unprovoked War

For the record: I wasborn in Ukraine, studied in Russia, andworked in America as a laser fusion researcher and Professor of Mathematics and Physics. I have relatives and friends in all three countries, and for the last 35 years, I have been trying to do my best to make them friends, partners, or even allies. Instead, all three are now at war, even if some call the U.S. war only a war byproxy.

April 20, 2023

The troubled States of America

The two biggest television events of the year so far in the United States have been the all-cable-all-streaming-live-chopper-coverage of Donald Trumps motorcade from Mar-a-Lago to the courtroom in Manhattan where he became the first former president to be indicted. And, in Succession, the death of media mogul Logan Roy on his plane en route to the biggest deal of his life.

April 12, 2023

Indonesian politics scores an own goal

Its the biggest story next door but barged offside by the Australian media for the Trump indictment and the No. Theres another factor: Soccers not our national game.

April 2, 2023

Global happiness: up six points since last year - 73% now say they are happy

Global survey unveils drivers of happiness, finds life satisfaction roaring in Latin America but dropping in many Western countries; while people strive for social connections, many are pessimistic about the future of relationships and one in five say they have no one to turn to for support.

April 21, 2022

Why intemperate views on China will cost Chinese votes

In his recent addresses about China, especially in his National Press Club address in November last year and Nine newspaper in February 2022, Defence Minister Peter Duttons tough talk would not go down well with Chinese voters. It could cost the LNP votes in the marginal seats where Chinese votes make a difference.

January 30, 2021

Own goal: IPA report a ringing endorsement that Coalition policies have failed

The Institute of Public Affairs has scored an epic own-goal by calling out the slide in quality of life. A new report by the Liberal Party think tank identifies the drop in home ownership, high incarceration rates, the low level of skills training and debt as the main culprits but declining living standards are a direct result of Liberal Party policies.

September 30, 2024

Antisemitism, Zionism and the war in Gaza: Sara Dowse, Author

Sara Dowse, Northern Beaches resident and author, discusses the rise in antisemitism in the context of the Israel Gaza war and the ways in which the latest definitions of the term, including in Australia, are weaponised to silence opposition to, and consideration of, pathways to peace and justice by conflation with Zionism and lack of a full appreciation of the history of Israel statehood since establishment in 1948 and subsequent dispossession and dehumanisation of the people of Palestine.

July 28, 2024

When the spring came

When the spring finally came, we returned to our neighbourhood, and we found that wildflowers had grown amid the fallen buildings and the rubble. Wildflowers grew above it all, above all our people, and above all their dreams.

July 3, 2024

Ukraine: where are the real fascists?

One myth that keeps cropping up about Ukraine is that it has been plagued by outsized far right or neo-Nazi influences, particularly during the Maidan protests of 2014 and the later Donbas conflict.

June 9, 2022

Proactive Defence diplomacy not American militarism better supports Australias security

Well, that didnt take long. The names have changed but the script still comes from Washington. There is not going to be a rethinking and resetting of strategic policy by the Albanese government in the same way they have begun correcting the foreign and climate policy failures of the Morrison era. The rigid shutters of the security establishment have come down on the new minsters with lobotomising force.

April 24, 2021

Anzac: a tale of two nations

National days are usually by their nature, you might think exclusive. No one but the USA celebrates 4 July. Even when nations share a date (as Australia and India share 26 January) they are not the same occasion. 25 April Anzac Day is perhaps the only national day celebrated in common by two nations.

March 13, 2018

JOHN MENADUE. Cars, not immigration, are killing our cities.

_This week on Four Corners many commentators blamed immigration for many of our ills. It was a diversionary tactic._I think that immigration is Australias great success story. Many of the problems that immigration cause are the result of policy failure in other areas like housing and transport.

May 8, 2024

Netanyahu as Lord of the Flies: He has wounded, sickened or starved all 600K Palestinian Children in Rafah

Catherine Russell, the head of UNICEF, said this week that of the 600,000 children in Rafah, southern Gaza, all of them are either injured, or sick, or malnourished. Much of the Gaza population has been forced south to Rafah by the Israeli military, which had promised them it was a safe zone. She added, “Over 200 days of war have already killed and maimed tens of thousands of children in Gaza.”

April 6, 2024

Morally damaged America still wagging its righteous finger

Very recently, the leading British daily, The Guardian, ran remarkably informing side-by-side stories covering official United States perspectives on the Gaza genocide.

September 24, 2023

Okinawa disproves the US narrative about overseas bases

Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki has implored the UN for international backing in his opposition to the prefecture being overrun with US military bases.

June 9, 2023

The Spark

Maybe its a quirk in my character that in times of calamity I always look for the silver lining. It doesnt often appear, but in this darkest hour of despair, when nothing seemed possible and the collapse of hope was profound, I found it. The spark.

May 6, 2023

Whats mine and not yours

Enclosure in the US and Israel

April 30, 2023

Mystery disease sweeps through Borneo wild boar population

The bearded pig – the native wild boar that has dominated the jungles of the huge island of Borneo for thousands of years – may be close to extinction.

April 21, 2023

Taiwan looking more like a pawn as US struggle against China loses steam

US coverage of Tsai Ing-wens visit has been muted as China continues to make advances in peacemaking, hi-tech, de-dollarisation and economic growth.
Whether the Biden administration has had a change of heart about China is still uncertain but it appears Taiwan has merely been a pawn.

June 25, 2022

Hubristic Greens

There is one area in which the Greens are out in a class of their own hubris.

February 27, 2021

US-India plot wrong course in Indian Ocean

The militarization of the Indian Ocean is in direct violation of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2832, which designated the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace and called on the great powers to halt any further escalation of military presence including bases, installations and logistic or supply facilities.

January 9, 2021

Long after the Rio Earth Summit, a chance for sustainable Australia?

With climate change and biodiversity losses continuing, Australias Environmental-Economic Accounts channel fresh ideas on our stewardship of the land, testing our success or failure.

September 23, 2024

Cartoon commentary

July 7, 2024

Impossible trinity drives Southeast Asia’s prudent hedging

In Southeast Asia, hedging is a pragmatic policy that maintains options and mitigates risks. While some ASEAN states, like the Philippines, are aligning more closely with the United States, most are pursuing a more inclusive and selective approach to partnerships, ensuring concurrent engagement with China and the United States. This approach is more desirable in the absence of a clear-cut threat and allows states to maximise other goals while keeping their security options open.

July 5, 2024

TikTok tensions are a new front in US–China tech wars

The US Congress’ decision to push TikTok towards sale or ban due to national security concerns has garnered support from nearly 40 per cent of Americans and 59 per cent of Australians, but its impact could lead to job losses and deepen the tech divide between US and China. TikTok is seen as a litmus test for dealing with China in the lead-up to the 2024 US election, with both parties aiming to appear tough on China. The platform has also played a significant role in shaping younger users’ social and political views, leading some to see it as a threat to established narratives._

May 26, 2024

Time for Israelis to self-reflect and acknowledge responsibility for the war in Gaza

“For 57 years, Israel has been maintaining a regime of wrongdoing and evil, and now, at last, the world is waking up and starting to act against it. Will it also be able to wake up at least some Israelis from their heedless, twisted sense of justice?” writes senior Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy.

May 10, 2024

Students are the nation’s conscience

The courageous stance of students across the country in defiance of genocide is accompanied by a near total blackout of their voices. Their words are the ones we most need to hear.

April 18, 2024

The West now wants ‘restraint’- after months of fuelling a genocide in Gaza

The Middle East is on the brink of war precisely because western politicians indulged for decades every military excess by Israel.

September 26, 2023

The west destroyed Africa, Eurasia will revive it

Africa’s renaissance is already underway through partnerships with Eurasian powers Russia and China, whose significant contributions are already visible in security, economic, and institutional sectors throughout the continent.

May 29, 2023

Im sorry, but the toxic G-7 rich club is past its sell-by date

YET ANOTHER G-7 meeting has passed with yet another embarrassing show of insecurity by a group that is well past its sell-by date.

July 20, 2024

Big men with big egos confront one another in the “greatest democracy”

As the US presidential election contest heats up, there is bemusement in Papua New Guinea.

July 2, 2024

A baby born in April 2023 has never experienced a month that wasn’t the hottest on record

When a baby born on April 1, 2023 reached 14 months and became a toddler this month, it had never lived through a month that wasn’t the hottest on record.

April 13, 2024

The fantasy of an Iranian bomb

Iran has never had a nuclear bomb—why does Israel insist that it’s an imminent threat?

July 25, 2023

The empire knows it's pouring Ukrainian blood into an unwinnable proxy war

In a new article titled Ukraines Lack of Weaponry and Training Risks Stalemate in Fight With Russia, The Wall Street Journals Daniel Michaels reports that western officials knew Ukrainian forces didnt have the weapons and training necessary to succeed in their highly touted counteroffensive which was launched last month.

July 24, 2024

Overproduction is OK as long as it’s done by anyone except China

It makes sense for Beijing to expand the services sector, but none for the US to transfer higher productivity in services to lower one in manufacturing.

May 4, 2024

US reportedly working to stop ICC from issuing arrest warrant for Netanyahu

“There is absolutely no reason for Biden to be involved in this,” said one analyst. “But once again, Biden steps in to protect Netanyahu from the consequences of the war crimes he commits.”

September 28, 2023

When will Israel seek forgiveness for its crimes against Palestinians?

Over the weekend, Israel marked Yom Kippur when it is supposed to atone for its collective sins. Yet Israel never thinks to ask for forgiveness from its biggest victims: the Palestinians.

September 23, 2023

The mass-media memory hole: Ukraine, Libya and war crimes

A key function of state-corporate media is to keep the public pacified, ignorant and ill-equipped to disrupt establishment power.

September 6, 2023

Think Tanks are information laundering ops for war profiteers

The British billionaire-owned newspaper The Telegraph has an appalling new article out which reads like a paid advertisement for a missile manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The title even sounds like it was written by a marketing team: A war-winning swarm missile will knock China out of Taiwanfast, subtitled Rapid Dragon is a military gamechanger that provides the US Air Force with a crucial edge in the Pacific.

August 4, 2023

The Power of the Israeli Lobby | A Conversation with Ambassador Chas Freeman

An important one-hour video interview with Ambassador Chas Freeman about the power of the Israeli lobby in the US and the danger of the US policy towards China leading to a nuclear war.

May 24, 2023

The orbit of Russian cultural influence

One of the stranger aspects of the current war, at least for this observer, is the sight of Ukrainian military commanders telling BBC cameras in perfect Russian of their anti-Moscow plans. They have yet to learn to speak Ukrainian.

August 9, 2021

Doctrinal and structural Catholic Church transformation

Transformation most often happens not when something new begins, but when something old falls apart. It is change but not restoration. Transformation is a new configuration. For the church it means a doctrinal as well as a structural transformation.

March 21, 2020

PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 22 March 2020

Marine and coastal environments are the focus this week: how The Blue Acceleration poses threats to natural environments, economies, lives and homes through ocean warming, melting ice caps, changes in ocean currents, sea level rise and even bushfires. And some early attempts to protect flood-prone areas in the USA.

June 30, 2024

Striving to unite biodiversity, climate and finance

We take nature and biodiversity for granted. Nonhuman life is like a backdrop — we don’t pay much attention to it. This is a mistake.

May 19, 2024

Vietnam, brutalist architecture, fees and Gaza: how student protests shaped Australian universities

Australian university students are beginning to set up encampments on campus, in solidarity with college protesters in the United States. Protesters are calling for the divestment of funding from weapons manufactures and Israeli universities. But these protests are just the latest in a decades-long history of political action on Australian campuses.

August 2, 2023

Australia should forge closer relations with China

Under the Labor party governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard between 2007 and 2013, Australia succeeded in anchoring its relations with China on mutually beneficial grounds.

July 15, 2023

How the Taliban crushed the CIA's heroin bonanza in Afghanistan

The Taliban has not once, but twice eradicated Afghanistan’s poppy cultivation, the world’s largest source of heroin. Despite western accusations, it has never been The Taliban behind the Afghan drug industry, but only ever the US and its allies, with billions in profits breezily laundered through the global financial system.

June 30, 2023

China adds 62 gigawatts of solar capacity in just five months, compared to 10 gigs in the US

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) Carrie Xiao at PV Tech reports that in the first five months of 2023, China has installed 62.1 gigawatts of solar capacity at a cost of $13.6 billion. Year on year, it was a 140 per cent expansion. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of this advance, a typical nuclear power plant has a nameplate capacity of 1 gigawatt.

June 16, 2023

Killing the story Bakhmut, Nick Cohen, Kakhovka, Nord Stream and Piers Morgan

The late writer, broadcaster and wit Clive James formulated what he called the Barry Manilow Law:

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal