September 28, 2024

Australia-America odd couple relationship needs repair

The largely unrecognised risk to Australia that our powerful ally will strategically collapse through internal political stresses is greater than the much discussed threat of war with China. Allan Behm, Director, International & Security Affairs Program, The Australia Institute, in conversation with Michael Lester about his new book The Odd Couple: The Australia-America relationship (Upswell Publishing 2024).

August 3, 2024

Jeffrey Sachs: "US Subservient to Israel"

A MUST-WATCH 29-minute interview in which Jeffrey Sachs tells it like it is and as few others dare to tell it.

June 23, 2024

China's Third Plenum: Beijing set to provide more welfare to its citizens

David Daokui Li says China’s decision makers have finally come around to stimulating domestic consumption rather than investment, and for that Beijing will provide more welfare.

June 13, 2024

'Glimmer of Hope' as UN Security Council approves Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

“We voted for this text to give diplomacy a chance,” said Algeria’s U.N. ambassador. “It is time to halt the killing.”

April 26, 2024

UN rights chief demands international probe of mass graves near Gaza hospitals

“Hospitals are entitled to very special protection under international humanitarian law,” said Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights.

September 3, 2023

The empire means widening our circles of compassion

In trying to get people to care about warmongering and imperialism what were really trying to do is get people to widen their circle of compassion to the furthest extent possible. To extend their care for the people around them to include caring about violence and abuse against people even on the other side of the world.

July 18, 2023

Hong Kong a national security threat to the US? Youve got to be joking, Uncle Sam

A national emergency order on itself may be more useful as no country poses a greater danger to itself and others than the United States.

July 12, 2023

Barbie makes a dash in ASEAN

Geo-politics is played on a world chessboard often by sad oldies in sober suits. To keep membership exclusive the polymath gamers use polysyllables and foreign tongues. Clearly not the place for a perky American doll.

May 15, 2023

Threats to judges an affront to rule of law that shames US

On May 12, the former president of the UN Security Council, Kishore Mahbubani, warned Hong Kong that it faced ongoing turbulence amidst global tensions. It should expect to be kicked around like a football over the next decade, although this has already started.

May 16, 2022

Morrison: a more empathetic, consultative bulldozer? It is all about marketing

Only a super salesman like Scott Morrison would think of trying to convert a negative attribute - bully into something that has perhaps a small positive connotation bulldozer. But thats at least partly what last Fridays makeover was about.

December 26, 2020

Things you learn along the way

Occasionally friends suggest to me that I should write my autobiography. Ruefully I explain that I wrote Things you learn along the way 20 years ago. The book sold about 8,000 copies but as far as I know is no longer available.

October 5, 2024

As US ally blows up the Mideast, China preserves Asia’s prosperity

Launching Cold War 2.0 against a reluctant Beijing while enabling Israel to set fire to an entire region is now official American foreign policy.

June 29, 2024

US shoots itself with own super-weapon

The USA has shot itself in the head with its own wonder weapon. The most powerful weapon in the US arsenal is not F-16 jets, Himar missiles, or any of the other conventional war toys. Real US power resides in the US dollar.

April 28, 2023

War prevention depends on respecting invisible geopolitical faultlines

If we look back on the major wars of the prior century and forward to the growing menace of a war fought with nuclear weaponry, there is one prominent gap in analysis and understanding: in an imperfectly governed world, spheres of influence in certain regional settings play crucial war prevention roles.

May 17, 2021

ASPI has us trapped in the ice

The philosophy and attitudes underpinning and guiding the direction of the Australian Stategic Policy Institute (ASPI) can be traced to the early years of the Howard government. Since that time there has been a steady erosion of core values that might once have been said to constitute the Australian social fabric.

September 22, 2024

Inflation is the ‘godsend of capitalism’

The Australian Bureau of Statistics statisticians recently found that “Mum and Dad” mass ownership of Australian rental properties is a complete fiction (of News Ltd). The majority of rental properties (some 60%) are owned by the wealthiest 10% of citizens, who typically own numerous properties, because returns on rental property consistently outperform stocks and shares, year on year. About 31% of Australia’s housing stock is rental property, and the proportion is rising rapidly as investors convert more homes into rentals, leaving proportionately less housing available for families to buy.

July 18, 2024

The drums of war

The drums of war have been beating loudly from successive U.S. administrations for decades. They are getting louder and louder as the thin layer of power-hungry, greedy and heartless elite push and push in an attempt to get us all to the brink of war-minded madness, be it civil or foreign.

June 28, 2024

The collapse of Zionism

Hamas’s assault of October 7 can be likened to an earthquake that strikes an old building. The cracks were already beginning to show, but they are now visible in its very foundations.

September 1, 2023

Life on a geopolitical fault line

Hong Kong can do nothing right, it seems. But its not the communitys fault: it lives on a fault line, trying to balance between two much larger, more powerful entities. Richard Cullen recalls a different occasion when two big powers, the US and the UK, had a difference of opinion. Often, much smaller communities end up paying the price.

July 21, 2023

Francos death rattle

The upcoming Spanish elections indicate the unthinkable the resurrection of Francos influence within a new government. But perhaps it could be the last of his death throes.

July 1, 2023

West can no longer twist information or disseminate disinformation

The West has been manipulating global information and spreading disinformation for decades. It is time for the world to also listen to the voices of China and other developing nations, many of which were once brutally colonisedby the West.

May 12, 2023

Intriguing tale of Chinas speedy pandemic recovery

No jurisdiction has managed a flawless COVID response, says Richard Cullen. But China, despite its imperfect COVID management experience, did better than any other major jurisdiction and, in fact, displayed many examples of early-best-practice unseen elsewhere. Exasperatingly, the West found, yet again, that it there is much it can learn from China and then, naturally, it got back to lecturing China on how to do things properly!

June 7, 2021

Australian traditional culture under threat again and again.

The changing of a word in the national anthem from young to one indicates that Australia did not begin in 1788. So aspects of society going back beyond that date are clearly Australian culture. Around Bathurst today, real Australian culture has been threatened by inappropriate and unnecessary developments. All Australians should object.

May 18, 2021

How to understand China: which books to read?

New books on China are flooding the market but their scope and quality are variable. Publishers have recognised that the public is keen to understand more about our major trading partner and the strategic challenges of the new world order.Readers would be well advised however to read the reviews before placing their orders. One book in particular should be avoided as it is likely to be tendentious and lacking factual information.

May 8, 2021

Catholicism must grow up

Catholic reform leader, Sr Joan Chittister OSB, has told a large Australian audience that Catholicism must grow up and that Catholics want a reformed Church. Sr Joan boosted the calls for change in the Australian Catholic church in an inspiring address to a 3,000-strong audience.

April 27, 2021

Taiwan: the trigger point for America's next war

It is becoming a case of when, not if, there will be a war between the US and China. Nobody wants war and yet the public is being persuaded that it might happen, and if it does, it will be a necessary evil to counter a threat.

February 9, 2021

Murdoch and his role in the Trump Presidency

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd dissects Rupert Murdoch’s role in creating the Trump presidency. “Donald Trump may have lit the match that detonated his country’s turmoil but it was Rupert Murdoch who diligently crammed the joint full of explosives.”

September 26, 2024

Four obstacles to India joining UN Security Council

Despite persistent lobbying, experts say it’s unlikely India will gain permanent membership of the UN Security Council anytime soon for several reasons.

May 27, 2024

America’s febrile anti-China madness

The vast majority of US politicians, media and scholars adhere to an outdated Cold War mentality, regard China as an existential threat, and use all means possible to harm it. The purpose of discrediting, isolating and containing China is to maintain the US’ global hegemony. However, the US’ hostile policy toward China will eventually bring the US down. The US political elites are still not aware of this catastrophic endgame, refuse to admit it, or are aware of it but are reluctant to publicly talk about it for fear of losing support for their anti-China policy.

September 20, 2022

The Defence Strategic Review: Pop psychology and Game of Thrones drives fear of war

At a time when Defence policy is being reviewed, public discussion needs to be rigorous and evidence based. There is an obligation on prominent experts to avoid unsupported speculation and alarmism. To do otherwise simply clouds the nature of the challenges and eliminates non-military approaches.

May 2, 2021

Joining the nuclear weapons ban treaty has never been more urgent

Its official the first meeting of states parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will be held on 12-14 Jan 2022 in Vienna.

May 1, 2021

When does Scotty's frenzied marketing become counter productive?

The majority of Australians aren’t that interested in politics.They have their life to get on with and really only get involved in issues which affect them directly like vaccinations or which touch a nerve as Morrison’s handling of women’s issues has with Australian women.

April 12, 2021

2021 Tasmanian State Election Overview

Less than a fortnight into the campaign, the 2021 Tasmanian state election already has voters astonished and bewildered with party infighting, candidate ticket instability, policy backflips amongst other features undermining public trust on full display. Of which are compounded by the blatant political opportunism in the timing of the election date which the Government has made no effort to deny.

November 9, 2020

Many of Trump's supporters feel disempowered by the elites

Weve all been doing quite a deal of waiting of late whether it be for the lifting of lockdown restrictions at a time of pandemic, or for the outcome of this weeks US presidential election. And all the time, we believers are waiting for the coming of the Kingdom with signs of its breaking in here and now. What does it mean to be a sensible person in waiting? What are the signs of a foolish community in waiting?

July 6, 2024

UK supplied Israel with intelligence on day Australian aid worker killed in targeted strikes

EXPOSED: Britain’s secret role in Gaza. Britain supplied Israel with intelligence on the day that Australian aid workers were killed in targeted strikes by the IDF.

May 17, 2024

The US empire deliberately stokes hatred and violence in the Middle East

I sometimes see people expressing bafflement that the US would back a genocide in the middle east knowing that it will radicalise the region against them, mistakenly thinking this goes against US strategic goals.

September 17, 2023

China spy cases sound like more Western paranoia

The China threat has much more to do with the insecurity and indecision of the West towards the country, the emerging multipolar world and the erosion of Western dominance.

July 10, 2023

Hong Kong: The unravelling of the telling of history

Under British rule, elected representation, so widely proclaimed by the usual gang of western governments as being essential for Hong Kongs people, was as remote as a lighthouse in a desert.

June 11, 2023

China - US: Buy America and subsidies mix with national security to see off the rules based order

Today the global trade system faces three systemic challenges. None are new, but strategic competition between China and the United States has brought a dangerous edge to each of them.

June 5, 2023

15 reasons why mass media employees act like propagandists

If you watch western news media with a critical eye you eventually notice how their reporting consistently aligns with the interests of the US-centralised empire, in almost the same way you’d expect them to if they were government-run propaganda outlets.

June 4, 2023

How to translate Western diplomatic jargon

Such terms and phrases as a rules-based system, de-risking, democracy vs autocracy, and coercive behaviour are not exhaustive but still expose obfuscation and double standards.

April 16, 2023

The lessons from America are stark

From his stronghold at Princeton University, Sheldon Wolin watched his political system collapse. In the latter days of his life, Wolin erupted into utter despair. His final testimony was heartbreaking: America had become the showcase of how democracy can be managed without appearing to be suppressed. No opinion critical of the set-up is in any way acceptable, and no change will be tolerated. The lessons from America are stark.

August 8, 2024

Why US politicians are picking on Chinese Olympic swimmers

As with Washington’s routine attempts to challenge all things Chinese as well as global multilateral agencies, its row with the World Anti-Doping Agency is par for the course.

April 17, 2024

The notion of China as "uninvestable" is simply wrong

Despite challenges, including the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and structural concerns, voices from within the business community underscore a robust economic outlook.

September 8, 2023

America: The biggest danger to the security of the world?

With experts seeing risks in Americas domestic politics, is it wise for Korea to bet the house on the US?

July 21, 2024

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 that is also appropriate for ours: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.”

June 27, 2024

Sleepwalking towards war: will America and China heed the warnings of twentieth-century catastrophe?

“The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States Government does not challenge that position.” – Shanghai Communique, United States government, 1972

June 5, 2024

Grief & guilt by association

I have been grieving deeply not just since last October, but ever since I woke up to the reality of what Israel is, and what it stands for. First came my human empathy for the Palestinian people and what they have been suffering. Empathy was what gave me the initial push to start to speak out, twenty-three years ago. However, at the time I did not understand that I was a Zionist. My heart ached for the Palestinians. Israel’s behaviour seemed brutal, and unfair, but I was still just a typical ‘liberal’ Zionist.

April 22, 2024

UNRWA is facing a campaign to push it out of the occupied Palestinian territory

This is a time of seismic change in the Middle East. At the heart of this region, the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees – UNRWA – is a stabilising force. Today, an insidious campaign to end UNRWA’s operations is underway, with serious implications for international peace and security, says Philippe Lazzarini.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal