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Tag Archives: Alison Broinowski
ALISON BROINOWSKI. The Merkel moment: wherever that works.
If NATO cannot rely on a Trump administration, should Australian leaders not see this as an opportunity to face the facts?
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
Tagged Alison Broinowski, Australia, Bishop, Merkel, NATO, Trump, Turnbull, US
6 Comments
ALISON BROINOWSKI. What Australian Foreign Policy?
Insider, analyst and adviser Allan Gyngell finds that Australian defence and foreign policy are more bipartisan than ever. But even as Australia’s national security agenda metastesizes, we have more to fear from an unreliable ally and an increasingly lawless world. … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and Reviews, Defence/Security, International Affairs
Tagged Alison Broinowski, ANZUS, Australia, China, foreign policy, Gyngell, United States
2 Comments
ALISON BROINOWSKI. If Australia has switched enemies in Syria, who and why are we fighting?
If Australia has switched enemies in Syria, as our allies apparently have done, the Turnbull Government owes us at least an explanation about who and why we are fighting.
ALISON BROINOWSKI. The pact of silence.
The death of Dr David Kelly in 2003 has not been explained to the satisfaction of everyone in Britain. Investigations suggest the Government of Tony Blair still has questions to answer.
Posted in Defence/Security, Media, Politics
Tagged Alison Broinowski, Baker, Blair, Chilcot, David Kelly, Frost, Gilligan, Hutton, Machon
2 Comments
ALISON BROINOWSKI. Don’t ask about the war.
John Howard contributed to world events which are still affecting us: invasion, illegality, sycophancy to our allies, refugees, and even Brexit and Trump. Why do Australians not hold him accountable?
ALISON BROINOWSKI. What side are we on in Syria and Iraq?
The mainstream media are agonising about the Syrian government‘s nearly completed overthrow of rebels and the devastation of Aleppo. But the fog of war is not a sufficient excuse for their utter confusion about who the enemy is. The Australian … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
Tagged Aleppo, Alison Broinowski, illegal war in Syria, Jim Molan, rules of engagement in Syria
2 Comments
ALISON BROINOWSKI. Trump – Seize the moment. Quo vadis series.
Quo vadis – Australian foreign policy and ANZUS. Summary. We have a unique moment to do something Australia has never done – make a rational distinction between our national interests and our enduring regard for the US.
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Alison Broinowski, ANZUS, Asian neighbours, Darwin marines, South China Sea, Trump, Wong
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. Reclaiming Australia
ASIO Director-General is under-reported when he says anti-Islamic groups also threaten Australian security. ‘Incredible’ is a word over-used in the media when all they mean is ‘very’. So when something truly unbelievable happens, we have no description ready for it. … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Alison Broinowski, ASIO, cyber-terrorism, Duncan Lewis, Iraq, Islam, Reform Australia, Syria
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. Your laptop is watching you: ‘Snowden’ the movie.
Before Snowden comes on, there’s a short film of Oliver Stone, the director, warning cinema audiences that they can be surveilled, so please turn off their devices. Even as a humourless joke for geeks, it sets the sombre tone … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and Reviews, Defence/Security, Human Rights, Media
Tagged Alison Broinowski, Assange, Bush, Manning, Obama, Snowden, Stone, surveillance
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. What was all that about?
Afghan troops who were trained in Uruzgan until 2013 by Australian soldiers are now reportedly confined to barracks. More for their own safety than the protection of the province, it seems, because the Taliban have waited them out and … Continue reading
ALISON BROINOWSKI. A Foreign Affairs White Paper. What is there to inquire about?
We have just had a Federal election, so now the inquiry season has begun. The government already has a Royal Commission inquiring into the detention of children in the Northern Territory, it wants a plebiscite on gay marriage, the … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Alison Broinowski, Foreign Affairs White Paper
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. What Chilcot doesn’t say.
Comprehensive though the Chilcot report is, and 12 volumes long, its promised revelations about how Britain went to war in Iraq and the lessons to be learnt are incomplete. What’s missing is particularly important for Australia, which has yet … Continue reading
ALISON BROINOWSKI. Bush ‘s poodles
There is a sense in Britain that its very foundations are shaking. Just weeks since the Brexit decision, the prospect of recession is real, the value of the pound and the price of real estate have dropped out of sight, … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Alison Broinowski, Australian role in Iraq, Chilcot Report, Iraq invasion and terrorism, weapons of mass destruction
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. Process or Policy
Three governments are currently consulting their constituents. Two are offering them a significant choice about future foreign policy: one is not. The US asks delegates to decide between a President Donald Trump who would expel Hispanics, bar entry to … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Alison Broinowski, Chilcot Enquiry, Defence White Paper, DFAT, Julie Bishop, Palestinian state question, Tanya Plibersek
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. The silence is deafening.
We learn belatedly that Prime Minister Abbott tried to persuade the Army to send to the MH17 crash site in Ukraine, were more like 3000, a full brigade! In this long election campaign, the major parties are debating anything and … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Alison Broinowski, James Brown, MH17 crash site, war powers
3 Comments
ALISON BROINOWSKI; Wisdom in hindsight.
Leaders who have presided over policy disasters typically respond in one of three ways. Some of them leave office and retire to their well-feathered nests, where they hibernate in silence. Others spray the blame around, including at those who … Continue reading
Alison Broinowski. Who decides when we go to war?
Setbacks for democratic reform of war powers. Having taken one step forward, Australia’s major allies have now taken two steps back from reform of their war powers. In the UK, the Defence Minister has set aside years of bipartisan promises … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Alison Broinowski, Henry Reynolds., invasion of Iraq, sending Australian troops to war, war powers
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Alison Broinowski. Losing ‘our’ Uruzgan.
Most Australians live in cities where the only newspapers are owned by Murdoch. So unless they found Fairfax on line, they were spared the sorrowful report on 3 May that Afghan government troops have pulled out of more ‘strongholds’ in … Continue reading
Alison Broinowski. Defence White paper – the China threat.
Strategically timid. In his final book, which was too little noticed, Malcolm Fraser declared that we must reassess the strategic dependence which has determined our defence policy throughout settler Australian history. ‘We need the United States for defence’, he … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Alison Broinowski, containment of China, declining US influence, Defence White Paper, Malcolm Fraser, pivot to Asia, The Asian Century
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Alison Broinowski. . Borderless war
(or – when you get in a hole, stop digging) To the sound of approaching drumbeats, first the ever-reliable Jim Molan, then Peter Jennings, and after them Liberal MP Dan Tehan have been wheeled out to tell us in recent … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Alison Broinowski, Iraq invasion, mission creep, Shorten and Syria, Syrian bombing, Tanya Plibersek
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