The Eagles classic “Hotel California” could be considered an allegory for membership in the imperial system of the United States. At least to this point, that appears to be the mindset prevalent in Australia’s political, defence and security class, regardless of the harm that membership causes. It is time to check out.
Cameron Leckie
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At the altar of the rules-based order
It is time to abandon Australia’s fanatical commitment to the ‘rules-based order’ and embrace emerging realities for a prosperous and secure future. (more…)
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AUKUS: defending the indefensible
The proponents of AUKUS appear to be rattled. Their defence of the worst deal of the century is threadbare. (more…)
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Will Australia be off to war in the Middle East again?
There is a disturbing void in Australian political debate about the prospects of another regional war in the Middle East. (more…)
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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.
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Collision course: the National Defence Strategy and the China – Russia Joint Statement
Australia is on a collision course with the major source of our prosperity. The collision is not yet a fait accompli. To avoid the collision will require breaking the shackles of the Rules-Based Order. Australia faces a geopolitical conundrum of major, if not epic, proportions. (more…)
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Australia’s National Defence Strategy: Where ideology trumps strategy
The ‘National Defence Strategy’ is not a strategy. It is an ideology. An ideology that firmly ties Australia’s future to that of the United States. A horrifying thought. (more…)
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Australia’s leadership is destroying the very fabric of this country
Some days I wake up and don’t recognise the country we have become. It is not the country I grew up in. It is not a country I can be proud of. It is not a country that has a bright future under current leadership. (more…)
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Australia: A ‘rogue state’?
To initiate a war of aggression has been described as the supreme international crime. If a regional war breaks out in the Middle East, triggered by the illegal recent strikes by the USA and UK against the Houthis, Australia could well be complicit in the commission of the supreme international crime. (more…)
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Ukraine: what did the government know and when?
As Australia’s expands its support to the NATO proxy war against Russia it is critical that the Parliament plays a role in determining when we become involved in overseas conflicts. (more…)
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A price paid in blood: Australia secretly deploys to another Middle East war
Will Australia involve itself in another war in the Middle East? One that promises to be far more destructive and damaging to Australia than our previous misadventures. (more…)
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Ukraine: Taking leave of our senses
My first article published here at Pearls and Irritations, titled Built on a tower of lies, described how positive feedback loops have created at a societal level an enormous tower of lies that guide public discourse. I further warned that if we failed to dismantle this tower the consequences would be traumatic. Unfortunately, the horrifically traumatic war in Ukraine has driven these positive feedback loops into overdrive. The inability for us in the ’collective West’ to unwind these lies, or in other words to be honest with ourselves, is a major reason why I believe we are witnessing the demise of the West as a major power bloc. (more…)
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Is Australia currently at war?
Historically, it used to be clear when one country was at war with another. Not so today. Indeed, that is one of the Department of Defence’s objections to war powers reform, where it stated in its submission to the Armed Overseas Conflict Inquiry that “the growth of grey-zone activities and offensive operations in the space and cyber domains [challenge] traditional concepts of ‘conflict.’“ (more…)
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The United States is in decline, with AUKUS, so too is Australia
It is all but finalised. Australia has handcuffed itself, essentially in perpetuity, to the United States. As a result, Australia’s future is inextricably intertwined with the future of the United States. (more…)
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Ukraine: The ignominious unravelling of the West has begun
Western powers appear to have no viable strategy to bring the Ukraine war to an end. The best they can do is keep Ukraine on life support. But, as Sun Tzu put it, tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. (more…)
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An open letter on Australia training Ukrainian Troops
An open letter to Prime Minister Albanese, Defence Minister Marles and Foreign Minister Wong on Australia’s decision to train Ukrainian troops. (more…)
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The Defence Strategic Review: Three dangerous assumptions underlying our defence planning
To navigate the rapidly changing international system, we must replace three dangerous assumptions underpinning Australia’s defence planning.
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The Defence Strategic Review and the decline of the US led western world
It is time to take the path less travelled. The Defence Strategic Review must recommend an independent defence and foreign policy if Australia is to successfully navigate the emergence of a multi-polar world. (more…)
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Ukraine: The demise of the West
The more events proved them to be wrong, the stronger their defences became against admitting this to be the case’ – Norman Dixon (On the Psychology of Military Incompetence) (more…)
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The Ukraine – a decisive transfer of the balance of power from west to east
The 2022 Russo-Ukraine is also a proxy war between Russia and the Western world. We should be prepared for a decisive transfer of the balance of power from West to East…The bulk of the fighting is in the Donbas where there are few or no Western journalists. (more…)
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Ukraine crisis is a pivotal moment in history — for the US, not Russia
While the media focus on the Russian ‘invasion’ narrative, we are actually witnessing the end to Washington’s unipolar moment.
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Why Australia’s electric vehicle strategy is going nowhere
The soaring cost of raw materials for batteries and production challenges mean rising prices will push electric vehicles out of the reach of most Australians for many years. (more…)
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AUKUS alliance highlights US decline and Australian humiliation
By joining Australia and the UK in the AUKUS agreement, the US has highlighted its decline. And if that decline continues, Australia will find itself increasingly isolated.
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Shock and Awful – The Collapse of the Empire
We are witnessing the accelerating collapse of the United States’ imperial system. Yet despite the potentially awful consequences Australia remains wilfully blind. (more…)
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Australia’s alliance with the United States: passed its use by date
Australia’s alliance with the United States has become an unthinking custom and practice. It has already cost us dearly in both blood and treasure with little to show for it. It is time to look at the alternatives.
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ASPI: The Tabloid Think Tank
Is it true? Or did you hear it from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute? (more…)
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Australia is playing in the international greyzone: it is time to get out of our unthinking alliance with the US
Unbeknownst to most of the population, Australia is a willing player in a global game of Risk. The risks are great, the rewards less so. We do not need to play this game. (more…)
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Government refuses to address Australia’s future liquid fuel risks
$90 billion for submarines that may never be used in conflict. Only $200 million for Future Fuels that every Australian depends upon every day. There is something seriously awry with the Government’s priorities.
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And then there were three – Australia’s dwindling oil exports
With a growing dependence on imports, Australia will become more vulnerable to disruptions to supply. It will not be easy to quantify the disadvantages. And it will be extremely difficult for governments to decide what level of insurance against disruption would be appropriate. (more…)
