Humanity has reached a tipping point. It is time for governments, international institutions and people everywhere to take stock and act with renewed urgency. (more…)
Joseph Camilleri
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Foreign policy under Labor: beholden, bereft and befuddled
Labor came to office last May, replacing a government that had steered Australia’s relationship with the United States to new heights of servility. Our ties with China were in tatters. Many had hoped that the change of government would usher in a shift to a more imaginative and less subservient foreign policy. Nine months later such hopes are little more than idle fantasy. (more…)
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2023: a make-or-break year for the global order
Many of the accounts we hear of the current Russia-NATO conflict are deeply flawed. and risk degenerating into pure farce – a crude melodrama, in which an upright, democratic Ukrainian government headed by hero Zelensky is pitted against a corrupt and brutal autocracy led by the deluded ogre, Putin. What is really in question, is the unsustainable global security framework. (more…)
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War with China looms: Questions that need answers
We now have a clearer picture of how deeply entangled with US strategic priorities and war preparations Australia has become. We also know that China is viewed as the principal adversary, and that US military planners and their Australian counterparts are busily planning for a major military confrontation with China, most likely over Taiwan. (more…)
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China policy: A casualty of Australia’s addiction to imperial power
It’s now close to five months since Labor came to office, but little has changed in the government’s position on China or the dangerous escalation in great power tensions. (more…)
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To all who care about humanity’s and the planet’s future
Humanity has reached a tipping point. It is time for governments, international institutions and people everywhere to take stock and act with renewed urgency. (more…)
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The Defence Strategic Review: Will it question the China phobia that currently holds sway?
Hardly a day goes by without an Australian politician, commentator, or member of the security establishment reminding us that China poses ‘a clear and present danger’. The messaging, consistent and unrelenting, provides the backdrop to the Defence Strategic Review recently announced by the Albanese Government. (more…)
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The Ukraine conflict calls for sharper vision and bolder action
The Ukraine conflict is a sign of our dire predicament, potentially a taste of worse to come. (more…)
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The tragic obsession with the Chinese threat
Seven weeks in government, and still no sign that Labor in office is prepared to rethink the relationship with either China or the United States. The two are not unconnected. The link is their common addiction to the China threat thesis. (more…)
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The best of times, the worst of times
The best of times, the worst of times. Few words better describe the contradictions of our world precariously poised between noble aspirations and sordid politics. Three questions immediately arise: Are the contradictions deepening? If so, why? Can anything be done about it? (more…)
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In Glasgow, a historic tragedy may reach its climax. Where to from here?
The Glasgow climate summit may end long on rhetoric and short on substance. Among the sobering questions: are our institutions fit for purpose? (more…)
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Australia adrift: how to be a good society Part 2
There is no denying it. Australia is at the crossroads. If a reminder were needed, the pandemic has obliged. COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of life, the uncertainties of the future, and the shortcomings of our institutions.
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Australia adrift and uneasy; time to set a new course. Part 1
A pall of unease hangs over Australia, yet it’s hardly acknowledged. The government’s failings and the implications of ill-judged policies preoccupy more insightful commentators. But it may be time to consider the ills of society as a whole. (more…)
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AUKUS security pact: a story of recklessness and delusion
The AUKUS security pact is another provocative alliance that can only end in blood and tears. And for no good reason other than a nostalgic addiction to imperial power.
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Afghanistan debacle exposes the limits to Empire
The chaotic scenes at Kabul airport are symbolic of a military intervention that has brought the people of Afghanistan nothing but loss and destruction. The United States and its allies, not least Australia, have a great deal to answer for. This twenty-year war has been an unmitigated disaster from beginning to end. And what an ignominious end it is, especially for the United States.
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Biden’s strategy exposed – tempestuous times ahead
It is safe to conclude that neither China nor Russia will be intimidated by shows of US strength or alliance solidarity. They will keep on strengthening their military capabilities and continue to use every bit of soft and hard power to advance their vision of a multi-centric world. (more…)
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Time to silence the drums of war
For many familiar with the excesses of Cold War rhetoric and the hyped-up fears used to justify our ill-fated interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the current China bashing is a case of déjà-vu. But the latest bout of politically contrived anti-China hysteria is especially troubling. (more…)
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America’s place in the world under Biden: the omens betide no good
The only way to manage the emerging pluralist world order at all safely is to cultivate international institutions and mindsets that are genuinely inclusive and conducive to a respectful and sustained dialogue. Are the United States and its allies, Australia included, open to this sobering thought? (more…)
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A post pandemic world: glimmers of hope amid the bleak reality
With much of the world engulfed by the first, second or third waves of Covid-19 transmission, predicting when or how the post-pandemic future will emerge remains a hazardous occupation. One assumption, though, seems safe enough. When the spread of the virus eventually subsides, we will face a grim social, economic, environmental, and political landscape. (more…)
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Why the Biden victory is not the answer to our prayers
Much of America is breathing a sigh of relief that, gracefully or otherwise, Trump will soon vacate the White House. Allies of the United States – not just governments but much of the commentariat – are expecting a less turbulent and more predictable international environment. That may be wishful thinking. (more…)
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Australia and the World after Trump? The moment of decision is fast approaching
Much of the commentary on the US election has focused on the personalities, the contest, the likely result. Will it be Biden or Trump again? But is this the nub of the question? (more…)
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The parlous state of our security policies – thinking through the hard questions
In Australia security policy is made largely behind closed doors, and subject to remarkably little scrutiny by parliament or our mainstream media. It has at best a fleeting presence in our political and public discourse. (more…)
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It’s time to strip ‘national security’ of its sacred cow status. Part 2
On closer inspection, the immense financial, institutional, and rhetorical investment in this elaborate security edifice rests on questionable assumptions. The costs may far outweigh any likely benefits. (more…)
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It’s time to strip ‘national security’ of its sacred cow status. Part 1
The Prime Minister has just announced the most hawkish turn in Australia’s defence policy since the end of the Cold War. All in the name of national security, the mantra of governments intent on justifying sprawling, costly and often unaccountable security establishments. (more…)
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Living with China: There is a way, but is there a will? Part 3
To enter into a sustained and productive dialogue with China, Australia needs to do its homework. As indicated In Parts 1 and 2, both government and society have to cultivate a better understanding of contemporary China, its history, culture, economy and politics. (more…)
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Living with China: There is a way, but is there a will? Part 2
In Part 1 we saw that the post-1945 Western dominated world order is rapidly giving way to a multicentric world, in which different players, each with its own system of governance and civilisational inheritance, are vying for power and influence. In this part, we examine How Australia can accommodate this shift, as it goes about the demanding task of rethinking its relationship with China. (more…)
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Living with China: There is a way, but is there a will? Part 1
There is a growing sense that it’s time to step off the merry-go-round of China bashing and the Australia bashing that inevitably follows. But what is to take its place? Many would like to see a more solid foundation for our relationship with China. But what would this look like in practice? And how well equipped are we for the task? (more…)
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JOSEPH A. CAMILLERI. Can we rescue the China relationship from the abyss?
For some time now we have been routinely mishandling our relations with China. Our petulant demand for an international Covid-19 inquiry, whose thinly veiled purpose was to point the finger at Beijing’s misdeeds, is the latest in a long series of missteps. (more…)
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JOSEPH A. CAMILLERI. Covid-19 – Lessons Not Yet Learnt
For weeks now Covid-19 has dominated the world’s media. We’ve had endless facts, advice and commentary on the virus itself, the number of deaths and infections, the level of testing, the do’s and don’ts of hygiene and social distancing, the flattening of the curve, and much else. But on the underlying significance of the pandemic remarkably little. (more…)
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China policy drowning in empty rhetoric – time for an informed public debate
China is in the news and rightly so. If it’s not events in Hong Kong, it’s the China-US trade dispute, or tensions in the South China Sea, Beijing’s expanding influence in the South Pacific, the prospect of a Chinese military base in Cambodia, China’s treatment of the Uighur minority, or China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). For Australia, this is a time for uncomfortable soul searching. (more…)