On matters of war and defence, government executives and journo elites are exclusive and elusive. They’re all too happy that peace is a fleeting pause between wars; to replenish ammunitions, the pockets of arms manufacturers and the ego of America. (more…)
Category: Defence
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The ‘Senior Advisor and Principal Author’ of our Defence Strategic Review is a Director of the United States Studies Centre
Serious questions must be asked about conflicts of interest among Australian government advisors in both AUKUS and the Defence Strategic Review. (more…)
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A long game—peace in the Asia-Pacific
Perhaps Australia should play the “long game”, and do everything we can to avoid a war in the Pacific, not just work out how we might take part in one.
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Will China bring peace to Ukraine?
China will bring peace to Ukraine when it decides that a war that carries the danger of international escalation goes against its commercial interests. (more…)
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Back to the future of a Cold War arms race?
While the AUKUS treaty has echoes of the tragic Iraq invasion of 2003, even closer comparisons can be found with the arms race of the 1980s. (more…)
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A boom-gate falls across the highway to reform
Reform has its limits. Even as the Labor Government makes good several of its promised changes in economic and social policy, the boom-gate has dropped on defence and foreign affairs. (more…)
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Playbook for AUKUS campaign wins coveted award
Britain’s Oxford Dictionary and America’s Webster’s have moved quickly to shut down further nominations for the 2023 “Word of the Year”. They’ve declared “aukustrate” the unbeatable winner. Unsurprisingly, Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary found no reason to disagree, and fell into line. (more…)
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AUKUS: a collection of views not found in our Washington dominated media
AUKUS: signed and sealed by the Liberal government when it joined the pact in September 2021, the spoils of which have been delivered by the Labor Government in March 2023. The Labor Government and Australia will pay a heavy price for what is being done in our name. We are being humiliated by our own government. (more…)
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Investigating the terrorist attack on Nord Stream is a matter of Germany’s sovereignty
Who was behind the terrorist attacks on Nord Stream? (more…)
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AUKUS exists to manage the risks created by its existence
“NATO exists to manage the risks created by its existence,” Professor Richard Sakwa once wrote in an attempt to articulate the absurdity of the military alliance’s provocative nature on the world stage. At some point Australians must wake up to the fact that this is equally true of AUKUS: we’re told the military alliance exists for our protection, but its very existence makes us less safe. (more…)
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Labor prepares return to disastrous Forward Defence doctrine
Nearly everything the Labor government says about nuclear subs is ludicrous and highly damaging. (more…)
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Australia is an important Quad partner that India cannot trust
Despite flourishing relations, Australia is governed by a ruling elite whose commitment to a rules based order is suspect, selective and risks dragging India into a catastrophic conflict with China. (more…)
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AUKUS gets awkward Down Under
A controversy threatens to blow the alliance’s nuclear submarine deal out of the water, writes Maddison Connaughton in a new article for Foreign Policy. (more…)
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President Xi’s peace plan for Ukraine: plausible and implausible
At first sight, the Chinese President’s twelve proposals to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine appear plausible. Claims about common interests are supported by references to parties working together for peace and security, abiding by international humanitarian law, sustaining an existing world economic system and insisting that nuclear weapons not be used. (more…)
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If we spit the American dummy, what becomes of us?
Very simply, we have to shake out cobwebs and think for ourselves. While it sounds simple, it is actually hard when trying to separate from a dominant ally and the “illusory truth effect” which envelopes us daily. (more…)
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Has the USA captured Australia’s fourth estate?
The uniformly negative reaction of the national press gallery to former PM Paul Keating’s views on Australia’s security raises questions not just of its intellectual adequacy but of whether the media has been captured by and is knowingly serving the United States at Australia’s expense. (more…)
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AUKUS a test of NZ’s independent foreign policy
The AUKUS nuclear submarine deal presents New Zealand with a difficult dilemma. On one hand old allies are forming a military alliance to confront an emergent China, ramping up their AUKUS relationship and their rhetoric magnifying China’s threat. On the other hand is New Zealand’s long standing carefully nurtured relationship with its major trading partner. (more…)
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Stop preparing to participate in a US war against China
Dear Labor MPs, I write to convey my deep disappointment in the Labor Government, of which you are part, specifically in relation to the AuKUS submarine deal but more generally in relation to military strategy and foreign policy. (more…)
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The gatekeepers have spoken
Since 1901, the often-self-appointed gatekeepers of Australia’s defence and diplomacy have had the greatest difficulty with the idea of accountability. (more…)
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Anzus, shared values and sovereignty: not what it seems
Recently, Australia’s Defence Minister, Richard Marles said “Our alliance with the United States is completely central to our national security and to our worldview”. (more…)
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American Fascism: A prior question to the AUKUS arrangements
The criticisms of the AUKUS arrangements announced by the government are entirely warranted, as is the outrage that has accompanied them, but, strangely, they miss a point which should have preceded them. And that has to do with the political complexion of the United States itself; in brief, it faces the world as a troubled and corrupt actor, neither united as a nation, nor even as a state. (more…)
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China and the AUKUS submarine deal: unanswered questions
The challenge of 2045
Australia will have access to American nuclear submarines in the early 2030s and by 2045 will have been building its own. But it is not clear what problem will be solved when Australian long-range nuclear submarines are able to traverse the northern Pacific. (more…)
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Will Australia always follow the innocent nation into war?
A war in East Asia provoked by American intransigence would be no less disastrous for Australia than one caused by China’s ambitions. While China’s intentions and plans are inaccessible and should generate prudent caution, the well-researched drivers of America’s strategic policy should also produce grave reservations within the Albanese government. (more…)
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Australia’s paper sea horse
Many a joke telling session starts with “Have you heard the one about …?” The latest joke in the ASEAN region is ‘….the one about AUKUS?” (more…)
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Asian languages education: how did we end up in this mess?
How do we end up with an ALP government stupid enough to sign up for the ludicrous AUKUS proposal and the accompanying bogus, China threat scare? (more…)
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How safe are nuclear powered submarines?
The acquisition of nuclear-propelled submarines has been enthusiastically embraced by Albanese, Dutton, most of their benches, and their collective military-industrial backing chorus. In considering where the submarines will be based, questions about radiation leaks and accidents have been shunted to a back burner. (more…)
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Majority oppose U.S. war on China
The majority of Australians prefer a policy of neutrality and oppose joining US wars under the ANZUS alliance, polling shows. (more…)
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A tale of two octogenarian politicians
Former Australian leader Paul Keating still has fire in his belly, while US President Joe Biden appears to be losing his mind – and when it comes to Aukus and a nuclear submarine deal to counter China, they’re on opposite sides. (more…)
