Mark Carney’s blunt declaration that the rules-based international order has ruptured challenges countries like Australia to rethink their alliances and consider new coalitions among middle powers. (more…)
Category: World
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Message from the Editor
When I stared in newspapers it was often said that today’s paper is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapper. It is a relief to know that some are not so casual about the press. John Menadue and Paul Keating both have long memories, and mark a special anniversary today. It is exactly three years to the day since The Age and SMH ran a series called ‘Red Alert – warning war with China would come within three years, making that deadline today.
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Where are Iran’s allies? Why Moscow and Beijing are keeping their distance
Russia and China have condemned the US–Israeli attack on Iran as illegal, but both powers have drawn clear limits on their support, stopping well short of military intervention.
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‘Rude, arrogant and entitled’: ex-Prince Andrew’s arrest is the inevitable conclusion to a sordid royal tale of privilege and protection
The arrest of ex-Prince Andrew over alleged misconduct is not an isolated scandal but the product of a system that shields the royal family from scrutiny. Without transparency and accountability, privilege can become a pathway to abuse of power. (more…)
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How long can Israel sustain a military conflict with Iran?
Public support for Israel’s war effort contrasts with doubts over its long-term military and economic sustainability. (more…)
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International law or ‘might is right’? Australia’s choice on Iran
The US and Israeli strikes on Iran have not been legally justified under international law. As the Trump administration pushes an increasingly unilateral approach to global power, Australia faces a choice – defend the UN Charter or remain silent.
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Prabowo’s Middle East peace gambit is long on theatre, short on strategy
The weapons are fast and devastating, driven by big bucks and high tech. They’re being used in a war of religions that’s almost 14 centuries old. Both sides have recruited God. A man of war from Southeast Asia thinks he can bring reason to bear. He can’t. (more…)
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Australia’s politics of consensus is stifling dissent and compassion
Governments sustain power by repeating stories about themselves. In Australia’s federal parliament, a narrow political consensus – marked by conformity, cruelty and evasion – is weakening democratic debate and eroding the principles of human rights and international law.
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Australia needs to read its own geography
As Australia deepens its alignment with Washington through AUKUS and expanded military integration, it risks compromising the regional trust and autonomy that underpin its long-term prosperity and security. (more…)
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We have been here before – and we never learn
From Afghanistan to Iraq and Libya, repeated military interventions have weakened rather than strengthened US power. With new strikes on Iran launched without congressional authorisation, the pattern of executive overreach and strategic miscalculation deepens.
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Australia’s shameless support for the US attack on Iran makes us gullible, duplicitous, or both
For Anthony Albanese – as well as Mark Carney and Keir Starmer – to go along with Trump and Netanyahu’s cynical ploy negates any sense of moral authority we possess – a catastrophe for the rules-based order. (more…)
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War on Iran signals urgent need for Australia to end risky imported oil dependency
The widening conflict in the Gulf has exposed Australia’s extreme reliance on imported oil. With minimal fuel reserves and a $12 billion annual diesel subsidy to mining, energy security has become a national security emergency. (more…)
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You don’t have to like Iran’s government to oppose this war
After the killing of more than 150 schoolchildren in southern Iran, memories of a visit to Isfahan in 2018 return with painful clarity for Eugene Doyle. Beyond governments and geopolitics are ordinary families, whose children now bear the cost of escalating war. (more…)
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The US-Israeli attack on Iran is also an assault on the United Nations
The US–Israel war on Iran is a direct breach of the UN Charter and a blow to international law. But the attempt to impose global hegemony and hollow out the UN will ultimately fail in a multipolar world determined to resist domination. (more…)
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Another poor US intelligence call?
As the US strikes Iran while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, questions grow about selective enforcement of international law and a long record of flawed intelligence assessments. (more…)
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War is the opiate of the Israeli masses
Israel has once again entered war to solve its “existential problems once and for all”. History suggests those promises of total victory rarely survive contact with reality.
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If Iran resists, the global economy will pay
Western governments, including Australia and New Zealand, have backed US and Israeli strikes on Iran. But the decision risks economic catastrophe, regional escalation and the further erosion of international law. (more…)
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Trump and Netanyahu want regime change, but Iran’s regime was built for survival. A long war is now likely
The US–Israel strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader have pushed the Middle East into open war. But regime change in Tehran is far from assured and the conflict could trigger prolonged regional instability with global consequences.
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‘Insane this is legal’: Bettors make huge profits from suspiciously timed wagers on Iran war
Newly created accounts made around $1 million betting on the precise timing of US strikes on Iran, prompting calls for investigation into whether prediction markets are being used to profit from war.
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The Russia–Ukraine war: Australia’s unanswered questions. Part 2
As Australia backed Ukraine into a catastrophic land war with Russia, serious questions about corruption, arms diversion and governance were visible in plain sight. In part 2 of his two-part series, Michael McKinley examines what was known, what was ignored, and why it mattered. (more…)
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Trump’s dangerous war without consent
The United States is now at war with Iran without congressional approval, and the costs – strategic, human and constitutional – could be catastrophic. (more…)
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Jeffrey Sachs on the US and Israel war with Iran
The US is fighting to maintain hegemony, in a war that will have shocking global ramifications, says Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs in conversation with Glenn Diesen. (more…)
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The Russia–Ukraine war: Australia’s unanswered questions. Part 1
As the Russia–Ukraine war enters its fifth year, hard questions are overdue. In Part 1 of a two-part series, Michael McKinley examines the strategic history behind the conflict and Australia’s uncritical alignment with a US-led approach that offered Ukraine little prospect of victory. (more…)
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From Whitlam to Andrew – the Palace and the politics of concealment
Allegations of royal funding in Prince Andrew’s settlement revive deeper questions about the monarchy’s political conduct – from the dismissal of Gough Whitlam to claims of concealed influence and broken trust.
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Modi in Israel, Tokyo’s shift on arms, and Duterte at The Hague – Asian Media Report
India and Israel deepen ties, Japan edges towards lethal arms exports, Duterte faces crimes-against-humanity charges, Indonesia weighs its Gaza role, Bangladesh confronts rule-of-law reform, and China’s unofficial K-pop ban shows signs of strain. (more…)
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From Iraq to Iran – how international law has unravelled
In 2003, governments at least felt compelled to argue the legality of war. In 2026, a possible strike on Iran proceeds without even the pretence of legal justification. (more…)
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President Trump: Give back the money and stop grabbing more
The White House and Congress can and should provide relief to American families who bore the costs of illegal tariffs. The administration has the responsibility to design such relief. (more…)
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Iran on the brink
After decades of US-backed regime-change wars across the Middle East, Iran now stands alone. A new conflict would deepen regional instability and test Australia’s willingness to say no.
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Terrorism – a blow back from western violence in Muslim countries
Terrorism dominates political debate and media coverage in Australia despite causing relatively few deaths. The deeper causes – western military violence, state power, and selective moral language – are rarely examined. (more…)
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Why security-first critical mineral policy risks slowing the energy transition
Western efforts to secure critical mineral supply chains from China are increasingly driven by security logic. That approach risks raising costs, slowing decarbonisation and undermining the global energy transition.
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