The Indonesian G20 year was like no other. The Russian war in Europe divided the G20. No G20 communiques emerged from the ministerial meetings held during the run-up to the summit in mid-November 2022. There was a moment when it seemed that the summit would only tackle low-hanging fruit. But Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo embraced the tensions rather than avoiding them. (more…)
Category: World
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Australia flies into The Thucydides Trap
America’s newest nuclear stealth bomber was unveiled by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. It is the latest expression of the Thucydides Trap which postulates an inevitable war between America and China. (more…)
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The US is addicted to greatness – and haunted by its loss
If the US is to craft a new political culture less obsessed with grandeur and more in touch with reality, it must start with the young. (more…)
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Best of 2022: 25 Years ago, I warned expanding NATO ranked with the errors that led to WWI and II
Expanding NATO’s military demarcation point to the very borders of the former Soviet Union was an error which may rank with the strategic miscalculations which prevented Germany from taking its full place in the international system at the beginning of this century. (more…)
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The short lifespan of technological civilisations and the future of Homo sapiens
In his book ‘Collapse’ (2011) Jared Diamond portrays the fate of societies which Choose to Fail or Succeed. On a larger scale the Fermi’s paradox suggests that advanced technological civilisations may constitute ephemeral entities in the galaxy, destined to collapse over short periods. (more…)
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The predictable resurgence of fascism and nazism on both sides of the North Atlantic and its consequences
The Origins of Fascism and Nazism: the Great Depression
Fascism and Nazism were the products of the Great Depression. The deteriorating economic situation had disastrous effects on the quality of life and well-being of the popular classes and undermined the credibility and legitimacy of democratic systems and governments in the United States and Europe. Fascism in southern Europe and the United States, and Nazism in central and northern Europe and also in the U.S., capitalised on the resulting discontent. These movements acquired significant influence on both sides of the North Atlantic, ultimately governing several countries of Western Europe. (more…)
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The rub of the (very) green at the ‘Gabba
“It’s not cricket” is a term that originates from the idea of the importance of fairness. In the first cricket Test against South Africa we’ve just seen a case of alleged lack of fairness, of a kind, demonstrated at the ‘Gabba in Brisbane. (more…)
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The empire is built on our closed eyes
They can’t work toward peace in Ukraine because it will serve Putin. They can’t work toward peace in Yemen because it will serve Iran. They can’t end the occupation of Syria because it will serve Assad. They can’t stop military expansionism because it will serve China. (more…)
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Christmas: the uncherished gift
In the irreverent Monty Python film: the Life of Brian, the crowd is listening to Jesus speaking, but because of the hubbub mishear what he says. Instead of “blessed are the peace makers“ they hear “blessed are the cheese makers“. The crowd wonders what this means; the phrase is symbolic says one, “it involves all in manufacturing.” (more…)
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Opposing war is the first step toward moral Politics: notes from the edge of The Narrative Matrix
Forcefully opposing the warmongering and imperialism of your rulers is the very first step toward political morality. It’s not the only step, but it is the first step, because if you haven’t taken that step then no other ostensibly moral politics you might espouse are meaningful. (more…)
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A world divided
Not since the end of the Cold War has the world been so divided politically, ideologically and economically. (more…)
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An African view on Ukraine
As Africans, we don’t want the war in Ukraine to continue. Russia has legitimate security concerns. But instead of addressing them, the opposite has happened. NATO has been expanding its lines, NATO has been trying to consolidate its positions in Eastern Europe, up to the Russian border. What did you expect Russia to do, sit idle and watch? Would the USA or Europe accept that situation? Who in the world would accept that to happen? Writes Dr. Fred M’Membe, president of the Socialist Party of Zambia.
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NATO chief voices fear of war with Russia while US greenlights drone strikes on Russian territory
In what Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp describes as “a rare acknowledgment of the dangers of backing Ukraine,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged a fear of something going “horribly wrong” and leading to a hot war between the nuclear-armed alliance and Russia. (more…)
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US primacy is desirable but it is not a vital Australian interest
We are now in a world where the competition for primacy between the US and China is a defining feature of our strategic environment. That competition will co-exist with the emergence of a more multipolar region where large powers such as India, Japan and Indonesia will also seek to assert their own interests. It will likely be many decades before this complex dynamic finds a settling point and in the meantime Australia will have to learn how best to chart its own course and advance its own interests. (more…)
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Australia: a frontline state in the new Cold War
On 15 November 2022, during the G20 summit in Bali (Indonesia), Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told journalists that his country ‘seeks a stable relationship with China’. This is because, as Albanese pointed out, China is ‘Australia’s largest trading partner. They are worth more than Japan, the United States, and the Republic of Korea… combined’. Since 2009, China has also been Australia’s largest destination for exports as well as the largest single source of Australia’s imports. (more…)
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Fighting paranoid nostalgia, EU puts financial screws on Orbán
Around the west, authoritarian right wing parties are fighting the changes to the world that scare them. Protecting western liberalism is a challenge proponents of the democratic project are only just beginning to address. (more…)
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It’s time to seek the human story of Syria
The mainstream media has presented a picture of Syria that is cartoonish, brutal and ugly. Instead of a bohemian woman artist or a women’s choir singing from the Tales of Hoffman (or millions of other potential ‘human stories’), a bloody, exclusivist ‘revolution’ has been exalted by journalists in a way that entrenches patriarchy and ignores the human concerns of Syrians.
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Russians and the Ukraine war: few think it was a good Idea, fewer want it to end in defeat
What do ordinary Russians think about the war in Ukraine? Do they think it was a bad idea from the start? How eager are they for it to end, and on what terms? Accurate information on these vital questions is submerged in a great swamp of propaganda and partisan reporting. (more…)
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War Industry in US ‘celebrating Christmas early’ as House passes $858 billion for Defence
“There is no justification to throw…$858 billion at the Pentagon when we’re told we can’t afford child tax credit expansion, universal paid leave, or other basic human necessities,” said the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. (more…)
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The biggest obstacle to real freedom is the belief that we already have it
If you live in one of the so-called free democracies of the western world, the worst mistake you can make is to buy into the hype. To believe you are a free individual in a nation that respects and protects your freedom and individuality. (more…)
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Multinational tax integrity and tax avoidance by the fossil fuel industry: Part 2
This is the second instalment of a two-part series based on our recent submission to the Australian Government regarding tax transparency and the fossil fuel industry. The first part examined how transnational fossil fuel corporations are routinely engaged in accounting practices which enable them to avoid paying the Australian Government hundreds of billions of dollars in income tax. This second part provides recommendations for minimising these tax avoidance practices and recouping some of the wealth these corporations have extracted from Australia. (more…)
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The crushing of the Unipolar World in the Middle East
The unipolar world is dead and American control of the Middle East is a wreck. (more…)
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Why is the Catholic Church still investigating itself?
For those still interested, the erosion of episcopal authority from the clerical sex abuse scandal continues at pace. (more…)
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Xi Jinping’s visit to Saudi Arabia and the overthrow of Atlanticism
The historic China-Arab Summit currently underway in Riyadh symbolises the emerging Eurasianism in the Persian Gulf. (more…)
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Jeffrey Sachs: a negotiated end to fighting in Ukraine is the only real way to end the bloodshed
With the war in Ukraine now in its 10th month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden have both expressed openness to peace talks to end the fighting, as have leaders in France, Germany and elsewhere. This comes as millions of Ukrainians brace for a winter without heat or electricity due to Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. “This war needs to end because it’s a disaster for everybody, a threat to the whole world,” says economist and foreign policy scholar Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. He says four major issues need to be addressed to end the war: Ukraine’s sovereignty and security, NATO enlargement, the fate of Crimea and the future of the Donbas region. (more…)
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A mediator’s guide to peace in Ukraine
The Ukraine War is an extremely dangerous war between nuclear superpowers in a world desperately in need of peace and cooperation. (more…)
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East is east, West is west: China and the West are not ‘competitors’
When the US and its like-minded allies express the desire to compete with China, what they seem to overlook, or wilfully ignore, is the fact that China is really only competing with itself. (more…)
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Australia and the suspended U.N. Inspection
It always helps to have your own house in order before criticising another’s. With other nations, Australia has in recent times been a constant critic of the human rights record of numerous nations, particularly that of China. However, it was Australia itself who last month was subject to a critical report from the U.N. Committee Against Torture. (more…)
