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…)
Category: World
-
US ring-fencing of Russia weakened those prepared to give liberal democratic principles a go
When the Russians surrendered their empire in 1990, wouldn’t it have been better to have Russia as part of an enlightened framework of intelligent co-existence, to invite their people, battered by the twentieth century, into the comity and wealth of nations?
-
Peace, prosperity are ASEAN watchwords
Southeast Asian nations must call out US attempts to destabilise the region with anti-China rhetoric. (more…)
-
The Defence Strategic Review: National strategy or weapons shopping list?
Governments don’t hold inquiries to get unwelcome answers. The Defence Strategic Review is no exception. So what does the Albanese government want it to achieve? (more…)
-
Here comes the catastrophocene…
The good news is that the Anthropocene is almost over. It will have been the shortest geological epoch in all of Earth history. (more…)
-
The drumbeat of history sounds for the Monarchy
Australia is at an inflection point. The illusion of Pax Britannia is just that. The time for a historical reckoning has arrived. The gruesome facts of colonial violence and the heroism of past and ongoing Indigenous resistance can no longer be denied. (more…)
-
US hypocrisy knows no limits on war crimes by US presidents
President Biden’s condemnation of Russia at the UN on Wednesday, where he claimed Russia had violated the UN Charter by invading Ukraine, a country he ludicrously said posed “no threat” to its larger neighbour, is epic hypocrisy coming from the leader of a country that not long ago invaded and destroyed Iraq based on a total fraudulent claim asserting that country was developing or even already had weapons of mass destruction. (more…)
-
Zionism, anti-semitism and the British Labour Party
Last week Ali Kazak re-published an article,
The article was said to be by Yvonne Ridley and dated 23.12.2021. It addressed the prospect of “(o)ne 82-year-old woman in Britain…(being) expelled from the Labour Party having been accused of posting “anti-Semitic” views on social networks”. “Diana Neslen, though, is Jewish”. The ‘views’ essentially questioned Zionism, asserting that it was based on lies. (more…)
-
Opportunistic interests: The US-Pacific Island declaration
If ever there was a blatant statement of realpolitik masquerading as friendliness, the latest US-Pacific Island declaration must count as one of them. The Biden administration has been busy of late, wooing Pacific Island states in an effort to discourage increasingly sharp tilt towards China. It has been spurred on, in no small way, by Beijing’s failure in May to forge a trade and security pact with Pacific Island countries. (more…)
-
When facts are not necessarily facts. The Uyghurs and China
Repeat a supposed fact sufficient times and it will become assumed truth. That seems the case very much when it comes to claims about China’s oppression of the Uyghurs in its western Xinjiang province. Supposedly one million or more Uyghurs have been imprisoned in vast re-education camps with the term ‘genocide’ being frequently used. Even the charge of infanticide has been laid. Not all that is supposed however, is reality. (more…)
-
The rise of Trussonomics
It’s impossible to know whether the new British Prime Minister is genuinely serious about constructive policy or not. She is certainly interested in greasing palms and calming the storms, if only to delay the inevitable. Having proven herself the shallowest of candidates to succeed her disgraced, not wholly banished predecessor, Liz Truss has leapt into economic policy as her starting point. (more…)
-
The best journalists are persecuted and despised
The best western journalists are overwhelmingly despised while the worst are acclaimed millionaires. Western civilisation is built on lies, dependent on lies, powered by lies. Don’t seek widespread approval. It’s worthless. (more…)
-
Beijing ‘won’t be threatened’ into changing Taiwan plans, analysts say
China’s foreign ministry lodged ‘stern representations’ with the US after President Joe Biden again said American troops would defend the island if the PLA attacks. (more…)
-
Who are the war criminals?
One of the few heartening things to come out of Russia’s war against Ukraine is the renewed emphasis on how it’s a crime for national leaders to start a war of aggression. Putin is not the only one who can reasonably be accused of committing war crimes. Most US president since World War II have done so. So have some Australian Prime Ministers. (more…)
-
Defence Strategic Review-Prometheus bound – China the constrained superpower
Several contributors to this series have argued that China should not be seen as a military threat to Australia. Their arguments are based on historical, political, and cultural grounds, or all three. Henry Kissinger in his 2011 book On China concluded similarly. (more…)
-
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…)
-
President Abbas at UNGA: Why is Israel not punished for violating international law?
Who is protecting Israel from being held accountable? Why these double standards when it comes to Israel? (more…)
-
Almost 90% of the world is not following America on Ukraine
A remarkable recent article in Newsweek, has documented concisely and convincingly how: “Nearly 90 Percent of the World Isn’t Following Us on Ukraine” – and what consequences follow from this. (more…)
-
Britain’s opium era strategy to deal with China
THE DAOGUANG EMPEROR tasked Commissioner Lin Zexu with suppressing the opium trade bedeviling China in 1839.
Lin initially tried diplomacy. (more…)
-
Debt trap diplomacy? Another anti-China myth exposed
Despite the hype, there is very little evidence that China has engaged in debt trap diplomacy in the past. (more…)
-
Global university rankings: what function do they serve?
Under the influence of New Public Management, Australia’s public universities have increasingly engaged in ‘management by numbers’ for ’performance measurement’. The accompanying proliferation of metrics has been used to discipline academics, bolster the ranks of senior managers and build tens of billions of dollars in assets. One of the more prominent metrics to which universities now dedicate disproportionate time, energy and resources is global university rankings (GURs). (more…)
-
A feast of new reading outside the grip of corporate Western media: Part 2 – Asia
Australian mainstream media is generally lacking in coverage of Asia, with occasional fly-in-fly-out-shock-horror or dependence on Reuters or AUKUSWORLD news sources. This isn’t consistent with any claim to be an advanced member of our region. We can however turn to local newspapers in the region.
-
West’s ‘divide and rule’ culture a great threat to development
The latest 2021/22 Human Development Report was recently released. Titled “Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World,” it “paints a picture of a global society lurching from crisis to crisis, and which risks heading towards increasing deprivation and injustice.” This is a big shock to those of us who aspire for a world of shared prosperity. (more…)
-
The US empire is accelerating toward global conflict on two fronts
The situation is very serious. Since 1700 three people have tried to take Moscow: Karl XII who lost his Swedish empire, Napoleon who lost his, Hitler who lost his… and now NATO / AUKUS, in which we are mindlessly participant. The US budget year begins with 830 billion for defence, 600 billion for nuclear refurbishment. Not news in Australia. (more…)
-
AUKUS agreement a threat to peace
Reflecting the prevalent view, that the AUKUS agreement is a threat to peace, a conglomeration of peace groups (under the banner ‘Raising Peace’) brought together opponents of the agreement from the three nations involved, for an on-line discussion on September 19. (more…)
-
Crafting a Republic: “Aprés Moi Le Deluge” an Elizabeth II legacy?
King Louis XV of France and Madame de Pompadour are reputed to have warned that across France after their deaths there would be life destroying floods of various kinds. By implication, these distant on-a pedestal characters were predicting that life after them could be far worse than when they reigned, so look back a little and be grateful. (more…)
-
Leadership has improved China’s global standing
China is facing the most immoral and unprecedented attacks from myriad quarters because of its ability to remove the obstacles to its economic growth at a time when almost all other countries are encountering economic downturn, which began with the global financial crisis. (more…)
-
The Monarchy is facing a legitimation crisis
In monarchical systems there is always a legitimation challenge when the crown passes from one generation to the next. Whether it becomes a legitimation crisis depends on a number of factors. (more…)
-
Caitlin Johnstone: It’s not okay for grown adults to say the Ukraine invasion was “unprovoked”
On a recent interview with the Useful Idiots podcast, Noam Chomsky repeated his argument that the only reason we hear the word “unprovoked” every time anyone mentions Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the mainstream news media is because it absolutely was provoked, and they know it. (more…)
-
Fostering trade beats making war every time
It is over a month since Nancy Pelosi’s vexing visit to Taipei and China’s disapproving response, which included large scale air and naval exercises around Taiwan. This ill-omened stopover by the third-ranking person in the US political hierarchy ineptly created, amongst other things, further acute doubt about Washington’s continuing commitment to the one-China principle. (more…)