Tag: International relations

  • Universalism the panacea for Palestine

    Universalism the panacea for Palestine

    Defence of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination is a collective responsibility fuelled by commitments to theory and ideology inherent in universalism. In domestic and foreign policies and in the conduct of personal relations, the values associated with universalism concern altruism and inclusiveness, each goal delivered in a spirit of generosity. (more…)

  • Waking up to a new world order: How America’s casual betrayals threaten AUKUS

    Waking up to a new world order: How America’s casual betrayals threaten AUKUS

    The Australia-UK-US partnership had 15 shiny minutes in the global media spotlight recently when Donald Trump became characteristically baffled by its mention. I say “characteristically” because the current POTUS is more gaffe-prone than his predecessor, having exchanged policy development and public debate for a personal revenge tour. (more…)

  • Media paladins of Fortress Australia

    Media paladins of Fortress Australia

    You have to admire Australian media. While the rest of us are busy paying $8 for a flat white and wondering how to stretch a pack of IndoMie for a week, our intrepid journalists are fearlessly focused on the real threats – like Chinese naval ships operating in full compliance with international law. (more…)

  • We can see clearly now: We’re closely allied to a fascist regime and so must realign

    We can see clearly now: We’re closely allied to a fascist regime and so must realign

    Donald Trump’s election to the presidency is a Gift. Notwithstanding that it, and his subsequent behaviour, has induced involuntary bowel movements and Acute Disorientation Syndrome throughout the policy-making establishments of the Western alliance, his advent is not, therefore, without its merits if we are the richer for it. (more…)

  • Never has violence been initiated by the oppressed

    Never has violence been initiated by the oppressed

    Violence is initiated by those who oppress, who exploit, who fail to recognise others as persons – not by those who are oppressed, exploited and unrecognised.

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  • The creeping crisis we’re ignoring

    The creeping crisis we’re ignoring

    As Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto steers his giant nation closer to China it’s worth recalling Paul Keating three decades ago: “No country is more important to Australia than Indonesia.” (more…)

  • What is an American with TDS to do?

    What is an American with TDS to do?

    Donald Trump is an awful person and a terrible president. But he may provide an enduring breath of fresh air when it comes to the black/white posturing about freedom versus authoritarianism. (more…)

  • Albanese is as misinformed on the US alliance as live-fire drills

    Albanese is as misinformed on the US alliance as live-fire drills

    The petulant demand of tribute to the Trump empire and his transactional ethos surely now challenges the agreed balance sheet between Australia and America. (more…)

  • What happens if no party achieves a parliamentary majority?

    What happens if no party achieves a parliamentary majority?

    This article is taken from Ian McAuley’s regular Saturday round-ups of links to writings, interviews and podcasts of Australian political and economic issues. (more…)

  • Why I signed an ad urging rejection of Trump’s Gaza plan

    Why I signed an ad urging rejection of Trump’s Gaza plan

    In the swirl of horrendous news following the US president-elect’s taking his oath of office, there’s been one shining light. On 13 February, an ad boldly declaring “No to Ethnic Cleansing” appeared in the New York Times. More than 350 American rabbis, creatives and activists put their names to it, protesting against the president’s blithe announcement that Gaza could be changed from a pile of rubble to the Middle East’s “Riviera” – that is, if neighbouring countries would agree to accept the remaining Palestinian inhabitants who have managed, miraculously, to stay alive. (more…)

  • The real estate deals of the century

    The real estate deals of the century

    The world is shocked by President Trump’s solution for the ‘Palestinian Problem’. It’s similar to the one his father used to up-market his NY tenement properties – call in the police to throw the tenants out into the street. (more…)

  • Australia needs a new flag to start constitutional renewal

    Australia needs a new flag to start constitutional renewal

    The creation of a new flag may well be the first step to re-commence constitutional renewal, something that sadly seems to have been avoided altogether by the Albanese Government. (more…)

  • There will always be an enemy

    There will always be an enemy

    The English often sing There’s Always Been an England. For America the song would probably be something along the lines of there will always be an enemy. (more…)

  • Has the world gone mad?

    Has the world gone mad?

    Rational people should share a sense of amazement that virtually all European political “leaders” and Western professional commentators appear to view with shock and horror: the possibility that the United States and Russia, the two major nuclear powers with the capacity to destroy human life, might have correct and co-operative, rather than hostile, relations. (more…)

  • Vote no to genocide

    Vote no to genocide

    If people want to know how genocide can occur, just look to our politicians who have done nothing to stop the crime of the century, Israel’s live-streamed mass slaughter of Palestinians and erasure of Gaza. (more…)

  • Back to Russia with love – détente is a win for everyone

    Back to Russia with love – détente is a win for everyone

    One key fact was absent from virtually all of the reporting around the astonishing events of this past week. It was scarcely mentioned in stories about the Munich Security Conference, the call between Presidents Trump and Putin, the freezing out of the Europeans, the jaw-dropping statements by US Defence Secretary Hegseth, the ending of cherished plans to expand NATO into Ukraine, and the historic face-to-face meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Riyadh. The missed central point: Russia has, in effective terms, won the war where it counts – on the battlefield. That more than anything is driving the calculus in Washington. (more…)

  • Servile or just vile: Australia’s pandering to US, Israel

    Servile or just vile: Australia’s pandering to US, Israel

    I’m waiting to hear Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledge the sovereignty of Palestine as a nation of equal standing with Israel, and the second nation referred to in the “two-state solution” to which Albanese and Labor only pay lip-service. The words fall easily from the lips, but the absence of action empties them of any substance. (more…)

  • Ukraine isn’t invited to its own peace talks. History is full of such examples – and the results are devastating

    Ukraine isn’t invited to its own peace talks. History is full of such examples – and the results are devastating

    Ukraine has not been invited to a key meeting between American and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia this week to decide what peace in the country might look like. (more…)

  • Will New Zealand invade the Cook Islands to stop China?

    Will New Zealand invade the Cook Islands to stop China?

    New Zealand’s leading newspaper, the New Zealand Herald, screamed out this headline on 10 February: “Should New Zealand invade the Cook Islands?” (more…)

  • How new is Trump’s foreign policy outlook?

    How new is Trump’s foreign policy outlook?

    It was offensive, thoughtless, and ridiculous for President Donald Trump to ponder aloud at a press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu about America colonising Gaza, moving out the existing population, and turning it into a seaside holiday destination. Given how many statements like this Trump has made as president, not just as a candidate, it is tempting to see him as uniquely dangerous. (more…)

  • The political pragmatism of Angela Merkel

    The political pragmatism of Angela Merkel

    Since her autobiography “Freedom. Memoirs 1954 – 2021” appeared on the world stage in late November last year, many reviews in the Western media were negative, and quite critical of Angela Merkel’s politics, especially the way she dealt with the refugee crisis. Long admired for her role as Germany’s first female Chancellor, and hailed as a leader of the free world, her departure from office was accompanied by disapproval – as often happens with political leaders. (more…)

  • The displacement of Gazans: Between possibility and impossibility

    The displacement of Gazans: Between possibility and impossibility

    Recently, US President Donald Trump spoke about the displacement of Gaza’s residents to Egypt, Jordan, and a group of neighbouring countries, as well as turning Gaza into an area under US control. This proposal sparked a wave of criticism and condemnation at various levels. (more…)

  • If the Coalition under Dutton isn’t liberal or conservative, what is it?

    If the Coalition under Dutton isn’t liberal or conservative, what is it?

    Ill winds are blowing in from the United States of America. In the times ahead we will be tested in Australia, across the spectrum, as to whether we adopt a similar approach to our politics. (more…)

  • US’ ‘China Initiative’ would be counterproductive

    US’ ‘China Initiative’ would be counterproductive

    The “China Initiative” was the name of a controversial program run by the US Department of Justice, which was introduced in late 2018 during the first Trump administration. (more…)

  • Palestine, incredible, unbelievable

    Palestine, incredible, unbelievable

    An Opening Salvo

    Five hundred days into a war
    to achieve death and destruction
    which at a glance looked like organised slaughter
    where most casualties were women and children,
    a carnage is justified by claims
    that even newborn babies must be terrorists,
    hence a beyond belief horror movie
    beamed nightly on television screens.

    Murder Unlimited

    A cast of extras has included
    home grown journalists, aid workers,
    nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers,
    all targets for death by invaders
    loving their chance to kill, destroy,
    dress in women’s underwear
    and have the selfies sent home
    as military snap reminders
    of soldierly escapades
    marinated with bombast.

    Genocide Conundrum

    Then there’s the distraction question
    whether the destruction of home, hospitals,
    mosques, churches, schools, universities
    sewage and water plants
    coupled to the Lancet estimate of 100,000 deaths,
    was really a genocide, so a parade of silks
    tut-tut their judgment – this was plausible,
    a conclusion drowned by a lobby
    who knew this Indigenous people
    did not exist and if they did
    were unworthy and therefore entitled to eliminated.

    Brave Western Governments

    Concern has come from the mouths of western governments
    making claims about a world order of rights
    yet cowering before the mighty with a veto,
    drugged by the thought that nothing too critical
    should be said about a messianic force
    especially when the respectable west
    can send arms, approve the many thousand ton bombs
    and are helped by brave diplomats
    who abstained in UN resolutions
    aimed only at a pause in the slaughter.

    Watching, Never Intervening

    A world refusing to intervene
    makes noises about more aid coming
    to the starving, injured, dying,
    their wringing of hands, plus articles
    damning the US/Israel production ‘Slaughter Actually’ continues
    and even millions marching in the world’s cities
    have not dented the attitudes of enthusiasts for apartheid
    as the way to govern,
    and as protesters have protested in vain
    they may have to be added to the charges against those
    who allowed this carnage to continue.

    Demystifying Hamas

    October 7 2023 remains that day
    when allegedly unprovoked, imprisoned young men
    escaped to commit murderous revenge,
    actions condemned by media hooked on aspirin like prescriptions:
    Hamas terrorism explains everything except
    decades of death by leaders of terrorist gangs
    some of whom became Israeli Prime Ministers
    though in the interests of political cleanliness
    these stories should be forgotten, otherwise
    the official views that October 2023
    is where history starts and ends will have to be debunked
    along with the historically false claim,
    Hamas is entirely blameworthy,
    even for questioning the view that a country
    can defend itself on stolen lands.

    Antisemitism Varnish

    To distract a gullible public from brutalities,
    politicians with their heads in “make us great euphoria”
    feed a media chorus ignorant, blind or indifferent
    though they have discovered the antisemitism varnish
    to conceal concern with genocide,
    so with the dexterity of gymnasts performing triple flips,
    Zionists prompt newsreaders to identify a prejudice
    as the primary site of every country’s cancer,
    therefore it is irresponsible to ask questions
    about externalities far away.

    Trump Netanyahu Obscenity

    The obscenity to outweigh
    a rising death toll, appears centre stage
    when a New York real estate operator
    accompanied by his war criminal accomplice
    grin their way through a news conference to announce
    an exciting development can be achieved
    by clearing a potential riviera strip of all the unworthies
    who thought this was their home,
    the two grinners imitating earlier crusaders
    who had also polished their savagery
    in the interests of civilisation.

    Hostage Dilemma

    Incredulity did not escape the families of hostages
    who hoped that committed conversations
    and skilled negotiation
    would lead to release from captivity, instead
    the theory that overwhelming force teaches everyone a lesson
    became the military wisdom to conceive bombing as liberation
    yet forgetting
    that escapees who ran out waving white flags
    were shot by rescuing comrades
    which gives a new meaning to friendly fire
    and even that seems incredible.

    Amazing Resilience

    Through debris tramp tens of thousands of Gazans
    to houses that no longer exist
    but to homes that can never be taken away,
    despite that real estate mogul’s proposal
    that ethnic cleansing is a developer’s dream,
    a promotion fuelled by the other man’s anger
    that the Naqba of 1948 was incomplete,
    though a phenomenon called international law
    is being outshone by a people pummelled, hungry and grieving
    yet marching for love of land, for belonging
    through resilience, their life enhancing, incredible
    poetry of resistance.

    Truly Incredible and Unbelievable

    High notes for the wonderful
    sometimes described as unbelievable
    are usually expressed in response to
    the finales of concerts, success in sports,
    to medical surgical milestones,
    at the sight of magnificent trees,
    at ducks floating effortlessly on a gentle stream,
    or are witnessed in the language of flowers
    at birthdays, weddings, graduations
    yet for months the Gazan body counts were diluted
    by the lies of military spokespersons
    who would never kill a civilian except when the targets
    could be labelled ‘militant’ though like a drug
    which has passed its use by date
    their denials became no longer credible,
    a ceasefire was holding,
    peace with justice stood a small chance
    of even being discussed
    which would really be incredible.

  • Seeking the truth on Syria: Tulsi Gabbard vs the ABC

    Seeking the truth on Syria: Tulsi Gabbard vs the ABC

    “If Barack Obama decides to attack the Syrian regime, he has ensured — for the very first time in history — that the United States will be on the same side as al-Qa’ida.” Robert Fisk, The Independent, 28 August 2013

    “I hate that we have leaders who cozy up to Islamist extremists, minimising them to so-called rebels.” Tulsi Gabbard to US Senate Committee Hearing, 30 January 2025 (more…)

  • The lawless West

    The lawless West

    The low regard in which the Global West is held is intensifying. The second Trump administration is not the cause of this. It is simply accelerating this ominous process by openly embracing a lawless, imperial contempt for primary international and metropolitan governance rules, norms and conventions in response to the persistent retreat of American global dominance. Meanwhile, the Global South clearly observes how America’s traditional allies remain overwhelmingly loyal — or silent — as the US persists in asserting its role as their exceptionally unworthy leader.  (more…)

  • The real estate mogul

    The real estate mogul

    President Donald Trump is not quite the fool or the subjective (or subliminal) genius that pundits make him out to be. However, if there is one trait that his recent pronouncements point to it is that of a quintessential real estate mogul. (more…)

  • Letter to the leaders of the civilised world

    Letter to the leaders of the civilised world

    “Take wisdom from the mouths of mad men” is an old Arabic proverb. It sprang to mind a couple of days ago, when I heard the narcissist leader of the “civilised” world, President Donald Trump, openly calling for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. (more…)

  • Australia’s silence on Trump’s ICC sanctions is nothing but shameful

    Australia’s silence on Trump’s ICC sanctions is nothing but shameful

    Last Friday 79 nations signed a statement condemning the announcement 24 hours earlier by genocide enabler US President Donald Trump, that he was imposing sanctions on officials of the International Criminal Court because they had issued a warrant for the arrest of architect of genocide of the Palestinian people, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (more…)