Beijing, Tehran, and Islamabad know that their mutual goal of ‘peaceful development’ and expanded Asian trade routes will be unattainable without solving the terrorism dilemma in neighbouring Afghanistan. (more…)
Tag: International relations
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Menzies told the US, ANZUS did not apply on Taiwan. Why not Albanese?
Call it Carr’s law. I’m pretty confident it withstands any testing. It’s simple: find someone talking up war with China and, if they were around 20 years ago, you find they were a supporter of the Iraq invasion. (more…)
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AUKUS: Paul Monk praises elitism, derides Australia’s vibrant civil society
In an opinion piece published in The Weekend Australian (10 June 2023), Paul Monk offers his response to critics of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine agreement. A central focus of his critique is this open letter signed by more than 100 academics. As two of the principal co-authors of the letter, we requested a right of reply, but received no response from The Australian’s Opinion Editor. The following is our rebuttal to Monk’s criticisms of the letter. (more…)
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The resurgence of China-Australia trade
Prosaic economic factors, not politics, are driving the growth in China-Australia trade, ensuring “China will only become more important as Australia’s trading partner of choice,” writes James Laurenceson. (more…)
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Chasing shadows in Cuba
Why does Washington believe they have the right to conduct joint military exercises off the Chinese Pacific coast, but will not tolerate even the barest hint of those activities by China and Cuba in ‘their’ maritime neighbourhood?
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US strategists plan to destroy Taiwan’s largest chip manufacturer
Should the US go to war with China, Taiwan’s largest chip maker, TSMC will be the first target to be blown up, according to a strategist at the US Air Force’s Air War College. Not by China, but by the US military. (more…)
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AUKUS and the division of Labor
Delegates at Labor’s National Conference in August will have to pay more attention than usual to foreign and defence policy. Dissent on AUKUS is spreading, while Palestine is a promise to keep. (more…)
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A subservient defence policy undermines Albanese’s successful first year
There were celebrations and high expectations when Prime Minister Albanese and his talented front bench formed the government in May 2022. The language and style of the national agenda appealed to Australians wanting realistic policies and a two-way conversation about what is in the best interests of our community. There were inspiring speeches and commitments that introduced policies and programs of reform and social justice. (more…)
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China, at the centre of the multipolar world
Despite the great interest in and importance of US Secretary of State Blinken’s visit to China, there have been far more interesting things happening here for China watchers. They illustrate the continuing shift in geopolitical gravity towards China as the centre of the multipolar world. (more…)
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Competing with the US and the West for discourse power
For a long time in the future, in the increasingly fierce and implacable competition between China on one side and the United States and the West on the other, the competition for global discourse power will be the decisive battlefield between them. And who can defeat the enemy on this battlefield will determine to a considerable extent which country will be the final winner in this strategic game related to the world’s future. (more…)
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The discourse of dominance
I was rather amused, or to use the American expression “tickled pink”, when I read the article titled “Coexistance: the only realist path to peace” by Stephen M. Walt in Pearls & Irritations. The article’s claim to the “realist path” to peace would make sense only to those who have dominated others for so long (albeit only a blip in the history of the people whom the author is giving a talking to) that they have forgotten the language and discourse of equality. (more…)
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Jeju Island’s peace message – truth and reconciliation in Korea
Following the award of the Korean “Jeju 4:3 Peace Prize” to former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, it is good to note that Pearls and Irritations has taken up cudgels on the long-neglected question of the Jeju Island massacre of 1948 (articles by Heo Ho-joon and Alison Broinowski). And it is good to see Evans taking the opportunity of being awarded the Prize to call on the government of the US to cooperate in revealing and addressing its responsibility for the tragic events of 1948. (more…)
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The Western fantasy of a Taiwanese proxy war against China
The Western hope that Taiwan could serve as a catalyst for an attack of China seems likely to remain the fantasy it always was. (more…)
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Darkness: nuclear winter – fire, ice, famine
The Ukraine conflict, and the nuclear threats uttered by Vladimir Putin have made the risk of nuclear war as high as it has ever been. The current position of the Doomsday Clock hands at 90 seconds to ‘midnight’ is the closest ever. Nuclear Winter, together with tech-ending EMP, is one of a number of civilisation- ending things we’ll have to deal with if the hands ever reach midnight. (more…)
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The United States of America: The great satan or beacon of democracy?
Since Australia has mortgaged its future to this nation it is worth debating the matter. (more…)
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Coexistence: The only realist path to peace
The United States and its Asian partners want to maintain a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, ostensibly to prevent China from becoming a “regional hegemon” there. They worry that Beijing will gradually persuade its neighbours to distance themselves from the United States, accept Chinese primacy, and defer to Beijing’s wishes on key foreign policy issues. (more…)
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The case for recognising Palestine
Since a United Nations General Assembly Resolution vote in November 2012, Palestine has had the status of a state within the UN system. It is not a full member state but, like the Holy See, a non-member observer state. Australia – after a heady debate within the Gillard cabinet – abstained on that vote. (more…)
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Australia’s international strategy
America is no longer the dominant hegemon in our region. In its place Australia can and should play an important role in establishing a true multipolar system of governance. But that will first require Australia to resolve the present contradiction between our foreign and defence policies. (more…)
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Indonesia pledges military observers to a ceasefire in Ukraine war
I take this opportunity to urge, to recommend with utmost urgency for our brothers in Ukraine and in Russia to come as soon as possible to a secession of hostilities. And I would like to declare at this present moment that Indonesia is prepared to contribute military observers and military units under the peacekeeping auspices of the United Nations. (more…)
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AUKUS Coming to dinner
With billions of dollars on the banquet table, Australia should choose its dinner guests wisely. (more…)
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Australia preparing for war- can it stop the rot?
As the new Australian Labor government took power following the 2022 election, its China policy barely changed and the “China threat” narrative continued unabated. I did not vote for the Labor party to see Australia’s government channelling the ousted Morrison Government! (more…)
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Our greatest blunders
Ten years ago Anthony King and Ivor Crewe published their book – The Blunders of Our Governments. (more…)
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War crimes? Don’t forget Jeju
Admitting guilt for war crimes doesn’t come easily to many nations, as Australia knows from our extended investigations of the activities of some ADF soldiers in Afghanistan more than a decade ago. (more…)
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In Australia, reality bites back
Australia is fast approaching a reckoning with its past, its present and the state of the nation’s soul. And if the last month is any indication to go by, we will be found wanting. (more…)
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Hong Kong: living on the fault line
A multipolar world is being forged by the Global South. Tectonic shifts are taking place between the “collective West” led by the United States and the “Global South” with China in this camp. Hong Kong’s predicament is that it lies on a fault line of the geopolitical plates. (more…)
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Gareth Evans: Truth of US fault in Jeju massacre must be conveyed
Gareth Evans, the former foreign minister of Australia received the fifth annual Jeju 4.3 Peace Prize presented by the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation. (more…)
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China and US power in Southeast Asia
China’s power has replaced the United States’ in the eyes of most of our Asian neighbours, according to the latest Lowy Institute Asia Power Snapshot. What are the implications for Australia? (more…)
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The zealot, the disrupter, and the ideologue: America’s presidential choices
Biden, Trump, or DeSantis; the zealot, the disrupter, or the ideologue are the choices confronting American voters. Individuals matter. Trump’s mercurial and transactional approach to foreign policy and his isolationist tendencies are well known. Back in the Whitehouse he would again be a disrupter, and perhaps worse. But an uncompromising Biden or empowered DeSantis present different threats. (more…)
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The ‘Status Quo’ and Taiwan
Mainstream media frequently describes Taiwan as “an island that the PRC claims, but has never ruled”. This has given rise to an increasing perception of Taiwan as a separate sovereign entity. (more…)
