I write as a child of Holocaust survivors because I am disturbed by the demagoguery engaged by the leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, labelling hapless Palestinian refugees as potential terrorists. (more…)
Tag: International relations
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Engaging Pillar 2 of AUKUS: losing self-respect and encouraging self-harm
Pillar 2 is a thing that AUKUS created: it appears at different times and with different meanings and possibilities and yet is not entirely, or even at all, predictable because the initial conditions and predicate logic on which it depends are themselves illusions or fabrications of the collective mind of those who constructed it in a national security strongroom to which only they have the keys. (more…)
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Carbon budget blown, only 50% chance 1.5 degrees
As greenhouse emissions accumulate each year and linger for decades in the atmosphere, effectively adding another layer of climate warming ‘blankets’ on the globe, it chews up our carbon ‘budget’ available to reach the Paris 2015 agreement target of 1.5 degree warming. I discuss this with David McKewan, director, adaptive capability, net zero program and project management consultancy, and author of ‘The Adaptive Economy‘. (more…)
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Why organised crime puts its money on online gambling
Illegal online casinos are used by criminal gangs to launder billions in profit garnered from transnational crime. (more…)
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The Kursk offensive: a foolish move
Ukraine’s invasion (of Kursk) was a major strategic blunder, which will accelerate its defeat.
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A new western war against Iran?
Iran made two attempts to free its oil fields from Western domination. Since the Islamic revolution of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, Iran has kept Western companies out. They paid a huge price, a trade embargo lasting some 40 years. Is a new attack on Iran in the offing? (more…)
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Nagasaki, the forgotten bomb
At 11am Japanese time on 9 August 1945, the second, often forgotten, atomic bomb to be dropped from US B-29 ‘Bockscar’, on a Japanese city exploded in the Urakami Valley, an extension of the city of Nagasaki. The bomb was to have been dropped over downtown Nagasaki, but aim was poor. (more…)
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Israel’s Australian ‘hostages’
Hundreds of Australians’ family members holding valid Australian visas are being prevented from fleeing devastated Gaza – by the Israeli military, and the impotence of the Australian government. (more…)
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America is the most violent, aggressive country in the world
Of the international intelligence information that comes to Australian agencies from the Five Eyes, 90% comes from the CIA and related US intelligence agencies. So in effect we have the colonisation of our intelligence agencies These agencies dominate the advice to Ministers writes John Menadue. (more…)
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Zionism, Zionists and Jews
Understanding the complex relationship between Zionism, Zionists and Jews seems to defeat many of Israel’s critics in articles and opinion pieces. This article explores Zion and its connection to land and to Judaism and its more modern day forms. (more…)
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Australia’s to-do list: stop supporting war, avoid becoming US satrap
Gathering in New York in September 2024, the world’s nations will be challenged to ‘end the scourge of war’, before it’s too late. All of them know that a nuclear cataclysm has never been so close. (more…)
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Team genocide walks out on Nagasaki commemorations
In an astonishing “Fuck you” to the survivors of the 1945 US nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, several Western countries including the US, Australia, Canada, France, Italy and the UK have just dropped a bombshell: reportedly announcing their ambassadors are shunning this week’s commemorations in solidarity with Israel. (more…)
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China’s six unseen struggles, and triumphs
Western media analysts often fail to grasp the significance of the reforms initiated at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing (CPC), which recently concluded in Beijing. (more…)
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Who caused the Ukraine war?
The question of who is responsible for causing the Ukraine war has been a deeply contentious issue since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. (more…)
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Why I’m not in the mood for the Olympic hurrah
The latest Essential poll published in Tuesday’s online Guardian revealed that a whopping third of those polled would, if given the chance, vote for the Mango Mussolini (the Donald). This is concerning. But it’s worse than first appears. Along with the dispiriting response to the Voice – based largely on conspiracy theories, lies and dog-whistling racism – and the fact that disillusionment with the political class and democratic institutions is sky high, our nation seems to be at an inflection point. (more…)
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US military admits ‘missteps’ for anti-vax propaganda
US operations exploiting foreign vaccine programmes have time and again caused untold damage to the public health of countries targeted. (more…)
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Under the spell of denial: the Khmer Rouge in New York and Netanyahu in Washington
Few alliance nations would ponder how the cadence of Netanyahu’s speech inside Congress put them under the spell of denial. This is akin to the Khmer Rouge (government in exile) that was invited to hold a seat in the United Nations until 1993. (more…)
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Fears of full-scale war with Lebanon rise after Israel bombs Beirut, assassinates Ismail Haniyeh
One group responded to Israel’s bombing of “a densely populated civilian area in Beirut” by urging governments to “condemn this dangerous escalation and immediately suspend arms sales to Israel.” (more…)
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Apartheid Israel
“(I)f pressed on legality … our position is that it is for competent judicial bodies to determine whether crimes against humanity have been committed” – (DFAT, 2022, FOI release). What then are DFAT and Australia’s obligations following the finding by the International Court of Justice that Israel has established an apartheid system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories? (more…)
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Unleashing Australia’s potential
In 1992 I was teaching a class of year 11 students. They were concerned about climate change. I had some good news for them. The Rio de Janeiro earth summit had resolved to protect our future; Rio’s big idea quickly became known as a carbon tax. The aim was to protect earth’s future by making a commitment to sustainable development. (more…)
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10 principles for perpetual peace in the 21st century
The United Nations-based structures are fragile and in need of an urgent upgrade; we should consider this one at the U.N. Summit of the Future in September. (more…)
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Will the Republicans end deep state wars of imperial aggression? Don’t bet on it…
The prospect of another Trump presidency and a JD Vance vice-presidency is welcomed by some and dreaded by others. A Democrat ‘October surprise’, and a presidency for Kamala Harris are possible. Even Trump in power may get Australia off several hooks. What neither of them is likely to do before election day, however, is commit to doing away with the unachievable AUKUS, the unwelcome Asian NATO, and the unwinnable war over Taiwan, as a RAND report described it in June . (more…)
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American obeisance
I have just witnessed the most pathetic and humiliating hour which I, as an American, have experienced in my lifetime. (more…)
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Beyond the stockade – is Australia ready for US isolationism?
A Republican administration under Donald Trump would bring a fundamental change to America’s engagement with the world, necessitating a radical reassessment and reformulation of Australia’s foreign, trade, and defence policies. Falling back on the faithful ally tactic would not suffice to buffer the prosperity and security of Australians. (more…)
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Australian Leadership to end the war on Gaza: open letter to the Prime Minister
We write to express our extreme concern that Senator Payman has resigned from the Labor Government. (more…)
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Israel’s border closures contribute to polio outbreak in Gaza
As the world’s media is mesmerised by political events in the USA and the findings by the ICJ of the illegal occupation by Israel of Gaza and the West Bank have slipped off the headlines, health officials in Gaza have found yet another potential catastrophic virus in the waste water, the poliovirus. (more…)
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War, words and denial
Eighty-six years ago Europe’s Jews suffered the most catastrophic event in their history, ending in a systematic, industrial-scale slaughter. Six million was the body count, its physical manifestation. But the Shoah, or Holocaust, as it is also known, delivered a psychic wound that cannot be so easily measured. Nor has it ever truly healed. (more…)
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Translation and violence: thoughts about the Taiwan and the 1972 Joint Communique
The Australia China Joint Communique of December 1972 is the foundational document underpinning bilateral relations ever since. It is not a long document, and at a cursory glance appears quite simple. Recently, however, some commentators have questioned its language and suggested it is ambiguous, particularly concerning our government’s position on the status of Taiwan. (more…)
