In the West the claim is often made that Palestine is an issue that Arab or Muslim governments manipulate to stay in power by appealing to a populist cause. The deeper truth is that Palestine has become a subversive issue in the Middle East: the liberation of Palestinians through a South Africa-style dismantling of an inequitable system implies the dismantling of repressive regional systems that have managed to perfect Panopticon surveillance (with the help of Israeli technologies) and returning to the unfinished business of the Arab Spring. (more…)
Tag: International relations
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‘Brain Dead’ & dangerous, NATO proceeds
The trans–Atlantic alliance’s true purpose of global dominance is too objectionable to profess. Instead, it operates on the basis of fantastic conjurings, which no member questions. (more…)
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Big men with big egos confront one another in the “greatest democracy”
As the US presidential election contest heats up, there is bemusement in Papua New Guinea. (more…)
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AUKUS submarine deal will damage Australia’s interests
The now-notorious AUKUS agreement was secretly conceived between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States prior to being publicly announced in September 2021 by the Morrison government in Canberra. It was aimed at eventually allowing Australia to acquire at least eight nuclear-powered submarines at an exceptionally high, initial estimated cost of up to A$368 billion ($249.1 billion), with the joint assistance of the US and the UK. (more…)
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NATO ‘sabre-rattling’ at the gates of Asia yet again
It has been said, ‘the barbarians are at the gates,’ but with NATO they have already stormed the citadel, and having done so they now want to spread their madness to Asia. (more…)
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Putin’s mistake in Ukraine: Moscow forced to move to Novosibirsk?
In 2004, Russia’s President Putin said the collapse of the Soviet Union “was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.” This was picked up by our hawks as a Moscow wish for more Cold War. (more…)
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NATO becomes OTAN
The NATO logo dominated meetings at the anniversary conference in Washington. The logo includes a reversed rendition reading OTAN. The final communique at the anniversary conference had some wondering if OTAN was an acronym for Oriental Territory Attack Node. (more…)
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NATO and the deadly strategy of neoconservatism
For the sake of America’s security and world peace, the U.S. should immediately abandon the neocon quest for hegemony in favour of diplomacy and peaceful co-existence. (more…)
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Envoy Envy: “Sorry Mohammed”
Becoming the latest recruit in a well-organised global program, Australia has joined the 24 nations which have appointed envoys to combat anti-Semitism. We still await an envoy for resisting Islamophobia. (more…)
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A descent into violence? Political polarisation in the US
Can the United States avoid a descent into political violence? Of the 52 cases where countries reached the levels of polarisation which now exist in the US, half had their status as democracies downgraded. The US is the only Western democracy to have sustained such intense polarisation over such an extended period. It really is in uncharted territory. (more…)
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The time Antony Blinken went to bed with Sergey Lavrov
Once upon a time the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken booked a nice hotel room with a Queen bed and invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to share it with him. They went there to launch a diplomatic initiative to try to end the war in Ukraine and to put to bed, so to speak, the idea of violent confrontation between the two superpowers. (more…)
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Failure of the International Courts: when will we hear their determinations?
Readers of P&I may recall my earlier papers on the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICJ), and the International Criminal Court (ICC), and their recent forays into the Middle East quagmire. Some may have thought that this is a positive development, perhaps humanity is enlisting international law which will finally bring some common sense to the issue. Some might now be querying whether this optimism was misplaced, and asking, “When am I going to hear something of the Courts’ determinations?”. (more…)
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Security: when even the good give up
I’m a great admirer of George Monbiot. As one of the The Guardian’s most prominent and influential columnists he has long been a trenchant critic of neoliberalism, and an informed and persuasive commentator on key issues surrounding the environment and economic inequality in particular. This is what makes his most recent column on geopolitics and security such a surprising and rather depressing read.
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Australian journalist Cheng Lei says China bashing ‘worrying’
Cheng Lei, who was imprisoned in China for three years, says Australians should not overreact over every bilateral issue with Beijing. (more…)
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Mr Modi goes to Moscow
Putin has done it again. Prime Minister Modi will visit Moscow as his first overseas destination since his re-election. And Modi has again demonstrated that India pursues an independent foreign policy. While this visit will come as a shock to Western policy makers. It also strikes a blow at efforts to isolate Russia internationally, while China will also be concerned. (more…)
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Read history, talk peace
Russia is not Putin, though you’d hardly know it in current media coverage. Nor is it an autarky. On the contrary, for centuries Russia has interacted with both the East and the West, whose influences have shaped, and confounded, the country’s sense of identity. (more…)
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Impossible trinity drives Southeast Asia’s prudent hedging
In Southeast Asia, hedging is a pragmatic policy that maintains options and mitigates risks. While some ASEAN states, like the Philippines, are aligning more closely with the United States, most are pursuing a more inclusive and selective approach to partnerships, ensuring concurrent engagement with China and the United States. This approach is more desirable in the absence of a clear-cut threat and allows states to maximise other goals while keeping their security options open. (more…)
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Australia supplies Israel with weapons of genocide, breaches law
The Australian Government has at last grudgingly admitted that Australian-based companies are supplying parts and components to Israel for its F-35 Lightning jets which are systematically destroying human life and buildings in Gaza. But it has not yet admitted that the supply of such components contravenes the Arms Trade Treaty of 2014, which Australia has ratified. (more…)
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Does China matter any more?
China Matters has gone, and that is a tragedy. Australia lost a valuable think tank that could provide policy advice at a critical juncture of Australia-China relations. The implementation of the government hatchet job is set out in detail in Margaret Simon’s extended article, Red Flags, in the latest Monthly, and in Hamish McDonald’s article in Inside Story on 22 April. (more…)
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Peril with Little Promise: The US Presidential Election and South Korea’s Dilemma
The US election is being watched with trepidation in South Korea. Should President Joe Biden be re-elected, Seoul would likely see continuity in the relationship and a continued strong US-South Korea bilateral alliance. But a victory for Donald Trump is fraught with peril. He could throw the alliance into turmoil, try to make South Korea a front-line state in the US standoff with China, threaten overtures to North Korea, and demand South Korea increase defense cost-sharing and defense budget or face the withdrawal of US forces, writes Chung-in Moon. The situation is worrying for all sides of the political spectrum in Seoul.
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The Assange non-verdict: the threat remains
The champers toasting the release of Julian Assange was delightful after many years of struggle against his clearly unjust indictment and years of imprisonment. I am sure we all enjoyed sipping it. After the excitement and sweetness has assuaged however, a certain bitterness still remains, a cold realisation just what his plea bargaining signifies. (more…)
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Where Olive Trees Weep – Australia must recognise Palestine
An open letter to Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Dutton, Senator Wong, Senator Birmingham and Senator Patterson. Yesterday you, or your party, opposed a motion which would have encouraged Australia to join a growing majority of the world’s countries that recognise Palestine. Why did you do that? (more…)
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Freedom for Julian Assange but a history of injustice
After years in a top security British jail, Julian Assange has been freed provided he pleads guilty under an US Espionage Act to unlawfully obtaining and disseminating US defence information. That should be the last and long overdue chapter in a cruel, revengeful persecution of an Australian citizen, a whistleblower, journalist and publisher. (more…)
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The US and Western allies commit to another forever war
Ho hum, the US has just committed itself to another ‘forever war.’ Its faithful obedient Western allies, like puppies wagging their tails, have fallen in behind. One would think they would tire, or at least learn lessons from, the game. Seemingly not. (more…)
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The fascist wave must be defeated
The antecedents of the far-right in France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Germany and a number of other countries go back to its origins in Europe in the 1920s with the triumph of Italian fascism. (more…)
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What kind of people threaten prosecutors?
Without naming names, a joint statement by 93 countries in a show of support for the International Criminal Court is an unmistakable rebuke of the lawlessness of US and Israel. (more…)
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Unrepentant, independent stirrers in election year
Imminent elections in France, the United States, and the United Kingdom are affected by two long-running concerns: Palestine and the decline of the West. Responses to them will also affect the 2025 elections in Australia. (more…)
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Why won’t the US help negotiate a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine?
For goodness’ sake, negotiate! (more…)
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Australia must prize, not demonise China capability
China expertise – including that of our huge Chinese diaspora – has increasingly become a source of suspicion. China scholar Angela Lehmann offers three policy responses to promote Australia’s capability to engage with our biggest trading partner. (more…)
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The US is preparing for WWIII while expanding draft registration
So I guess we should probably talk about the way NATO powers are rapidly escalating toward hot war with Russia at the same time the US is expanding its draft policies to make it easier to force more Americans [to] go and fight in a giant war. (more…)