UN estimates suggest 2.5 million people will die by the end of 2024 and six million by 2027. World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on the world to “wake up and help Sudan out of the nightmare it is living through”. (more…)
Tag: World Affairs
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Look at who is running Israel
In a recent significant article in the US journal, Foreign Policy, David E Rosenberg, the economics editor of Haaretz, clarifies how a minority of religious extremists have come to wield so much power in Israel today. It is a chilling, informative read. (more…)
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American reflections on global hegemony
Some US commentators are advocating a recalibration of America’s full-spectrum global posture, while others, including Condoleezza Rice, energetically beg to differ – naturally for the good of the world. (more…)
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Australia should promote authentic ‘collective security’ in the Indo-Pacific
In a recent article for the Washington Post on the militarisation of Australia’s north, the Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, said: “We’re working together [with the United States] to deter future conflict and to provide for the collective security of the region in which we live.” (more…)
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Middle East accountability
Diplomacy is required, and examples such as South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission provide an example and an opportunity for all Israel and Palestine representatives to genuinely meet – to resolve this tragic situation and negotiate a fair and peaceful outcome. (more…)
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Australia’s fuzzy nationalism
Australia is not immune to the global trend to nationalism. Politicians here as elsewhere pepper their talk with terms such as “sovereignty”, “national values” and “our way of life”. These are all relative, only defined by reference to other peoples and other nations that are “not like us”. The uniqueness of Australian nationalism is that it is universally assumed to include the values, way of life and strategic outlook of the United States of America. They are not us but like us. This is what I call fuzzy nationalism. (more…)
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Majdal Shams: lies, law and war
The picturesque town of Majdal Shams — just a 40-minute drive from Damascus — featured in Israeli director Eran Riklis’s award-winning film The Syrian Bride. (more…)
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Three years after the Taliban’s return, Afghanistan is a broken country swarming with terrorists again
This week marks the third year since America’s retreat from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to power. (more…)
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UK and Hong Kong riots: similarities and differences
One would’ve had to have been living in a cave not to have been aware of the recent street violence in the United Kingdom. For those of us who lived through the riots here in Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020, there was an extreme feeling of déjà vu as we watched attacks on police, smashed storefronts, looting and general mayhem across the UK. To be fair, the Hong Kong riots did not feature either mounted policemen or police dogs, one is unsure if this was good or bad. (more…)
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Iran is about to attack Israel
Iran may be about to launch a proper missile strike on Israel for the first time ever – in retaliation for the attack on Tehran last month which killed Ismail Haniyeh. Israeli intelligence says an attack is likely to come within days. (more…)
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Thailand plays out its party-dissolution ritual
Progressive party scuttled as protection of the monarchy overrides the verdict of the voters. (more…)
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Myanmar junta on back foot with loss of key town
Myanmar’s civil war, underway since the 2021 coup, may have reached a tipping point. The battle for the strategic northern garrison town of Lashio appears to have ended with victory for an alliance of anti-junta forces. Rebel claims of taking the town have been verified by a number of local sources. (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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As Eurasia awakes our world will shake
“Tectonic shifts are underway in global politics, economy, and other spheres of international relations. A fairer multipolar world order is being born.” Opening words of the SCO 2024 declaration, Astana, Kazakhstan. (more…)
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Time to message people between the eyes
If we are serious about changing the world, it is time for shock tactics. When facts do not do the job we need to shock people out of their apathy. (more…)
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Civil war in Israeli army, Parliament as MPs detain soldiers for gang rape of Palestinian prisoners at vault of horrors
The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that on Monday, military police raided the Sde Teiman detention centre where Palestinian prisoners are being held, detaining nine Israel soldiers suspected of gang raping and severely sexually torturing detainees. One further suspect was not apprehended. The soldiers belong to the Force 100 unit, which has been detailed to Sde Teiman as prison guards. (more…)
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The ICJ decision – where to from here?
The ICJ delivered its advisory opinion on 19 July regarding the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. Readers are by now familiar with the basic rulings of the Court, not from mainstream media, I might add. The ICJ’s judgment has been reported, but its consequences, and particularly for Australia, have barely raised a comment. (more…)
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Israeli lawmakers vote against Palestinian statehood
“In essence, the Israeli Knesset voted to continue to wipe Palestine off the map,” said one critic. (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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The Trump assassination attempt: An inevitable result of toxic polarisation?
It is ironic that a past and would be President who has been a strong supporter of 2nd Amendment freedoms to own assault rifles was nearly killed by one. (more…)
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Trump is the old man most likely to win the US election
For most of the past year, Joe Biden has been calming panickers in the inner circles of the Democrat Party, persuading them that the campaign was under control, that things were moving his way, not least because of Donald Trump’s criminal law problems. The big reveal at the first presidential debate showed an emperor without clothes, incoherent in his own attack, seemingly almost incapable of taking the battle to the enemy. It accentuated any impulse to feel that he’s already a dud and would be worse if re-elected. (more…)
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Asia, say no to NATO: The Pacific has no need of the destructive militaristic culture of the Atlantic alliance
Something very dangerous happened when the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) held its meeting in Brussels. In its communique after the meeting on June 14, 2021, it identified China as a “systemic challenge” to areas “relevant to Alliance security”. (more…)
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Owing truth to the dead: Israel’s desecration of war graves
When does it stop? Australia’s close ties with Israel continue to hold despite the incessant slaughter taking place in the Gaza strip, with the connivance of any number of allies and arms manufacturers who have priorities that are somewhat different from the aim of preserving life. (more…)
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The bombing of a children’s hospital in Kyiv was an act of desperation. Who is most desperate?
Bombing a hospital with children, especially those with cancer, is a desperate act. So, who is most desperate right now? Is Putin desperate? Not really. Are the Americans and Europeans desperate? Yes, they are. Here’s my logic. (more…)
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The Summit of the Future
The world’s geopolitical system is not delivering what we want or need. Sustainable development is our declared goal, meaning economic prosperity, social justice, environmental sustainability, and peace. Yet our reality is continued poverty amidst plenty, widening inequalities, deepening environmental crises, and war. To get back on track, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has wisely called for a Summit of the Future (SOTF) at the United Nations on September 22-23, a call that has been endorsed by the 193 UN Member states. (more…)
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Afghanistan women’s cricket team seeks recognition
Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan almost three years ago, women’s sport has been cast into darkness there.
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When is terrorism justified?
When does politically-motivated violence, or terrorism if you prefer the bastardised term, become legitimate resistance to oppression, occupation and savagery? (more…)
