“What convinces masses are not facts, and not even invented facts, but only the consistency of the system of which they are presumably part.” Hannah Arendt This article is based on notes following a visit to Crimea in April 2018. The contrast between what I had understood, formed by accepted narratives over many years, with Continue reading »
International Relations
We are all one and liberation is our destiny. Many friends and compatriots are asking, where are you? Why the silence, when Jenin, your birthplace is burning? Why haven’t you commented on the worst deadly assault by the Israeli Occupation forces in the last 20 years? What about the Palestinian Authority’s Security Forces’ stance during Continue reading »
In the last few years, Australian and US foreign policy toward the Pacific has been framed as a benign influence, couched in money terms, offers and suasion. But in such offers comes that bit of intrusive steel, a less than subtle threat that gravitating into the orbit of another power, most notably China, will come Continue reading »
A ‘national emergency’ order on itself may be more useful as no country poses a greater danger to itself and others than the United States. Hong Kong continues to be a threat to the national security of the United States, according to the White House. That must be news to the city’s population. In 2020, Continue reading »
The American people urgently need to know the true history of the war in Ukraine and its current prospects. Unfortunately, the mainstream media ––The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, MSNBC, and CNN –– have become mere mouthpieces of the government, repeating US President Joe Biden’s lies and hiding history from the public. Continue reading »
The claim that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a proxy war is not borne out by recent history, nor supported by Russian democrats, Ukrainians of all stripes nor most Western Russia specialists. They mostly see its roots in an authoritarian Russian state and the revanchist views of Putin and his acolytes. Several recent articles in Continue reading »
A lot of opportunities have been missed to engage more closely with Indonesia over the last few decades, a period when Australian government enthusiasm and funding for engagement with Indonesia declined significantly. Correcting that is getting harder as time goes on and Indonesia grows in economic and political influence. The recent three-day visit to Australia Continue reading »
The North Atlantic military alliance has no business in the continent and it should just stop going on about the so-called China threat. As Nato and its boss, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, keep banging on about “the China threat”, you really have to wonder what the real game plan is. A joint communique by Nato’s Continue reading »
“Of all of these four objectives that I call sustainable development. 1. Material Sufficiency; 2. Social Justice; 3. Environmental sustainability; and 4. Peace; we’re off track on all of them” – Prof. Jeffrey Sachs. “Nothing about the international economy guarantees the end of poverty or social justice. There’s nothing in the global economic system that Continue reading »
Its mid-summer in Rome and last week there was a heat wave with a top temperature of 38° Celsius. Hot days in Rome are stifling, with the heat compounded by the over-whelming influx of tourists. Like most Italian institutions, the Vatican normally closes down in summer, with previous popes retiring to Castel Gandolfo on Lake Continue reading »