During its long history, Chinese dynasties were as often the victims of outside aggression as they were invaders of foreign land. Was China ever an imperialist state? There was in the past few weeks a lively debate between two scholars about precisely this question in Pearls and Irritations (P&I), the Australian current affairs online journal, Continue reading »
politics
By stopping short of 200 seats, the electorate sent a message that both ruling and opposition lawmakers to make more use of dialogue and negotiation. Only 108 — that’s how many seats the People Power Party won in Korea’s general elections this month, the worst showing of any ruling party since the country enacted its Continue reading »
Rwanda is now a peaceful country which remembers each year, the awful genocide of 1994. People can blindly become killers if their leaders are successful in instilling enough fear into them. Learning from history is an antidote. There are anniversaries and anniversaries. There are those that celebrate a marriage or a person surviving another year. Continue reading »
Twelve months since the launch of the Albanese Government’s new cultural policy, REVIVE, it’s time we promoted Australia’s heritage of folklife. In 1976, America’s Bicentennial Year, President Gerald Ford signed into law the American Folklife Preservation Act, which established the American Folklife Centre in the Library of Congress. The aim of the Centre is to Continue reading »
What the present moment reveals, once again, is that Western aggression during the “Cold War” was never about destroying socialism, as such. It was about destroying movements and governments in the periphery that sought economic sovereignty. Why? Because economic sovereignty in the periphery threatens capital accumulation in the core. This remains the primary objective of Continue reading »
Although lobbying is integral to democratic representation, there are concerns regarding the secrecy and unfair influence of professional lobbyists, which may ultimately lead to corrupt conduct by lobbyists and/or officials. As the OECD has observed: “[l]obbying is often perceived negatively, as giving special advantages to “vocal vested interests” and with negotiations carried on behind closed Continue reading »
It is extremely hard to kill off a public figure of the calibre of Mike Pezzullo. As with a person of similar personality, Tony Abbott, one can be sure they are out of the play for good only when their bodies lie at a crossroads at midnight, with a wooden stake through their hearts. Before Continue reading »
The PM has announced a series of big-dollar programs to promote energy transition, “green” industries, local manufacturing and “critical” minerals. He is juggling themes that are not always consistent. The government needs to be prudent as it backs projects with taxpayers’ money. Mr Albanese seems to be walking about with a Venn diagram in his Continue reading »
In response to questions about starvation in Gaza and Sudan, a Federal Labor MP has explained, ‘In Australia, the cost of living is the issue. It’s voters’ major concern, and a political priority.’ As though quality of life is entirely affected by enough money to go shopping, politicians and economists’ emphasis on cost of living Continue reading »
This is a time of seismic change in the Middle East. At the heart of this region, the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees – UNRWA – is a stabilising force. Today, an insidious campaign to end UNRWA’s operations is underway, with serious implications for international peace and security, says Philippe Lazzarini. Statement by the Continue reading »