Maybe it’s a quirk in my character that in times of calamity I always look for the silver lining. It doesn’t often appear, but in this darkest hour of despair, when nothing seemed possible and the collapse of hope was profound, I found it. The spark. I found it growing in the refugee camps of Continue reading »
politics
The Reserve Bank still hasn’t damaged the economy enough; The Ben Roberts-Smith case is about more than one person’s behaviour; and how South Australia has borrowed Putin’s laws on political protests. Read on for the Weekly Roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media on current political and economic issues in public policy. Continue reading »
Biden, Trump, or DeSantis; the zealot, the disrupter, or the ideologue are the choices confronting American voters. Individuals matter. Trump’s mercurial and transactional approach to foreign policy and his isolationist tendencies are well known. Back in the Whitehouse he would again be a disrupter, and perhaps worse. But an uncompromising Biden or empowered DeSantis present Continue reading »
China’s power has replaced the United States’ in the eyes of most of our Asian neighbours, according to the latest Lowy Institute Asia Power Snapshot. What are the implications for Australia? The Lowy survey contains interesting findings. Over the last five years, Chinese influence in Southeast Asia has risen at the expense of the US, Continue reading »
Mainstream media frequently describes Taiwan as “an island that the PRC claims, but has never ruled”. This has given rise to an increasing perception of Taiwan as a separate sovereign entity. In both historical and legal terms it is not. Most countries and the United Nations Organisation have long accepted that Taiwan, despite being internally Continue reading »
I am in complete sympathy with Jennifer Bush Pearls and Irritations 5, June 2023 in resigning from the Labor Party because of Prime Minister Albanese’s congratulations to Israel despite its government’s disgraceful treatment of Palestinian people. Brand Loyalty. That indescribable loyalty, we feel towards our own country, our own football team, our own political party. Continue reading »
As a major exporter of fossil fuels, Australia has a hand in emissions several times larger than those we generate here. To avoid climate catastrophe, all greenhouse emissions must be cut, fast. It is time to introduce a test of the impact on the global climate before big new projects are approved. Driving yesterday with Continue reading »
In 2016, President Obama visited Hiroshima. He was the first US President to do so since the bombing in 1945. He said that he would not be apologising for the dropping of the bomb and would not try and second-guess President Harry Truman’s decision. A repost from May 27, 2016 The widely accepted moral justification Continue reading »
Shangri-La Dialogue was a missed opportunity for talks as defence chiefs Austin and Marles insisted on belligerence and doublespeak. When it comes to China, the Joe Biden administration has become a one-trick pony – pretend to be ready for dialogue, then go in for the kill. How effective that has been depends on the eye Continue reading »
America and the West are more isolated from the rest of the world than at any time since WWII. From May 22–23, the Toda Peace Institute convened a brainstorming retreat at its Tokyo office with 16 high-level international participants. One of the key themes was the changing global power structure and normative architecture, with the Continue reading »