A significant intelligence failure to detect live-firing by Chinese warships near Australia, has exposed Defence weaknesses, and the fact that when it counts, we are all alone. Australia is caught in a jam, between an assertive American ally and a bold Chinese trading partner. America is accelerating its pivot to the Indo-Pacific, building up its Continue reading »
China
For all its chaos in operation, Trump's regime has a strategic rationale and must be fought strategically, argues Jon Bloomfield
Donald Trump’s recent actions with respect to the use of tariffs as a weapon to re-industrialise America demonstrates not only an utter failure to understand the economics of that move but also the geo-economic realities of the world in which those actions are being taken. Tariffs have been around for hundreds of years and have Continue reading »
A dozen days ahead of this Chinese New Year, a large-scale exhibition opened at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. The event, “Cezanne and Renoir Looking at the World – Masterpieces from the Musee de l’Orangerie and the Musee d’Orsay,” showcased 52 masterpieces, featuring how the pair innovatively reinvented the art of their time and Continue reading »
You have to admire Australian media. While the rest of us are busy paying $8 for a flat white and wondering how to stretch a pack of IndoMie for a week, our intrepid journalists are fearlessly focused on the real threats – like Chinese naval ships operating in full compliance with international law. 1. China’s Continue reading »
The Australian labels Albanese a “jellyfish” in the face of Chinese naval vessels, ironically the barbs came from a faceless columnist. Kudos to The Australian for keeping tabs on a US nuclear submarine in our waters, but the headline act for the Murdoch masthead was hosting its own event for weapons makers and China hawks. Continue reading »
The Chinese Embassy in the US underlines the country’s differences with the US. Marco Rubio and Boris Johnson refer to the war in Ukraine as a proxy war, while Rubio also reaffirms Trump’s warning to Hamas. Ohad Kozminsky of the Jewish Council of Australia shares his views on Western colonialism and Gaza. The U.S. needs Continue reading »
There is a certain cadence to decline, a rhythm of arrogance and desperation, of miscalculation and delusion. The late-stage empire, unmoored from reality yet clinging to myths of its own indispensability, lashes out at perceived threats not because they are real, but because it cannot conceive of a world in which it is no longer Continue reading »
"The Cook Islands is small, and when you sign deals with economic giants like China, you have to question the long-term consequences."
History rarely surprises those who pay attention. The trajectory of the current geopolitical order — from the war in Ukraine to the economic realignments centred on China and the Global South — follows patterns as old as recorded time. Yet, in the West, political elites and media institutions remain bewildered. How could the unchallenged dominance Continue reading »