As Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto steers his giant nation closer to China it’s worth recalling Paul Keating three decades ago: “No country is more important to Australia than Indonesia.” His successors nod and offer warm words, but no longer hear their prophet. Caught up in domestic policies and trying to dodge the Trump Martian machine, Continue reading »
International Relations
"The Cook Islands is small, and when you sign deals with economic giants like China, you have to question the long-term consequences."
In the swirl of horrendous news following the US president-elect’s taking his oath of office, there’s been one shining light. On 13 February, an ad boldly declaring “No to Ethnic Cleansing” appeared in the New York Times. More than 350 American rabbis, creatives and activists put their names to it, protesting against the president’s blithe Continue reading »
The world is shocked by President Trump’s solution for the ‘Palestinian Problem’. It’s similar to the one his father used to up-market his NY tenement properties – call in the police to throw the tenants out into the street. We are all amazed by Donald Trump’s proposed solutions to two major international conflicts. Yet we Continue reading »
The English often sing There’s Always Been an England. For America the song would probably be something along the lines of there will always be an enemy. In the case of the US, it would be a combination of enemies — real and imagined — from both outside and inside the country. First Nations people, Continue reading »
If people want to know how genocide can occur, just look to our politicians who have done nothing to stop the crime of the century, Israel’s live-streamed mass slaughter of Palestinians and erasure of Gaza. We are witnessing a moral and intellectual breakdown in which the respectable position is not to condemn Israel’s grotesque crimes Continue reading »
One key fact was absent from virtually all of the reporting around the astonishing events of this past week. It was scarcely mentioned in stories about the Munich Security Conference, the call between Presidents Trump and Putin, the freezing out of the Europeans, the jaw-dropping statements by US Defence Secretary Hegseth, the ending of cherished Continue reading »
Ukraine has not been invited to a key meeting between American and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia this week to decide what peace in the country might look like. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would “never accept” any decisions in talks without its participation to end Russia’s three-year war in the country. A decision to negotiate Continue reading »
New Zealand’s leading newspaper, the New Zealand Herald, screamed out this headline on 10 February: “Should New Zealand invade the Cook Islands?” The government and the mainstream media have gone ballistic (thankfully not literally just yet) over the move by the small Pacific nation to sign a strategic partnership with China in Beijing. It is Continue reading »
Recently, US President Donald Trump spoke about the displacement of Gaza’s residents to Egypt, Jordan, and a group of neighbouring countries, as well as turning Gaza into an area under US control. This proposal sparked a wave of criticism and condemnation at various levels. International reactions to the proposal At the international level, the proposal Continue reading »