Recent P&I contributors have drawn out sharply the consequences of American influence in Australia. Many of these influences have been beneficial, of course. The importation of American exploitation of internal combustion engines and the long-distance transmission of electricity, while not costless, has had many advantages. As for what roughly might be called the “cultural”, Australia Continue reading »
USA
Soldier Meir Ben-Shitrit has revealed himself as the main suspect in the infamous gang rape of Palestinians at the Sde Teiman detention facility. Rather than making him an outcast, his story has turned him into Israel’s latest media darling. Three weeks ago, the Israeli right-leaning Channel 14 aired a 10-minute interview with one of the Continue reading »
Richard Marles’ double-speak knows no bounds. His national strategy is entirely contrived to deliver “projection” for America’s ends, without mentioning that Australia is now merely one cog in the unfolding US war machinery across the periphery of Asia. Which is what Paul Keating is saying. Former prime minister Paul Keating has been chipping away at Continue reading »
The United States Government doctrine of neither confirming nor denying the presence or absence of nuclear weapons on board US aircraft has been virtually unchanged in almost 70 years, with a very small number of exceptions. One key element of transparency required for democratic accountability is denied by acceptance of the US doctrine of neither Continue reading »
Our understanding of the darker foundations of US thinking about the US China relationship is obscured by the public utterances of Presidents, politicians and public policy commentators. This is the froth and bubble of policy but it does little to reveal the foundations of this visceral fear of Ch Continue reading »
In late August, the Albanese government and the President-elect of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, agreed to a new “defence” treaty that is wholly about China.
The post Australia uses Indonesia and the US to choke China first appeared on Solidarity Online.
Some US commentators are advocating a recalibration of America’s full-spectrum global posture, while others, including Condoleezza Rice, energetically beg to differ - naturally for the good of the world. Continue reading »
Readers of P&I understandably want to hear about possible solutions to the ‘polycrisis’ that defines our era. There are some plausible possibilities, it’s just difficult to imagine them ever being implemented, not least because of our continuing faith in market forces to solve the world’s problems. Continue reading »