Deng Xiaoping (1904-97) was born in Guang’an, Sichuan province, 120 years ago. By the age of 74, the man who had witnessed nearly the entire 20th century changed China’s trajectory and indirectly shaped the world as we know it today. In my quest to enrich my understanding of China, a significant encounter has been with Continue reading »
politics
It is primarily in the hands of Israelis to reject their settler colonial occupation, their apartheid laws, and their current government and nationalist parties. The alternative means the loss of their humanity. Since its creation in 1948, Israel has been embroiled in many wars with Palestinians and some Arab countries. Historically, these wars have sparked Continue reading »
As China commemorates the 120th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping’s birth, in the second instalment of a three-part series, we look at the impact of his policies – from the factories to the countryside. A year after Deng Xiaoping stepped down as China’s paramount leader, Mindy Guo took a risk and left her secure job in Continue reading »
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 »
Zionism has followed the twisted logic of a long line of modern ideologies that ended up committing mass murder. On the day when crime puts on the apparel of innocence, through a curious reversal peculiar to our age, it is innocence that is called on to justify itself … It is a question of finding Continue reading »
In June this year, Liberal MP Julian Leeser introduced a bill in Federal Parliament for a Commission of Inquiry into Anti-semitism at Australian Universities (2024). According to Leeser, the Australian Human Rights Commission, tasked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with carrying out a general inquiry into racism, including anti-semitism, was unsuitable due to its support Continue reading »
In a recent article for the Washington Post on the militarisation of Australia’s north, the Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, said: “We’re working together [with the United States] to deter future conflict and to provide for the collective security of the region in which we live.” The defence preparations against China that Marles describes do Continue reading »
Labor has got its comeuppance in the Northern Territory, losing power in a double-digit swing to the Country Liberals. With a first-ever seat for the Greens, it sets a pattern that could carry through all the way to Canberra and the Federal Election due by September next year. Among the unseated ALP luminaries was Chief 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 »
Australia punches well above its weight when it comes to global fossil carbon emissions. With less than one-third of one percent of the world’s population, we are responsible for about 4.5 percent of fossil carbon emissions globally, and around 80 percent of this comes from our fossil fuel exports. Our nation is thus responsible for Continue reading »