By Richard Stone Any controversy surrounding the economic basis of the present Cold War should reference recent statements from the White House and reliable banking and financial assessments about Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates. While the combined weight of the G7 economies have difficulty remaining in the top hundred for GDP growth, those countries associated with the BRICS, however, …
By Richard Stone The US peace initiative between Israel and Iran is to be welcomed although cannot be regarded as an example of skillful diplomacy by Washington. It is more in line with an act of desperation by the Trump administration; a changing balance of forces across the Middle East has had serious implications for traditional hegemonic and diplomatic relations. …
By Binoy Kampmark Australia’s obsequiousness before US power was again on show at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security forum convened by the International Institute for Strategic Studies to discuss matters relevant to the Indo-Pacific. What was clear was that the US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth was in a fighting mood. “America is proud to be back in the Indo-Pacific …
By Bevan Ramsden, Andrew Fullarton Donald Trump is not an aberration, but rather a symptom of the disease, not its cause. His election for a second term, an authoritarian racist and convicted felon, highlights the decay of the US empire domestically and internationally. It is surely high time for the Australian Government to abandon the dangerous illusion that being tied …
By Bevan Ramsden There has been a dramatic change in our strategic circumstances. United States reliability has been found wanting. This provides both a challenge and an opportunity. We now need an alternative self-defence policy which will safeguard our territory and enable the pursuit of peace in our region as an independent and responsible country. The US administration under Trump …
By Humphrey McQueen Trump’s pledge to push the boundary of the United States of America 2,000 kilometres north is not another rush of blood but channels 300 years of imperial rivalries over resources. In the grip of ‘now-ists,’ all ‘News’ is fake because it comes from the ‘context of no context,’ a blight made worse by journalists afflicted with the …
By Binoy Kampmark February 7 saw the first AUKUS meeting held between officials of the Trump administration and their Australian servitors since the changing of the guard in the White House. In attendance was the US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and his unbearably compliant Australian counterpart Richard Marles. From all general appearances, the sense was that a change of government …
By From the bin (nom de guerre) the author had a long-standing column in Neighbourhood News in the 1990s and early 2000s It’s a cliche now to say that the curse of “Interesting times” is upon us.But I can think of no more suitable way to describe the frantic first days of the 2nd Trump Presidency. If there is a …
