The official reactions to the announcement of the Australian-British-US pact (AUKUS) are only about the termination of the Australian-French arms contract. As terrible as this is for the shipyards, it is only a collateral consequence of a reversal of alliances aimed at preparing for a war against China.
Month: September 2021
Trumpism With A Biden Face: US Haitian Policy
With that orange haired brute of a president supposedly ushered out of the White House with moralising delight, the Biden administration was all keen to turn over a new leaf. There would be more diplomacy, and still more diplomacy. There would be a more humanitarian approach to refugees and asylum […]
How Much Will It Cost To Enlarge NATO?
On 8 September, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, one of America’s leading security and foreign policy think tanks, published a study on NATO enlargement. Its main emphasis was on the requirements of NATO’s armed forces and the costs involved. The very publication of the study is fairly symptomatic. […]
Reflections On Events In Afghanistan (XX)
20. Iran takes good look at Taliban rulers Some strongly worded statements from Iran deploring the clashes in Panjshir Valley created a perception that Tehran might be distancing itself from the Taliban government. Of course, Tehran is vociferously urging the formation of an ‘inclusive government’ in Kabul. On the other […]
What Lessons Can Be Learned After Ukraine’s Crimean Platform Went Kaput?
While the “Crimean Platform” infowar provocation came and went without barely anyone even remembering, it still carries with it some worthwhile lessons that observers should study more closely. Last month’s failure of Ukraine’s much-vaunted “Crimean Platform” to achieve anything tangible in terms of promoting Kiev’s reconquest of the Russian peninsula […]
Reflections On Events In Afghanistan (XIX)
19. SCO won’t be subaltern to QUAD As expected, the situation in Afghanistan was the focal point of the discussions at the 20th summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Dushanbe on Friday. Yet, the SCO’s Dushanbe Declaration is scanty on the topic. The 8300-word document devoted hardly […]
AUKUS Is A Serious Threat To The Region
AUKUS is a new challenge. NATO and Quad were not strong enough to fulfill the American dreams. So that they created a new Alliance with Australia, and the UK, known as “AUKUS”. Furthermore, US president Joe Biden has indicated to equip Australia with Nuclear Submarines. Was there any need to […]
The Right To Clean Air In Jakarta
It seems utterly beyond debate but acknowledging legal rights to clean air has assumed the makings of a slow march over the years. The 1956 Clean Air Act in Britain arose from the lethal effects of London’s 1952 killer smog, which is said to have taken some 12,000 lives. The […]
Up Perescope!
Australia has been a very close US ally – one could even say protectorate – since the beginning of World War II. A US Marine formation is based there. The US Navy makes routine port and maintenance calls in Australia, which lies right on the dividing line between the Indian […]
The Anglo Unilateralists Strike
When President Joe Biden won the White House, he promised, with a facility of unceasing boredom, that diplomacy was back. “Diplomacy is back at the centre of our foreign policy,” he stated on February 4. “As I said in my inaugural address, we will repair our alliances and engage with […]
A Noetic Life
The Native Peoples of Alaska and the far north really do have over 50 words for snow. In total, there are around 180 words for snow and ice. There is “aqilokoq” for “softly falling snow” and “piegnartoq” for “the snow [that is] good for driving a sled.” There is also “utuqaq,” […]
The Afghan Aid Game Is A Gamble That No One Can Afford To Lose
To put it simply, millions of people’s lives are practically being held hostage by some politically minded members of the international community’s strategic fears about supposedly rewarding the Taliban for not fulfilling their expectations. Afghanistan is approaching the abyss as its impending humanitarian crisis threatens to spiral out of control […]
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