Category Archives: Uncategorized
Panic Stations: Australia’s Scramble to Defend Against China in the Asia-Pacific
Introduction Consecutive Australian governments and industries since circa-1990, have pursued China as a fundamental and continuous part of Australia’s fiscal capital-base in terms of trade and regional prosperity. The success of China and the reasons it became a hub for … Continue reading
Federation University: Cultural Enquiry and Research Group. Presentation, 7 November, 2019.
A Year of Living Next to the Dragon: Taiwan – China and an Asia-Pacific War Presenter: Dr Strobe Driver Introduction: The following is the written version of a presentation I gave at Federation University, for the Cultural Enquiry and Research … Continue reading
Hell hath no fury: The makings of a Turnbull return
Normally I restrict my opinions to international relations issues with a particular emphasis on war and conflict however, the arrival of Malcolm Turnbull on the ABC’s Q&A programme made me want to offer a possibility of Malcolm being the ‘comeback … Continue reading
Something is wrong here: Six months (or thereabouts) in Taiwan and the whole damn thing
There’s not much more oppressive ‘out there’ than a tropical summer and I have to tell you that Taiwan in ‘right up there,’ when it comes to summer: baking -tropical, sticky and oppressive heat. When I walk down the … Continue reading
Taiwan 2018: A few weeks in …
Taiwan: to mid-February 2018 The Taiwan-China issue remains vibrant and ongoing. There is near-daily comment in the newspapers about the ongoing situation: China asserting pressures and Taiwan attempting to retain its independence (whilst not actually declaring independence). The situation is … Continue reading
An insane Industrial-Capitalist notion: Australia to be one of the ‘top 10’ arms exporters …
The Australian government’s latest idea to be a reasonable global citizen is to increase Australia’s share of being an arms-exporter. Spruiking the idea, in Nov 2017, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP was in Saudi Arabia according to reports (1). The … Continue reading
Taiwan: a week in …
Since arriving in Taiwan ROC one week ago there has been … four new flight-paths across the Taiwan Strait unilaterally decided upon by China; President Tsai should plan to avoid conflict with China, and has been asked on TV … Continue reading
A volatile combination: Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
Map credit: lahistoriconmaps.com Having just read Pacific Power. Australia’s Strategy in the Pacific Islands, (Author: Joanne Wallis) this book is an excellent read, and anyone interested in International Relations, especially the Asia-Pacific (A-P), should indulge in this succinct and articulate analysis. … Continue reading
An analysis of terrorism: The Turnbull government and political advantage of an ‘Existential Threat’
Introduction There has been an ongoing debate within Australian politics since approximately 2015 about terrorism and it having become an ‘existential threat.’ The debate originally started within the realm of referring to the war in Syria and the violence … Continue reading
What’s really going on?: The reasons the US and North Korea won’t go to war over the Korean Peninsula
Image credit: CBS.news.org Introduction At the end of June 1950, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)— North Korea—through the actions of the North Korean People’s Army embarked on an invasion of South Korea by advancing toward Seoul. This … Continue reading
