A riot in a South Pacific city is a political act as well as a spree of violence and looting. The urban riot is an extreme expression of political and economic failure in the islands. …
Articles by: "Graeme Dobell"
A new Labor government takes office, threatened by a global recession, seeking a new start with China, and worried by war in a ‘time of entrenched geopolitical competition and stark divisions’. A tough menu confronted …
The Labor government has given a ‘firm’ view to the parliamentary inquiry on war powers: don’t disturb the executive’s prerogative for sending Australia to war. But the reference letter to the committee says there’s room …
To examine how Australia goes to war, parliament must examine itself. How much can parliament touch the war prerogative of the prime minister and cabinet? What say should parliament have, if any, in the most …
The Covid-19 pandemic marks the end of the great era of globalisation. Now the troubled times of decoupling arrive. We are at a Matthew Arnold moment: Wandering between two worlds, one dead, The other powerless …
Australia’s quasi-alliance with Japan becomes less quasi and more alliance. The Australia–Japan partnership now uses language sourced from the 70-year-old ANZUS treaty, as the shared alliance with the US is emphasised. In Perth on 22 …
When straddling a barbed-wire fence, shifting your feet risks a wound ranging from hurt to horrendous. Shift carefully, not carelessly or inadvertently. For two decades, Australia has been doing a delicate straddle between Papua New …
When Australia became a nation on 1 January 1901, it was at war in South Africa and China. The six Australian colonies had sent militia and bushmen contingents to the Boer War (1899–1902) and dispatched …
As the Chinese Communist Party convenes next week to embellish and extend Xi Jinping’s role as emperor, the mandate of heaven wobbles. The imperial mandate has been translated into a Marxist mandate of history. Heaven …
‘A great deal of the history of our world is going to be written in the Indo-Pacific over the coming years and decades. And the Pacific Islands are a critical voice in shaping that future. …
The first US summit with South Pacific leaders offers symbolism and the chance of future substance. The US announces, ‘We’re back!’ The summit on Wednesday and Thursday is a statement that the US can no …
Since the modern South Pacific arrived in the 1960s and 1970s, the United States has handed significant regional responsibility to Australia and New Zealand. America would do the duties of the big external power in …