Articles by: "Mark Beeson"
Avoiding a cold war and a hot planet

Of the many threats and challenges confronting the world, two stand out: the deteriorating relationship between the world’s two most consequential powers, and the looming reality of climate-induced catastrophe. Both require goodwill and real cooperation …

The revenge of Gaia?

Even the most hard-headed of strategic analysts would have to concede that we are now facing a direct and very real threat to our individual and collective security of a sort and severity that we …

The dangers of denialism

‘You’re in denial.’ It’s a phrase no one wants to hear used about themselves as it suggests an unwillingness to confront or even recognise some unpleasant reality or other. The consequences for individuals are generally …

Australia waives the rules with Timor-Leste

Australia is one of the most outspoken and prominent supporters of the ‘rules-based international order’. Given its status as a modestly credentialled middle power with a limited capacity to influence the international order or the …

Morrison’s middle-power mateship

How times change. Only half a century or so ago, Australians were fighting and dying in Vietnam in an American-led effort to hold back the supposed threat of communist expansion. The whole of Southeast Asia …

How much damage can President Trump do?

It really does make a difference who occupies the White House. Acknowledging that point seems beyond many commentators and policymakers in Australia. Yet, failing to recognise how important individuals can be may leave allies floundering …