This year saw the 40th anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam government on 11 November 1975 by the governor-general, Sir John Kerr. It also marks the 40th anniversary of an enduring conspiracy theory—that Kerr’s …
Articles by: "Peter Edwards"
On the basis of experience and ability, Paul Hasluck should have been one of Australia’s greatest foreign ministers. Before he came to that post, he had been an notable journalist, writing influential articles on the …
Was Australian strategy in the third quarter of the twentieth century, generally known as forward defence, a strategic disaster? After the fall of Saigon in 1975 the concept of ‘forward defence’ was widely discredited, along …
Last weekend’s commemorations of the centenary of the Gallipoli landings was the ultimate expression of our habit of reflecting on the causes, conduct and consequences of war at the time of major anniversaries. Unfortunately, Australia’s …
Much of the commentary on Malcolm Fraser portrays him as the politician who moved most dramatically from the right to the left of the political spectrum. The man denounced by the left for his role …
Amid the attention to the various centenaries of the first world war, we should not overlook the half-centenaries of the Vietnam War. As a recent ‘Rear Vision’ program on the ABC reminded us, fifty years …
Perhaps an old-fashioned diplomatic historian might add to the valuable comments by Peter Jennings, Peter McCawley and Greta Nabbs-Keller on how to handle the current tensions between Australia and Indonesia. In particular, we might usefully …
Here’s a question for readers of The Strategist who’ve been fascinated by the last fortnight of reflections on Gough Whitlam’s legacy. What’s the major area of policy, front and centre in today’s political debate, where …
Last month marked the centenary of the first shots of the Great War. This month, last Saturday to be precise, marks the centenary of the inauguration of a crucial element in the way that Australia …
Most readers of The Strategist will be aware that 18 August is Vietnam Veterans’ Day, formerly known as Long Tan Day, marking the anniversary of the most famous battle fought by the Australian Task Force …
The first week of August marks not only the centenary of the guns of August 1914, but also the fiftieth anniversary of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which was as near as the United States …
If you weren’t living as a hermit in the desert, you’d have been well aware that 22 November 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. But the wall-to-wall …