Why should Australia acknowledge its bloody past on Australia Day? Firstly, this is a fundamental question of dignity.
‘National security’ is often the card played by states denying human rights. With the North Korean dictatorship next door, in South Korea it is a regular trump.
We need to raise awareness about how the rich oil nations keep subsidising oil extraction whilst agreeing that the world needs to cut emissions. Taxpayers cannot passively let their governments do this.
International constraint and mutual nuclear deterrence may have prevented all-out war with Pakistan in the past over contested Kashmir. With thousands fleeing their homes amid escalating violence, that may not remain a secure wager.
Too often the sterile, objective needs of capital, for a range of reasons, take precedence over the subjective needs of traumatised, conflict-affected peoples.
After spending twelve days on an island in Palau without the ample resources of modern life in developed cities, Andrew Broadbent ponders the crucial role trust will play in restoring our communities.
The outworking of the eight-year-old peace agreement in Nepal has embraced the government and its Maoist opponents. The women who were victims of sexual violence from both sides during the conflict have, however, been left out.
The authorities in Nay Pyi Taw are steering the former authoritarian pariah state to open engagement with the world. Well, that’s what they say.
There is no shortage of knowledge about global environmental and climate problems. Nor was there 40 years ago. So why is nothing happening?
Australia’s politicians and press are ratcheting up a rhetoric of pure Islamophobia. These escalating tactics are aimed, as ever, at forcing a shift in the balance of freedom and security, in favour of the latter.
For anyone sensitive to the pervasive signs of militarisation, there is no doubt that the centenary invites unwelcome forms of commemoration. Look at the distortions in the documented history of bloodshed in Gallipoli in 1915.
For decades the west has covertly supported Israel’s nuclear programme while pretending to support a nuclear weapons-free Middle East. Exasperated by this, the Arab League is spearheading a major international move to challenge the west’s double standards.
