Category Archives: Global issues

Paul Sheehan has a piece in today’s SMH on “Red and Blue America”. His conclusion – that American politics is more ideologically polarised today than in the past – is basically right. But he uses the wrong set of facts … Continue reading →

Who’s going to be the next US President? Those Australians who took a moment on Saturday to watch the second presidential debate would’ve seen a fired-up and fact-filled John Kerry (sidenote: why aren’t Australian election debates peppered with as much … Continue reading →

Ben Heraghty, a good friend of mine from Boston days, has a terrific piece in the Canberra Times on tomorrow’s election in Afghanistan. Amidst the horsetrading and jostling of the past few weeks, it’s worth occasionally being reminded of how … Continue reading →

A quick alternative – or perhaps complementary – view to David’s recent posting is to look to some people who’ve actually been studying Iraq’s economy in a more systematic manner. Chris Foote, an economist at the FRB, who has been … Continue reading →

George Bush has just finished addressing the UN General Assembly. Poor Dubya. He should have paid more attention to his Dad who actually had a few diplomatic skills (although who could forget this incident). Dubya however has never quite been … Continue reading →

In the midst of our own fiercely contested election, it’s important that we don’t miss the significance of what just took place in Indonesia. Indonesia’s first ever direct presidential elections were–according to all reports–an overwhelming success. That such a massive … Continue reading →

It’s been another horrendous week in Iraq. To make matters worse, amidst it all came confirmation that Saddam Huessin didn’t have any WMD, that the war was illegal, and US intelligence agenices are as pessimistic about the future of Iraq … Continue reading →

Today is the third anniversary of 9/11. Walking around New York this morning it’s difficult to tell, but this is one of the things about the “War on Terror” — in most places around the US you’d never know the … Continue reading →

In a recent speech, NSW Premier Bob Carr noted a few startling new statistics on climate change:  The frequency of extremely high tides in Sydney (more than 2.2 metres) has tripled since 1950.  The average sea level of … Continue reading →

In a valuable contribution to the debate over the US/Australia Free Trade Agreement, Ross Gittins writes that: It was shaping as a disaster for Mark Latham. He looked like he was in trouble whichever way he jumped. Had he opposed … Continue reading →

Meantime, while our pollies squabble over the details of the FTA, the genocide in Sudan is getting worse. The Times is reporting that for the first time in its 11 year history, the US Holocaust Museum called the situation in … Continue reading →

Can’t go to bed without noting the sobering reminder in today’s papers that what is arguably the greatest preventable catastrophe in human history is only getting worse. In just a few years I have no doubt that people will look … Continue reading →

Edwards! Hooray! This is very good news — Edwards is IMHO the prefect running mate. Kerry still gave a terrible speech, but for the first time this year, I can now say that I am genuinely excited by his campaign. … Continue reading →

Can’t go to bed without noting that things seem to be looking up in the veep stakes — fingers crossed Kerry will indeed pick Edwards. Announcement is set for 9am tomorrow. Back home, Latham’s day is going from bad to … Continue reading →

Speculation is rife over here at the moment about who Kerry is going to pick as his running mate. Latest word seems to indicate Gephardt (see Daily Kos & The Note). If this is true, god help us. May as … Continue reading →