World hearts commies
Life expectancy in China being close to 77 years by now, at 100 the Chinese Communist Party is long overdue for demise. That this happens speedily and as peacefully as …
Read MoreTag: foreign affairs
No right to return
Tragedy of the Middle East, or more precisely the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict, continues through yet another escalation of deadly violence, with hundreds of lives lost and more hatred added to …
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25 Best Books I’ve Read in 2020
As always with these annual roundups, please note that these are the best books I’ve read last year, not the best book published last year, as I never buy new …
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Eight trends to watch in 2021
Twenty-twenty, the year of the “cool number” previously associated with the positive (perfect vision), had been anything but cool and positive itself. A lot had gone wrong; most related to the …
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Peace on Earth
One of the few bright spots of genuine good news this year – if not the only one – has been the sudden outbreak of peace between Israel and several …
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Shock: China does not understand freedom of speech
I know it might come as somewhat of a shock for you, so brace yourself, my dear reader: a country without a freedom of speech does not understand the concept …
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Team Biden: managing America’s decline and the rise of China
Meet the new boss in the White House – same as the old (but one) boss – and China, through one of its English-language mouthpieces, “Global Times”, is hoping for a reset back …
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America’s mythical allies – and the real ones
Sam Vinograd, an Obama administration nat sec alumnus – and now, needless to say, a CNN nat sec analyst – is hearing sounds: It's like I can almost hear our …
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Once, twice, three times a nominee
Over the past few weeks, Donald Trump has been nominated twice for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize: the first time, by a Norwegian “far right” politician, for his role in bringing …
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Trump’s agenda – a little bit nationalistic, a little bit fantastic
Donald Trump has released the agenda for his second term: A few random thoughts in response: 1) The biggest missing piece – as it has been from Trump’s agenda over …
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Losing My Region – Australians and the world cool on China
Welcome to the political chaos theory – or, should we say, fact: a bat flapping its wings in China produces a hurricane… pretty much everywhere around the world. It seems …
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Those That Trust Trump, or Who Hearts America?
A fascinating update, courtesy of Pew Research Center, on attitudes towards the United States around the world, best summarised in this table: It’s personally interesting to note that Poland is the …
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PiS pisses off progs as Poles go to the polls
The 12 things to note about Sunday’s parliamentary election in Poland: 1. It’s status quo, with the populist/nationalist/conservative PiS (Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc, or Law and Justice) government getting reelected. 2. …
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20 Best Books I’ve Read in 2018
Happy New Year to The Daily Chrenk readers. If 2018 sucked for you, as it did for many people I know, keep marching on, onward and upward; if it was …
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Australia welcome another Arthur
Long time no ambassador: A former legal adviser to Ronald Reagan has been nominated as the next United States ambassador to Australia. US President Donald Trump has nominated distinguished lawyer Arthur …
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The kitten diplomacy
There should be more of it: The US embassy in Australia has apologised for an email invitation featuring a cat dressed in pyjamas that was mistakenly sent out by the …
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Of course it’s all about money
An undiplomatic incident in a Canberra restaurant: Environment Minister Melissa Price has been accused of offending a key Pacific leader by declaring the region was “always” seeking cash from Australia, …
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Sinking funds, not sinking islands
Humouring the neighbourhood with taxpayers’ money: Australia will be expected to contribute to a new $US1.5 billion Pacific Resilience Facility to help island nations adapt to the impacts of rising …
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