29 May 2018

Are values back in vogue in foreign policy circles? Could it be that the years of cultural relativism of the Obama administration, aided and abetted by the United Nations and the European Union, are over? Will liberal democracies once again take a stand when faced with threats to freedom in the world? Forty years ago, in the midst of the

23 May 2018

“Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…” So spoke Winston Churchill two years

25 April 2018

For the last few years, there has been a growing annual assault against Australian identity. It starts off in early January, a rude awakening from New Year’s celebrations, and rises to a crescendo of shrill hyperbole by Australia Day. Despite the vast majority of Australians loving our great country and embracing Australia Day, the cries of the anti-Australians are having

20 March 2018

Britain’s reaction to Russia’s aggression on its soil is tough and right. This is the type of response we should expect from a post-Brexit Britain, which is not bound by the lowest common denominator responses of the European Union, but defends its sovereignty, values and national interest against rising revisionist powers. Russia’s attempted murder of former double agent Sergei Skripal

8 March 2018

It’s been almost a year since the United Kingdom formally notified the European Union of its intention to leave the EU. Since then, the UK and EU have been engaged in intense negotiations about the mechanics of Brexit, all with a view to the UK’s formal departure on 29 March 2019. In the meantime, British Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election in

22 December 2017

‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time…’ So spoke Winston Churchill two years

8 November 2017

Catalonia. For most Australians, the name of its capital, Barcelona, will resonate more. The city conjures up images of the grand boulevard Las Ramblas, the architecture of Antoni Gaudí, epitomised in his Sagrada Familia basilica, the Summer Olympics in 1992 and Catalan tenor Jose Carreras crooning Amigos para siempre to Sarah Brightman. Unlike the Basque Country, we don’t associate Catalonia with a

11 August 2017

East Timor holds a special place in the Australian psyche. It is our newest neighbour, and we played a critical role in supporting its road to independence in 2002 through the Australian-led INTERFET peacekeeping mission. Australian troops also kept the peace after the bloody Indonesian withdrawal in the aftermath of Timor’s 1999 independence referendum. A half-century earlier, Australian troops were

7 April 2017

There are seminal moments in a US presidency, often sadly sparked by catastrophe. Recall the Srebrenica Massacre for Bill Clinton and 9/11 for George W Bush. Likewise, Tuesday’s horrific chemical weapons attack in Syria marked a turning point for Donald Trump’s nascent presidency and US global leadership more broadly. So, struck by the tragic images of dead and dying children

1 April 2017

Divorce is never easy. And a divorce after 44 years of unhappy marriage is harder still. Navigating the settlement, splitting the assets, untangling lives while remaining on speaking terms takes the moral fortitude most of us are not blessed with. But that is what will be required of British Prime Minister Theresa May and her European Union counterpart, Donald Tusk,