cam's blog
Posted at 12:25pm on May 20, 2007 The Chinese Development-State
By cam
James Maan has an article on China in the Washington Post titled: A Shining Model of Wealth Without Liberty. He starts the article with, "The Iraq war isn't over, but one thing's already clear: China won." The Asian model for capitalism, or the Development-State as Chalmers Johnson calls it, has been around since Japan popularised it in the 1950s. A development-state tends to be autocratic and one party, generally that is the only way the state can override property liberties and people's concerns in order to develop at the ten percent a year pace.
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Posted at 11:44am on Aug. 26, 2006 Three US Presidents on Partisanship
By cam
in 1821 the United States was shocked to see an outburst of partisanship develop in Congress, partially due to growing political divisions, but also because there was no obvious Presidential successor to James Monroe. This is more curious as the Federalists ceased to exist as a viable opposition during the Madison presidency. Monroe was perturbed by the displays of partisanship and wrote to Madison on the issue.
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Posted at 1:36pm on Aug. 23, 2006 Foreign Policy in the Korean Peninsula
By cam
Paul Dibbs has an interesting article in the SMH on the changing power relationships in the Middle East and Northern Asia titled; As one nuclear flashpoint reaches a lull, another simmers away. Two paragraphs on South Korea's relationship with its neighbours caught my attention.
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Posted at 2:46pm on Jan. 25, 2006 Reeve's Lucky League
By cam
John Reeve calls the Anglo dominance of the oceans the Lucky League. Britannia carried blue water supremacy until they obsoleted themselves with the Dreadnought. British supremacy lingered until World War II, when the United States leap-frogged them, and all other nations in a four year bound. America has been the barely disputed champion of the oceans since. Reeve argues that our tangential inclusion in that Anglo dominance has been positive for Australia. He is arguing for the Great and Powerful Friends doctrine [GAPF] of foreign policy.
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Posted at 11:17am on Jul. 24, 2005 Focusing Australian Policy On Afghanistan
By cam
The recent announcement of Australia sending the SASR to Afghanistan along with a Provincial Reconstruction Team points to the unfocused nature of Australia's involvement in the American led "War on Terror". The Howard government chose to join the United States pursuit of terrorism as a military issue. This is in part due to the "Great and Powerful Friends" (GAPF) doctrine of foreign policy that the Liberal Party adheres to. But equally influential on our policy toward Afghanistan has been the weak manner in which Australia has contributed. We are not in control of the outcome, and consequentially the Howard government is just floating along with no focus, and no possible means to take the expeditions in Afghanistan and Iraq to any conclusion. Australia needs to return to the policy of December 2001, pull out of Iraq, and focus its full energies on defeating Al Queda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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Posted at 2:49pm on Jul. 2, 2005 Australian Foreign Policy In The Late 1940s
By cam
Australia was reliant upon the British Foreign Office for its foreign policy until the Department of External Affairs grew in cabinet importance in the 1940s. Previously the department had not been focused on foreign policy at all. Central to the department's new importance in foreign affairs was the changing circumstance of the Cold War, the decolonisation of former European Empires and the loss of power and prestige of Britain. Another reason, was the vibrant energy of Herbert Vere "Doc" Evatt.
The path to an independent foreign affairs department was not simple, other cabinet heavyweights such as defence, trade, immigration and even the Prime Minister were keen to protect their bureaucratic turf and existing power. There was also the question of competing philosophies on foreign policy - the advent of the United Nations and Soviet aggression was to bring those philosophies into sharp focus.
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Posted at 6:01pm on Jun. 25, 2005 Munir Said Thalib
By cam
Munir is an Indonesian human rights and anti-corruption activist who was assassinated in September of 2004 when travelling overseas to pursue doctorate studies in law. Munir was poisoned with arsenic when on a Garuda flight. In December President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono set up a presidential commission to probe the death, as Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN) involvement was widely suspected. By March of 2005, Indonesia police arrested Garuda pilot, Pollycarpus Budihari Priyatno and more recently, the commission has uncovered proof directly linking BIN to the murder suspect.
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Posted at 1:21pm on Jun. 11, 2005 Federal Regulation D
By cam
I got a letter from my bank yesterday which stated they were going to shut down my bank account because I had violated Federal Regulation D. Not only had I violated it this month, but the previous month. My crime? Having more than six transfers in a statement period.
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