By Paul Bracken While media attention focuses on the military and humanitarian aspects of the war in Ukraine the huge implications for multinational corporations get very little attention. Two major themes stand out here. First, many companies will be swept up in the impassioned media stories of the war and…
By William Leben The British Army’s main effort is now mobilisation to deter Russian aggression, and it must accept ‘ruthless prioritisation’ to this end, General Sir Patrick Sanders has said. Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute’s Land Warfare Conference in London, the British Chief of the General Staff (CGS) articulated his army’s…
By Graeme Dobell Australia is removing the qualifications from its quasi-alliance with Japan. The visit to Japan by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles is another step in the fading of the qualifiers: ‘quasi alliance’, ‘small “a” ally’ and ‘alliance lite’. The qualifiers apply because this is a pact without a treaty—no formal pledge…
By Paul Dibb Prime Minister Albanese is attending the NATO Summit in Madrid on 28 June, along with the leaders of Japan and South Korea and representatives from Sweden and Finland. President Zelensky has also invited him to visit Ukraine after the NATO leader’s summit. There will clearly be expectations…
By Kenneth Maxwell On 14 June 2022, the UK remembered the 40 year anniversary of the Falklands War. Looking back provides insights as well with regard to the state of "global" Britain. In the age of the Brexiters self-proclaimed “global Britain’ two very distinguished British historians, the late Michael Howard…
China has focused under the regime of President Xi on building out its global informal empire. By trade and investment, China has become a key player in Africa and Latin America. Its practices in doing so have a number of questionable dimensions, but instead of highlighting the reality of Chinese…
By Kenneth Maxwell This year marks 40 years since Spain joined NATO. Eastern and Central Europe in 1982 were firmly under the control of the Soviet Union. The Berlin Wall stood separating East and West. The Ukraine was an integral part of the Soviet Union. It is ironic that this…
By Michael W. Wright and David Jimenez If you could go back in time, would you have chosen fossil fuels as the energy source for the 20th century? Wouldn't you have liked to look at the actual lifetime costs to the planet and, by proxy, to the economy? In some…
