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Israel is now facing the reality of a political and military failure on a scale previously unimaginable. The material and psychological impacts of the Gaza war on Israeli society will remain, and they are likely to have irreversible consequences. These effects could potentially threaten the survival of Israel itself.
A chief function of NATO’s public relations efforts lies in justifying its own existence. Instead of dismantling or finding more peaceful pursuits at the end of the Cold War, it became the groomed emissary of US power in Europe, while never being explicitly described as such.
This week, the rituals that herald the start of each Parliamentary year begin. When Parliament resumes next week, the first item of business will be the presentation of the Prime Minister’s Statement, which is supposed to set out the broad thrust of the government’s legislative plans for the year ahead.
The best assessment offered of this episode in Australian history comes from Galbraith: both Howard and his foreign minister, had shown themselves to be mere “shills for the corporations”. This amoral, piratical approach towards a supposedly friendly country in dire need undercut the nonsense about rules-based orders in international relations.
Since neither Obama nor Biden was capable of speaking from the clarity, insight and passion required for meeting the psycho-spiritual crisis in the USA, both interregnums were wasted. Like all empires in the end, the United States has become a self-defeated nation. It will remain so until this darkness is disgorged from the body politic.
Ian Powell discusses Health New Zealand’s plan to disestablish expert national health teams as part of its Commissioner’s ‘slash and burn’ strategy.