The fatal friend
Henry Kissinger is reported to have said “it may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.” Australia should take note, enmeshed as it is with US bases. The fallout may affect us too.
International
Diplomacy
Sack Him Christopher
After the 2005 election, the Chinese Embassy sent Zhang Wei to ask me if Winston Peters would follow Labour government policy. I said I didn’t know, but would ask.
Iranian Ambassador: why the US blundered so badly, the state of diplomacy and ways forward.
Iranian Ambassador Reza Nazar Ahari provides some fascinating analysis into why the Western strategy on Iran has been so disastrously flawed.
The World Cup final, and Defence double standards in the Pacific
The World Cup is over and the good guys won, geo-politically speaking. When China fired a test missile a few weeks ago, it was as if the sky had fallen in.
Official talk of Independent Foreign Policy is farcical
If we are a “force multiplier” we are not independent. We are meant to multiply force for the US. Against China. Madness.
Talking to the “enemy”: an interview with Russian Ambassador Stanislav Krans
The reason I chose to interview the ambassador is because I accept as self-evident the truism that all wars end with diplomacy and the sooner we return to diplomacy the better.
They all do it…
FiveEyes issues warning re possible Chinese intelligence recruiting methods! Beware! China issues warning re already recruited anti-China MPs. Cue shock horror!
Who’s best on Foreign Affairs?
When Ambassador Chen Mingming sent Zhang Wei in 2005 to ask me whether Winston Peters would follow government policy, I said I didn’t know but would ask. I did, and he did.
Will Israel/US wreck the Gulf States & Iran?
We are now in the opening days of what may be the decisive war to determine either the survival of the Iranian state or the expulsion of the US from the Arab lands.
On The Iran War
Funny…when Russia invaded Ukraine, New Zealand didn’t wait for Putin to tell us whether his aggression was legal under international law. Different story when it comes to the Americans.
Pirates of the Caribbean and the Indo-Pacific. The White House National Security Strategy.
the US administration stresses that countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan will need to militarise as never before in peacetime to keep China in its place.
Atlas Shrugged. Part One: Trump’s Security Strategy blows up the American world order.
“The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over.” White House National Security Strategy, 2025
Ireland’s new President causes Western backlash
There are clear signs Ireland’s new President Catherine Connolly’s landslide victory has intensified efforts to undermine the country’s neutrality and neuter its aim to punish genocidal Israel.
Judith gets her marching orders
Lauded at the CIA and lectured at the Department of War, Judith Collins last week got her marching orders – prepare New Zealanders to join the next US war against China.
God bless these troublesome priests
All over the world more people are taking direct action because governments fail their obligations under the Genocide Convention.
China is not a threat to Regional Peace
The real threat to peace in our region does not stem from China, but from a “China threat” narrative—promoted by the United States to rally other nations behind its China containment agenda.
Weasel Winston’s FiveEyes fudge
Winston Peters’ Ministerial statement in Parliament yesterday was a disgrace. Echoing other FiveEyes leaders such as Keir Starmer, unable to distinguish evil from good, he accused those who can of “moral posturing.”
SNAP ACTION – Stop U.S. Aggression
Snap action outside Ministry of Defence tomorrow 24th 1230. All welcome
Was the Cook Islands leak a FiveEyes operation?
The leak appeared in the Cook Islands media, not New Zealand’s. On the day before Christopher Luxon was due to meet Xi Jinping. One has to ask “cui bono?”
Vale David Parker MP
David Parker’s Deputy Leader ‘s speech in 2014 at the Wellington Labour Party Conference was the best I ever heard from a Labour Leader. Vision matched values in intensity and scope. Parliament now loses one of its very best.
Poking the dragon
Seven cross-party New Zealand politicians have just paid a “private” visit to Taiwan. They were received publicly by the Taiwanese government, who paid for the trip. In the current geopolitical environment, it was extraordinarily foolish.
Vilification of Russia not good for peace in Europe.
Putinversteher – one who “understands” Putin. It is meant as a slur but Professor Geoffrey Roberts, a British historian of Russia, embraces the term.
Posturing is not policy. How the West doomed Ukraine.
Henry Kissinger nailed it back in 2014: “For the West, the demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one.”
Police private trip to China – who to believe?
The Police say it was a private trip to learn about Chinese culture, presumably because it would help their work here. Andrew Little and Anne-Marie Brady without any evidence gave it a sinister cast.
Resisting US pressure for NZ to sacrifice itself to defend US hegemony against China
Don Brash is now publicly standing together with Helen Clark to protest against the subservience of recent New Zealand governments to America’s anti-China policy.
Bonnie Jenkins: US ignores China proposal for no-first-use of nukes
Questioned by Senator Van Hollen re US response to China’s February 2024 offer of no-first-use, Assistant Secretary Bonnie Jenkins told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee they would have to think about it, but at this point had no intention of changing to a no-first use policy.
Joining US military alliance not in our national interest
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark – the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory – gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held in Parliament’s old Legislative Chambers on April 18.
Where Oz goes, we go? To war with China?
Testifying to the Defence Select Committee last week, Air Marshal Short said Australia was “reshaping” its Defence Force for “a singular threat from a singular direction.” This was described as being an obvious reference to China.
The Subs and the Next War
In March 2023, former Australian prime minister Paul Keating attracted significant media attention when he described AUKUS as a manifestation of the United States’s campaign to encircle China with hostile military allies and partners.
Passing the buck on Gaza
The new government is leaving it to the old government to carry the ball on Gaza. Both governments have dropped it. The 5Eyes formula of “Israel’s right to defend itself” does not extend any right to the indiscriminate bombing, and refusal to allow any water, food or fuel to innocents in Gaza.
Wither Foreign Policy?
Alexander Gillespie complains that kiwis are not being given answers on foreign policy in the election. Given the state of flux in the world, and the questions he poses, it is probably just as well. The answers might all be dangerous.
Unease Over New Zealand Overtures to US in Pacific
New security-state documents show Wellington aligning its military with the “rules-based international order” while preparing Kiwis for war with key trading partner China, writes Mick Hall.
NZ’s Mission in Vilnius – “to defeat Russia.” Really?
The prime minister stated in his speech last week our objective in the war in Ukraine was to aid Ukraine “to defeat Russia.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing – that’s a declaration of nuclear World War III! Even the US neocons think its time to back off.
The Mind of Xi Jinping
An excellent interview with a well-connected American who would like to see the US and China work together, and knows Xi Jinping well, provides some real insight as to why he is a serious leader. Interviewed today by Richard Harman, Tim Groser backs it up.
Diplomacy with China hasn’t failed – it hasn’t been tried
Gerald Hensley was David Lange’s chief of staff when New Zealand’s nuclear free policy was adopted. He opposed what happened then and opposes it still. He now argues we should prepare for war with China.
Saudi/Iran peace deal brokered by China
Veteran Indian diplomat MK Bhadrakumar describes the resumption of diplomatic relations between Shi’ite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia brokered by China as a “Suez moment” in the history of the Middle East. Peace in Yemen is only one of the possible benefits.