APSNet 6 November 2008
- It’s Farewell To Our Great Friend Bush
- As China’s Losses Mount, Confidence Turns to Fear – Officials Use Bailouts to Forestall Unrest
- David Petraeus Makes Pakistan a Priority
- Australia on Alert as Indonesia Set to Execute Bali Bombers
- Armed Conflicts Report 2008
- Amid the Financial Storm: Redirecting Climate Change
- Thousands Evacuate as Vietnam Capital Battles Flood
- Taking Obama Seriously
1. It’s Farewell To Our Great Friend Bush, Greg Sheridan, Australian 2008-11-06
Obama has little knowledge of, or interest, in Asia. The Republicans are the party of the Pacific, the Democrats are the party of the Atlantic. And as a nation we are just about to lose the best friend we ever had in the White House. Don’t expect Obama to be anywhere near as mindful of Australia or any of our concerns.
- Getting To Know Obama Is 1st Task, Asahi Shinbun, 2008-11-06
2. As China’s Losses Mount, Confidence Turns to Fear – Officials Use Bailouts to Forestall Unrest, Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post*, 2008-11-04
As factory closings, dire corporate earnings reports and stock market losses continue to mount, the Communist Party’s confidence has changed to another feeling entirely: fear. For the first time in the 30 years since China began its capitalist transformation, there is a perception that the economy is in real trouble. And for the Communist Party, the crisis is not just an economic one, but a political one.
* Free registration required.
3. David Petraeus Makes Pakistan a Priority, Bruce Loudon, Australian, 2008-11-04
The US’s preoccupation with Pakistan was strongly underlined as General David Petraeus, newly responsible for Washington’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, made Islamabad his first port of call. General Petraeus was said to have given no ground to his critics yesterday, insisting the cross-border attacks were achieving results, and he was even tipped to push for permission to use greater force in the regions.
4. Australia on Alert as Indonesia Set to Execute Bali Bombers, Ed Johnson, Bloomberg, 2008-11-06
Australia warned its citizens of an increased terrorism threat in Indonesia as authorities there prepared to execute three bombers convicted of killing more than 200 people in Bali six years ago. The government is “very alert” to the dangers, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told Sky News today. “We have taken all the necessary precautions.”
- Travel advice for Indonesia, DFAT, 2008-11-06
- Communicating Risk: Revising Australia’s Counter-Terrorism Alert System, Anthony Bergin, ASPI, 2008-10-31
5. Armed Conflicts Report 2008, Project Ploughshares, 2008
This year, according to Project Ploughshares’ Armed Conflicts Report 2008, the world will face one more war than it did a year ago, and a total of 30 in all. This year’s increase in total armed conflicts interrupts a multi-year trend of slow but steady decline in conflicts worldwide. At the turn of the millennium there were 41 conflicts in 35 countries; by 2006 it was 29 conflicts in 25 countries. The new report tabulates the armed conflicts of 2007, when two new wars emerged and one ended.
- The miniAtlas of Human Security, Human Security Report Project and the World Bank, 2008-10-09
6. Amid the Financial Storm: Redirecting Climate Change, Mike Hulme, openDemocracy, 2008-11-01
These two reactions to the financial crisis – a retreat from concern and a resurgence of regulation – appear diametrically opposed. Yet if the financial crisis causes us to expose the impossible arithmetic of more-people-plus-greater-material-consumption-plus-higher-levels-of-debt equals-an-improving-quality-of-life, then it may do more for climate change than any number of economic or political interventions.
7. Thousands Evacuate as Vietnam Capital Battles Flood, Reuters, The Independent, 2008-11-05
More than 40,000 people were evacuated from inundated areas of Hanoi today and some residents who stayed behind had to cope with floating garbage as they waited for flooding to recede even though rains eased.
- Hanoi-Haiphong, Flood Maps, Alex Tingle, NASA and Google Maps
8. Taking Obama Seriously, Anthony Barnett, openDemocracy, 2008-11-05
Win or lose, the 46-year-old politician’s resonating oratory, his reaching across boundaries and releasing of energies, and – not least – his ability to win votes and states, announce the arrival of something that is more than just individual. What is this “something”, and what does it mean – not just for the United States of America but in and for the wider world?
http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/taking_obama_seriously
- Presidential Transitions and Foreign Policy, Toni Johnson, Council on Foreign Relations, 2008-11-04
- Issue Guide: U.S. Election and International Issues, Council on Foreign Relations, 2008-11-03
- 2008 Presidential Q&A: Democratic Nominee Barack Obama, Arms Control Today, Special Release, 2008-09-04
- UN: Hope that America Rejoins the World, Barbara Crossette, The Nation, 2008-11-05
- An Interview I Would Love To Read, Michael Albert, Z-Net, 2008-11-05
- The Future of Missile Defence is now up for Discussion, Ben Folley, openDemocracy, 2008-11-05
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Richard Tanter,
Project Co-ordinator