Bi-weekly report from the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Australia.

Thursday 9 February 2006

1. Hell of a Holiday Destination
2. The Looming Conflict Over West Papua
3. US Remarks Draw Unfriendly Fire
4. The Ominous New Pact

Policy Forum Online 06-01A:
Representing and Misrepresenting Islam, Lily Zubaidah Rahim

1. Hell of a Holiday Destination,
   Scott Rochfort, SMH, 2006-01-28

   Qantas-controlled Jetstar Asia is now offering holiday deals to the delightful pariah state of Burma, or Myanmar. It might be difficult to see Burma’s last democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. She is still under house arrest.

   • DFAT Travel Advice, Burma
   • Only A Global Campaign Will Change Myanmar, Michael Vatikiotis, International Herald Tribune, 2005-12-07

2. The Looming Conflict Over West Papua,
   Hugh White, Age, 2006-02-08

   For years, Indonesians who know Australia have worried about what happens if the simmering independence movement in West Papua starts to catch the attention and sympathy of the wider Australian community. To understand just how sensitive the issue is in Jakarta, we need to take account of how they see both the Papuan issue and Australia’s role in it.

   • Papuans Tortured, Jakarta Admits, Mark Forbes, Age, 2006-02-07

3. US Remarks Draw Unfriendly Fire,
   Geoffrey Barker, AFR*, 2006-02-07

   John Hillen, the US State Department’s assistant secretary for political-military affairs has outraged local defence experts by claiming Australia is a global power with an “expeditionary mindset” and closer to the US than it had been during the Cold War. One participant said “If a senior US official can misread Australia so badly, you have to wonder about their ability to read much more different countries”.

   • Conventions Breached, Hugh White, AFR*, 2006-02-08

   * Subscription required

4. The Ominous New Pact,
   Tim Flannery, New York Review of Books*, 53:3, 2006-02-23

   The concluding communiqué of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate astounded many observers. It contained no specific targets or timetables for reducing emissions and imposed no penalties intended to influence the polluting industries. When we consider the urgency of reversing global warming, the AP6 strategy looks hopeless. If the use of conventional coal prevails over low-emissions technologies, then we will lose the struggle to stabilize the earth’s climate.”

   *Subscription required

Policy Forum Online 06-02A: Representing and Misrepresenting Islam: The Discursive Struggle Between Literal and Liberal Islam in Southeast Asia, Lily Zubaidah Rahim, 2006-02-09

Lily Zubaidah Rahim, who teaches in the Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney, writes that in Southeast Asia the “contest between literal and liberal Islam will have a major impact on the direction and outcome of the protracted War on Terror. It is imperative that the discursive advances of the literal Islam are countered by reinforcing democratic structures and institutions and addressing localised socio-political and economic grievances. In the long term, the promotion of liberal Islam’s inclusive and flexible worldview based on ijtihad is likely to prove more effective than the conventional reliance on draconian security-orientated measures in the protracted War on Terror.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Nautilus Institute. Readers should note that Nautilus seeks a diversity of views and opinions on contentious topics in order to identify common ground.

contact editor: austral@rmit.edu.au