Between The Lines - Abc Radio National

As the Liberal Government prepares for the federal budget, is it going through an ideological revolution? For several decades, conservatives have supported smaller government and fiscal prudence but the coronavirus has meant that Scott Morrison has broken with tradition. Also, how does the world ensure that Xi Jinping’s China lives in a rules-based liberal international order?

Is Donald Trump a better bet for Asia than Joe Biden? While the region’s political elites are far more worried about China than climate change, Trump is more focused on containing China than decarbonising the global economy. Also, why does the West want to isolate Russia, when it has only had negative results in the past?

Australia’s economy is recovering more strongly from COVID than other comparable countries. Why? Thank China. And can Donald Trump once again defy the odds and win re-election? Yes he can, if it becomes a choice race and not a referendum on his personality.

Is the Department of Home Affairs too big? Peter Edwards and Jacinta Carroll on the legacy of the Hope Royal Commissions into intelligence which recommended a clear separation between intelligence collection and policy making. Also: China's Good War. Oxford university historian Rana Mitter on how the new Chinese nationalism is being shaped by a re-interpretation of China's role in World War Two.

Shinzo Abe resignation Shinzo Abe is Japan’s most successful post-war political leader. This week he resigned for health reasons. So what is his legacy for Japan and the wider region?  Plus, Putin’s People: how the KGB took back Russia and then took on the West. Journalist Catherine Belton explains how tensions in Belarus and the poisoning of anticorruption campaigner Alexei Navalny fit into Russa’s post-Communist power politics.  

What do the neighbours think? South-east Asia is increasingly anxious about the rise of China. But what does the region think about an erratic and uncertain America? Also:  To start a war Robert Draper with the most comprehensive account of the Bush administration’s decision to invade Iraq.

Joshua Landis: The French mandate and Lebanese history Lebanon’s was once a model for the Middle East. Today, it looks more like Syria or Iraq. Why? And should the French be held accountable? Also; Japan’s POWs: systematic mistreatment? During World War Two more Australians died in Japanese prisoner of war camps than were killed in combat. Conventional wisdom says they were systematically mistreated. Sarah Kovner argues that the story is more complex than that. Also; Vale Brent Scowcroft: US foreign policy veteran Two-time US national security adviser Brent Scowcroft was an architect of the Gulf War, and a leading opponent of the Iraq war. He died recently aged 95.

Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris for Vice President If Joe Biden wins the US election he will be the oldest person ever to make it to the White House. His age at swearing in would be 78 – older than Ronald Reagan was when he left office. Not surprisingly, Biden has said he wanted a running mate who is capable of taking over the job at a moment’s notice. This week, he announced Kamala Harris as his running mate, making her the first black woman on a major-party ticket. Does she have what it takes to lead the United States?  Also; Do we need to revive manufacturing in Australia?   Over the last forty years, heavy industry has been allowed to almost disappear in Australia. But the COVID crisis has exposed our supply chains to unexpected pressure. Should manufacturing play a larger role in the post-COVID economy

Defending the right to offend China on campus Last week, Human Rights Watch Australia Director Elaine Pearson was interviewed by the media department at the University of New South Wales about the human rights implications of Hong Kong's new national security law. Her comments on Hong Kong new national security legislation upset some students. They claimed article caused offence to China and demanded the university remove the article. The university temporarily removed the article, but after a public outcry, the article was re-posted with caveats. So how did we get to the point where one of Australia's leading universities agrees to political censorship in favour of another nation state? What should universities do to make sure this does not happen again? Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch Australia Director and adjunct law lecturer at the University of New South Wales. Hiroshima 75th anniversary At 8.15am on 6th August 1945, the US Airforce dropped the Little Boy uranium fission bomb on central Hiro

All way with DJT? This week Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and Foreign Minister Marise Payne flew to Washington to attend the annual Ausmin talks. The backdrop to this year’s talks is a series of escalating events and rhetoric on Hong Kong’s new national security laws, ownership of the South China Sea,  cyber-attacks and theft,  and the closure of consulates in the US and China.  But the deeper issue on the agenda was a choice. The US was hoping Australia would throw everything in with the US – and officially cast China as a strategic rival. Also, Thatcherism and Reagonomics: lessons for economic recovery? This week Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the kind of free-market policies associated with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan could help Australia recover from the Covid recession.  Are tax cuts and deregulation the way forward? 

Liberals pushing back against cancel culture in the US Some people call it cancel culture because it is based on mainly online activism aimed at 'cancelling' or withdrawing support from a celebrity or public figure. But in the last few years it has extended away from pop culture celebrities into academic institutions, writers festivals and even mainstream newspapers like the New York Times. Advocates argue they are righting wrongs and correcting fundamental injustices in the system. Critics say it promotes illiberalism, creates a censorious culture of intolerance for opposing views and diverts attention from deeper problems. Yascha Mounk, founder of Persuasion, signatory to the Harpers Letter, Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University. Author of The People versus Democracy - Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It. And, is the alliance between the US and South Korea unravelling? President Trump botched the North Korean nuclear deal, and he

UK update with Isabelle Oakeshott Boris Johnson was elected in a landslide to get Brexit finalised. But his mishandling of the Coronavirus crisis has his approval ratings in free fall. Meanwhile, Britain’s exit from Europe has fallen off the front pages and Labour’s new leader is gaining ground. Also, will Putin be president for life? Vladimir Putin recently secured constitutional changes that may allow him to rule for another sixteen years. Most Western analysts see the move as a power grab to offset his falling approval ratings.    Mary Dejevsky argues that Putin simply seeks to assure a smooth transition when he leaves office. Also, Genocide denialism A quarter century ago, Bosnian Serbs massacred more than eight thousand Muslims. Survivors say history is being denied and war crimes celebrated.

China — the unnamed adversary in Australia’s defence review Last week the Morrison government launched its Defence Strategy and Force Structure Review, promising $270 billion over the next decade to enhance Australia’s defence capabilities. But is the money too much, or not enough?  Is it going to all the right places? And will it do enough to safeguard Australia from China’s increasing aggression and its rapidly growing military capabilities?  Also, Remembering Srebrenica In 1995 the small town of Srebrenica became the site of Europe’s worst massacre since the Holocaust. The town was supposed to be a UN protected safe haven for Bosnian Muslims who had been targeted in a campaign of ethnic cleansing by Bosnian Serbs. But UN troops failed to protect the civilians, and over eight thousand people were killed. The deaths of civilians galvanised the US into action. President Bill Clinton launched unilateral US strikes against Serbian forces.  

Vale Owen Harries Welsh-born Owen Harries was one of Australia’s most significant foreign-policy thinkers. A conservative and realist, he battled the doves during the Vietnam era and the hawks during the war on terror.  From his editorial post at the National Interest magazine he played an influential role in US foreign policy circles, earning respect and admiration from the likes of Henry Kissinger and Francis Fukuyama. Harries died this month aged 90. Also, what does the Hamilton musical say about US politics today? This month Disney releases the film version of the blockbuster Broadway musical Hamilton. The story is based around the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founders of the US constitution. Hamilton fought in the Revolutionary War against Britain, and was one of the authors of The Federalist Papers. He later became the first Secretary of the US Treasury, helping lay the foundations of the US economy. He was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. What does the musical of his life

Border tensions between China and India The Himalayan border region between China and India has been in dispute since 1962. This month, a violent clash between troops resulted in twenty Indian and an unknown number of Chinese deaths. Will the recent escalation push India away from China for good?   Also, the Gillard leadership coup ten years on This week marks the ten-year anniversary of the Labor Party coup to replace Kevin Rudd with Julia Gillard. What is its legacy for Australian politics?

Preserving the past Geoffrey Blainey — who coined the term ‘the tyranny of distance’, is one of Australian’s most prolific and well known historians.  He discusses Australia’s record on race relations and the removal of historic statues.  Also, the geopolitics of Coronavirus conspiracies What do state actors like China and Russia hope to gain from spreading disinformation on the virus? And how do fringe domestic groups like QANON and anti-vaxxers fit in?

An anti-China alliance? The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China brings together politicians from liberal democracies including Canada, Norway, Germany and the US. Labor Senator Kimberly Kitching is the Australian Co-Chair. But as Australia heads into recession, and China increases it's restrictions on Australia trade, might this just make things worse? Also, do America’s mounting domestic woes spell electoral trouble for Trump? This month the US has been beset by trifecta crises. There’s a health crisis sparked by COVID-19. An economic crisis caused by the government-led recession to stem the virus. Complicating it all,  is the race crisis caused by mounting evidence of police brutality against African Americans. What does all this mean for American politics and public discourse in “the land of the free”?

"How did we get here?"

A Cold War with China will make a bad situation worse

Australia's balancing act: Constraining, not containing China