October 10th, 2023 In a bit of a departure for me, I am going to comment on non-UK happenings and offer some opinions rather than my usual objective comments in my letters. The Gaza incursion was an act of unbelievable barbarism and will require high degrees of diplomatic skill to
I know I’ve often made mock in The BFD of NZ’s increasingly miniscule contribution to regional defence capability, but the truth is that Australia hasn’t got a lot to brag about, either. Sure, we spend more, both in real terms and per capita, than New Zealand, but
Flatanker Fifty years and one day after the Yom Kippur War, Hamas invaded Israel. They have killed and taken hostages back to Gaza. They have wounded the nation and angered it. Sadly, Israel will now move from retaliation to revenge. The response is going to be brutal. Whilst the Palestinians
In the leaders’ debate there was a single question on foreign policy – about AUKUS. I am a US citizen and one of the true oddities of being an American abroad is the astonishing similarities to being a ‘made man’ in cosa nostra. Let me explain. In 1986 the US Congress
Nicholas Khoo University of Otago theconversation.com As the general election nears, the campaign focus so far has been almost exclusively on domestic issues. And yet, over the past two months, no fewer than five government documents have been released outlining the significant defence and security challenges the country now
You know you live in an authoritarian regime when you’re not only forbidden from uttering a word of criticism about designated groups, but ordered to celebrate them. If a regime decks public spaces with its banners and flags, and punishes any who desist, that’s authoritarianism. If even the
John Moremon Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies Massey University New Zealanders have been put on notice that defence and security are among the bigger challenges the country faces this century. The assessment earlier this year by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Navigating a Shifting World-Te whakatere i tetahi ao hurihuri,
Alexander Gillespie University of Waikato theconversation.com When Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz proclaimed a “Zeitenwende”, or historical turning point. It resulted in Germany’s first ever official national security strategy. The equivalent wake-up call in New Zealand was the 2019 Christchurch terror attack. This
What do they know that we don’t? Recently, almost unnoticed in the distracting din over “UFO hearings” and whatever the Democrats are indicting Trump for now, the Biden administration quietly called up thousands of reservists to send to Europe. Now, the American media are sotte voce kicking off a
The Albanese government has been consistently criticised for trying to keep detail of its proposed “Indigenous Voice” from voters. Which, when we’re voting to change the Constitution, is just not good enough. Such a momentous change demands an informed vote. That’s the last thing the government obviously wants.
As I asked recently, Can NZ join a military pact without having a military to speak of? I was referring, of course, to current talks between the Chris Hipkins and Anthony Albanese, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, with a view to New Zealand
![The Comedy Relief of the Alliance [updated]](/content/images/size/w1304/format/webp/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/the_bfd_albochippy.jpg)
The closeness of the Australia-New Zealand relationship is a long-standing fact of both nations’ history, going back to Cook’s first voyage in 1768-71. The two nations went to world war together as the ANZACs. But, under its Labour government especially, the reliability of New Zealand as a defence partner
Patrick Lawrence ronpaulinstitute.org Let us consider the following paragraphs, which appear in the May 29 edition of the New Yorker: While Tynda and his team were fighting from the trench, long and powerful fusillades had issued from another Ukrainian position, on a hilltop behind them. I later went there
Dave Patterson National Security Correspondent at LibertyNation.Com. Dave is a retired U.S. Air Force Pilot with over 180 combat missions in Vietnam. He is the former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller and has served in executive positions in the private sector aerospace and defense industry. libertynation.
Legendary American general George S Patton famously slapped a soldier for crying, calling him a “yellow bastard”. As for the enemy, Patton threatened to “rip out their living goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks”. Then-General George Washington, arriving at the Battle of Princeton and
