The case for EU-Japan ties and a 'Democratic 7:' EU, UK, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada --
The war in Ukraine, North Korea’s missile tests, and China’s growing assertiveness reveal a stark truth: the EU needs to deepen partnerships with other democracies that share our values. And few countries embody this alignment more than Japan, writes Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Danish PM and Nato ...
cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43442390
[Op-ed by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former prime minister of Denmark and former secretary general of Nato.]
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The war in Ukraine, North Korea’s missile tests, and China’s growing assertiveness reveal a stark truth: the great divide of our age is not as geographic as it once was, but political and ideological. It is the fault line between open societies and autocratic ones.
For Europe, the imperative is clear: deepen partnerships with other democracies that share our values, our economic models, and our strategic outlook.
And few countries embody this alignment more than Japan.
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Japan is not just a major economy in the Indo-Pacific — it is a democracy of principle, a strategic actor with advanced capabilities, and a steady partner in global security.
Over recent years, Tok
In China's dangerous interceptions, see the breakdown of peaceful world order --
The White House meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump produced a string of positives. Chief among them is Trump’s ringing endorsement of AUKUS and his first public commitment to sell ...
The White House meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump produced a string of positives. Chief among them is Trump’s ringing endorsement of AUKUS and his first public commitment to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia under phase two of the deal.
The message was clear: the defence relationship between the United States and Australia remains strong. It was also a message Australia needed to hear after yet another unsafe and unprofessional intercept by a Chinese fighter aircraft, which endangered the crew of a Royal Australian Air Force P-8 maritime patrol aircraft operating lawfully in international airspace over the South China Sea on Sunday.
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The P-8 was harassed by the Chinese fighter that released flares dangerously close to its flight path, a reckless act that could
Deterrence demands capability and will: Australia must build its own defence muscle -
Op-ed by Peter Tesch, former deputy secretary of Defence and Australian ambassador to Russia and Germany.
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Despite avowing China to be the biggest strategic threat to US interests, the Trump administration is hitting its Indo-Pacific partners with punitive tariffs; gutting aid programs throughout the region; sowing doubt about its commitment to Taiwan’s security; making nice with authoritarians from Pyongyang to Moscow; and pressuring allies, including Australia, to lift defence spending, preferably on American weapons and platforms.
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Through whim and volatility, and without obviously extracting any quid pro quo, America is surrendering the collective Western strategic bridgehead which, supported by staunch allies like Australia, it had fought hard and paid dearly to win and sustain for many decades.
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We don’t have sufficiently sober and honest public conversations about the strategic threats we face and their implications f
Australia condemns LA Police for rubber bullets after quietly arming our own
The Australian media's explainers on rubber bullets don't explain that our police have them too — and that they use them here, on us.
