What do you think about her thoughts? Should the West be fighting such a war? Tell us and remember...Disqus!   . . read more

As well as having the same stature as Napoleon, it turns out that Nicolas Sarkozy has the same grand ambitions of French global supremacy as that famous French dictator.

In recent days Sarkozy has been the first head of state to recognise the Libyan rebels as the official government of Libya and now France has been the first state to bomb Gaddafi.

If we see Nicolas riding on a camel along the Nile with some Egyptian artefacts under arm we'll know that his transition to Napoleon is complete; pity no-one will tell him that France is almost completely irrelevant to world affairs.  

Are you from le grande nation of Europe? Are you finding Sarkozy's new found assertiveness hilarious? Tell us....and remember Disqus!

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I always found it strange that when Saddam Hussein was being compared to Satan at the onset of the Iraq war, that they CIA didn't just pop him off and be done with it - surely they had the skills to do it?

So again, with Gaddafi having proved himself psychotic and willing to kill his people; why can't a sniper on the roof or a drone in the sky explode the man that's apparently at the head of everything?

It says to me two things; either the CIA isn't the all encompassing scary spy organisation that could kill anyone in the world at any moment, or they don't really want Gaddafi dead.

In all likelihood it's the former; the U.S probably does want Gaddafi dead, but when you find out that a full 75% of the world's oil is in the hands of state governments - it makes sense why the U.S might not want to create a vacuum at the top.

The need for stability might overrun their desire for democracy. 

Do you think this a fair assumption to make? Or do you think the hesitancy to put in ground forces and really commit to this war might have more to do with Iraq and Afghanistan? Tell us and remember...Disqus!

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With the Gaddafi regime on the verge of collapse, the world is waiting for the money shot - an image of a shackled or dead dictator paraded through the streets as a lowly criminal.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard wants to see more, she wants to see the man brought before an international criminal court; a nice thought but looking through the history of fallen dictators, let's just say "justice" is pretty unlikely to happen.

Dead, deposed or distant is all you really have to hope for, so let's hope too much blood isn't spilled in getting one of these results.

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U.S Legitimacy has long been on the wane; whether it's been CIA organised coups, backing Middle-East dictators or fighting fake wars - who seriously wants to sit on Uncle Sam's lap?

Believe it or not, the stocks have slipped even lower.

Today it's been announced that Raymond Davis; a CIA contractor in Pakistan accused of murder, has been released after the U.S paid $2million for his freedom.

It's also been announced that they've been flying drones over Mexican airspace to search for leading lights in the drug cartels. 

The complete disregard for sovereignty, justice and life makes me wonder whether the U.S looks out at the world says "these rights aren't for them, they're exclusively for US". 

What do you think about the behaivour of the U.S? Do they have any legitimacy in world affairs or are they just a self-centered joke?

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With Berlusconi before the courts and with Libya's war pornography helping the world get off, it's easy to forget that there's a 23 year old kid sitting in solitary confinement facing life imprisonment.

Bradley Manning, the U.S private accused of leaking 720,000 documents to WikiLeaks has been forgotten; he's not getting Assange like fame or reverence, or an Assange like house arrest.

Instead he's been shackled, alone in a cell and very often disrobed so he doesn't harm himself.  

Whether you agree with what he did or not, we have to remember that he's a U.S citizen, we have to remember what rights he has, and we have to remember what terrible long years he faces alone. 

We have to remember him.   . . read more

So Israel is going to continue its settlements, having not reached an agreement but “even more hopeful” of one in the future, and the world is again left thinking when is it going to end.

But I want to take the ideas of hope, emotion and aspiration out of it. Let’s remove the human element and let’s talk like rationalist capitalist players.

Mr. Abbas, Mr. Netanyahu and whomever America has sent over this time - you fly halfway across the world, eat, drink, talk, live in expensive hotels and then go back home without a settlement?

That’s called bad business.

You’ve been doing it for years and your shareholders are not amused.

Stop wasting the money of the Israeli, American and the (kind of) Palestinian people.

When people pay for your road-trip, they expect results. If you want it, make it happen.

If you don’t, just say so.

Either way, do what we want and stop wasting our money.  . . read more

During the first half of the Cold War, Taiwan (or the Republic of China) was a symbol of resistance to Communism.

Now it exists as one of many states- separate but not too separate from China- that will rely on outside support for its defence and independence.

Yet, for foreign policy experts the test in relations has existed since Nixon's detente with China, and the more recent honeymoon in Sino-US relations. The problem has come from trying to balance US desires to support a 'free' people in Taiwan and being pragmatic to not offend a vital trading partner in China.

Today, as in forever, China is huffing and puffing with anger as the US sells weapons to what they can consider a dangerous domestic separatist movement- breaking the sacred bounds of state sovereignty.

For us though the next few months will be a fantastic study of realpolitik, how far China's political tentacles spread and how much they are willing to use them to strange the US into submission.   . . read more