Evening Report

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A View from Afar: Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan present this week’s podcast, A View from Afar, where they analyse how leaders of the G7, NATO and EU juxtapositioned behind the United States to form a consensus-pact immediately prior to the Biden-Putin Summit.

United States President Joe Biden spoke of this in an impromptu media stand-up after the US-Russia bilateral. He said he owes G7, EU and NATO leaders a "debt of gratitude", adding that it made a difference in that he (that is Biden, but also significantly Putin) knew he was representing a powerful global bloc at the US-Russia summit. And, that the USA was again accepted as the leader of western nations.

But with a grouping of the world's strongest countries creating a new 'consensus pact', where does that leave small and regional powers like New Zealand, Australia, and many within the Indo-Asia-Pacific region?

The outcome of the series of summit meetings in Europe this week confirm; the world is being divided into blocs, one Western centric, the other not.

It is now clear, the US has re-committed to multilateralism, acknowledges there's strength in numbers, and is revitalising the European alliance system.

It is also important to note, the G7 leaders (and those addressing Biden at the European Union) all focused on strategic competition with the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation.

However, for small and medium states outside these multilateral fora, how does the stark-rhetoric of the summit statements impact on China's 'traditional' trade partners?

New Zealand stands at the fault-line of this challenge.

How does NZ navigate a stable path forward - a transition that's designed to ease its trade-dependency on China - while schmoozing the western geo-demographic, so as to cut trade deals with the EU and UK?

Western multilateralism may indeed pose a problem to small powers. So what solutions do such countries have at their disposal?

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The MIL Network’s podcast A View from Afar was Nominated as a Top  Defence Security Podcast by Threat.Technology – a London-based cyber security news publication.

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A View from Afar: Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan present this week’s podcast, A View from Afar, where they analyse New Zealand's national security strategy.

There has been no defence white paper since the John Key National-led governments and no comprehensive review of New Zealand's strategic priorities, nor assessment of the region's threat landscape both internal and external.

Now, with hybrid threats like cyberwarfare and terrorism adopting an "intermestic" (international and domestic) characteristic due to on-line recruitment and radicalisation, the perceived need is to develop a holistic national security strategy that addresses defence, security and intelligence needs of the 2020 decade.

But what does this all mean for New Zealand's defence forces, intelligence community, and cyber-defence agencies?

ALSO: World Watch - The latest/recent round of elections in places like Peru, Mexico and Israel can be viewed as referendums on neoliberalism and national populism.

For example: You can see how Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adopted Donald Trump-like rhetoric to describe his opponents.

A similar style has been used by the right wing in Peru as well as in Brazil.

The Peru election pits a socialist native Indian against Peru's former dictator Fujimori's daughter. She is a neoliberal conservative.

Both national populism and various socialist approaches have something in common: both ideologies reject neoliberal economic theory in principle and in fact.

With the left most likely to win the elections in Peru, and considering the challenges that Peru faces (including a pandemic where Covid-19 has raged through its communities positioning Peru as having suffered the highest recorded death rates in the world) the question begs, has neoliberalism run its course?

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If you miss the LIVE Episode, you can see it as video-on-demand, and earlier episodes too, by checking out EveningReport.nz or, subscribe to the Evening Report podcast here.

The MIL Network’s podcast A View from Afar was Nominated as a Top  Defence Security Podcast by Threat.Technology – a London-based cyber security news publication.

Threat.Technology placed A View from Afar at 9th in its 20 Best Defence Security Podcasts of 2021 category. You can follow A View from Afar via our affiliate syndicators.

 

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A View from Afar: Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan present this week’s podcast, where they analyse the Australia-China-New Zealand relationship. Has this reached a tipping-point? Also, Israel. How stable will this cobbled together coalition of anti-Netanyahu parties be?

But first, Australia, China, and New Zealand:

What are the main take-away points from the New Zealand-Australia leaders bilateral meeting this week?

AU PM Scott Morrison referenced ANZUS while NZ PM Jacinda Ardern spoke of NZ’s defence requirements as an independent consideration.

So who is correct here? Does Australia and New Zealand’s re-stated commitment to being a Trans-Tasman family drag NZ into supporting any future Australian conflict?

And then there’s China’s foreign ministry response, that states: “The leaders of Australia and New Zealand, with irresponsible remarks on China’s internal affairs relating to Hong Kong and Xinjiang as well as the South China Sea issue, have made groundless accusations against China…”

Does AU and NZ governments’ renewed sense of self-identity indicate a rebalancing of a regional and global order? And has the PRC’s dominating influence in AU and NZ politics reached its zenith?

And does the PRC’s increased authoritarianism at home and abroad reflect leadership weaknesses rather than strength?

*** Israel.

In the last quarter of this episode, Buchanan and Manning will discuss the latest from the Middle East.

Will a cobbled-together coalition of anti-Netanyahu politicians succeed in creating a new Israel Government? How stable will it be, and, what does this mean for Palestinians in the West Bank of Gaza?

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If you miss the LIVE Episode, you can see it as video-on-demand, and earlier episodes too, by checking out EveningReport.nz or, subscribe to the Evening Report podcast here.

The MIL Network’s podcast A View from Afar was Nominated as a Top  Defence Security Podcast by Threat.Technology – a London-based cyber security news publication.

Threat.Technology placed A View from Afar at 9th in its 20 Best Defence Security Podcasts of 2021 category. You can follow A View from Afar via our affiliate syndicators.

 

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A View from Afar: In this week’s podcast Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan discuss: The latest information on the Israel/Palestine conflict and consider; is the ceasefire likely to hold? What are the underlying causes of the most recent hostilities?

Is there a case of political opportunism in play by the Government of Israel? Is there a case of disproportional defence? If so, does this amount to crimes? And if so, what global body is able to consider such allegations?

And is Palestine’s Fatah a party of the past and will Hamas survive Israel’s intent to destroy it?

*** ALSO, Samoa and the political constitutional crisis. How did it get to this? And, where does Samoa stand now as a principled member of the PIF?

OK, let’s cross to Paul Buchanan to discuss all of this and more…

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If you miss the LIVE Episode, you can see it as video-on-demand, and earlier episodes too, by checking out EveningReport.nz or, subscribe to the Evening Report podcast here.

The MIL Network’s podcast A View from Afar was Nominated as a Top  Defence Security Podcast by Threat.Technology – a London-based cyber security news publication.

Threat.Technology placed A View from Afar at 9th in its 20 Best Defence Security Podcasts of 2021 category. You can follow A View from Afar via our affiliate syndicators.

 

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A View from Afar: In this week’s podcast Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan debate: How recently New Zealand Government confirmed its intention to be defined as an independent Pacific Island state, where its foreign policy should be considered against the collective values that its peoples share, and its diplomacy (if you consider human rights issues) will now be expressed multilaterally with likeminded countries.

But how does this work in practice?

Many see multilateral bodies like the United Nations being controlled by large global powers such as China and the United States of America. That this reality renders the UN’s security council as toothless, cumbersome, and slow to act in times of crisis.

Basically, this form of multilateralism seems designed to create a stalemate between great powers that assert their respective competing agendas. The affect; small countries lose their voice and influence.

So how do small powers like New Zealand express themselves on the world stage?

How do small countries shape reform of global bodies, so that they can work as forces of good in a world where geopolitics is divided between polarised blocs?

Is microlateralism (a global collective of likeminded states) the answer?

Is New Zealand about to stride out on the world-stage to assert this new form of multilateral collective bargaining?

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A View from Afar: In this week’s podcast Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan debate: How this week, New Zealand’s minister of foreign affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, delivered a significant speech detailing how this Labour-led Government defines its foreign policy.

BACKGROUND: In short, Mahuta anchored New Zealand within the Asia Pacific region as an independent Pacific Island state, with independence being the foundation of how it will engage with the outside world, and with multilateralism being the thread that knits this foreign policy together.

If we look back over the three years since 2017 when Jacinda Ardern first became Prime Minister, to 2020 when her Labour Party had a landslide election victory, we can see the incremental steps (albeit small) that transported this Government along this journey.

If we can define this trajectory, can we predict where will it lead? To true independence away from the hegemonic grip of global powers? Toward a true honest-broker-state that engages via multilateral relationships and bodies to play its part in global affairs?

Or is New Zealand Government setting itself up to fail in a role too serious to contemplate misfiring?

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A View from Afar – Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan debate political symbolism and discuss:

How governments use symbolism to accentuate intent and identity. Some of it is fact, and some of it is fiction, some of it is designed to divert attention and deceive.

In this episode Buchanan and Manning show you how to sift through the wheat from the chaff.

Manning says: “Once, former New Zealand prime minister, David Lange, told me… politics is all about theatre!

“Writer and former British intelligence officer, the late John le Carre, famously referred to government smoke and mirrors as… the ‘Theatre of the Real’.

“With this in mind, what can we make of the US-led coalition of countries that are highlighting human rights abuses inside the People’s Republic of China? What’s real, and what’s self-interest? Is it a mix of both?

“And, how does New Zealand Government, and others, handle symbolisms, real and illusion?”

Paul Buchanan also details some examples of political symbolism for us to consider.

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A View from Afar: Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning debate:

Whether the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service has accepted its failure to identify and detect terrorist planning activity in the lead up to the tragedy that occurred in Christchurch against Muslim people on March 15, 2019.

ALSO, since the Christchurch terror attacks, after the Commission of Inquiry, after all the external and internal assessments and reports, should New Zealanders be satisfied that the NZSIS is match-fit, ready and resourced, equipped to identify extremist hate ideologies and prevent them from posing threats against this country’s peoples?

If not, what needs to change?

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