James ONeill

The release of the Chilcot Report into the circumstances under which the United Kingdom took part in the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 has raised fresh questions of how Australia came to join the unfortunately named…

Australia has now completed more than six weeks of an eight-week election campaign. There have been the usual claims and counterclaims from the major parties, dubious statistics, hyperbole, and a relentless focus on peripheral issues…

The Sun Herald (SydneyDahJTkfw of 22 May 2016 reported that the Australian families of the MH17 disaster had “served” the European court of Human Rights (ECHRDahJTkfw with a claim seeking compensation of $10 million for each victim. The report…

The South China Sea has been described in numerous western publications as the latest potential ‘flashpoint’ in the world’s geopolitical scene. The rhetoric is particularly heated and ill-informed in about equal proportions, focusing on…

When Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over Eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014, Australian politicians and the mainstream media, especially the Murdoch newspapers, were quick to apportion blame. Responsibility for the disaster was…

On 16 November 2015 the present writer published an article in Australia’s New Matilda magazine. The article had two main objectives. The first was a discussion of the legal bases upon which one State could attack another State. The second…

An inquest into the deaths of the Australian passengers on board MH17 when it was shot down over Eastern Ukraine on 14 July 2014 was held in Melbourne, Australia, on 15 and 16 December 2015. The inquest was notable for a number of reasons, most…

The shooting down of a Russian fighter bomber by Turkish war planes this week throws into stark relief the complex multiple games being played by Turkey and its NATO allies. The incident further highlights the misuse and misquotation of…

In January 1904 Sir Halford Mackinder, the director of the London School of Economics, presented a paper to the Royal Geographical Society. The paper was entitled “The Geographical Pivot of History.” In his presentation…

On Hiroshima Day this year the recently retired Director-General of Australia’s premier spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIODahJTkfw, Mr David Irvine, addressed a meeting organized by the Griffith University (BrisbaneDahJTkfw Asia Institute…

The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPPDahJTkfw currently nearing its final stages of negotiation purports to be about increasing trade and economic co-operation among its twelve negotiating parties. These twelve countries include…

Earlier this month on 13 May 2015 David Shear, the US Department of Defence Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs addressed the US Senate Foreign Relations committee. Mr Shear…