Keith Suter’s Global Insights
What on earth is going on?
Articles (14 of 27)
Archive Article: Keeping War Out Of Space. 26th Sep 03.
December 23, 2008 | While we are so concerned about the "war on terrorism" and all the other conflicts underway, there is yet another area to worry about: the threat of space weapons being deployed in the not too distant future. Such weapons are already in the development and testing stages. Dr Colleen Driscoll is the head of the Kurtz Institute of Peacemaking in the United States. The Institute is named to honour the memory a Washington DC-based couple of visionaries with whom I had many dealings in the 1970s and 1980s: Colonel Howard Kurtz and the Rev Harriet Kurtz. They were among the... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 7:40 PM Comment
Archive Article: Land Rights July 10th 98.
December 23, 2008 | One of the problems with the land rights debate in Australia is the impression it gives that this has been an Australian problem only. In fact, other countries have also had to come to terms with the way that land was taken away from their indigenous owners. Professor Keith Sorrenson, until recently Professor of History at the University of Auckland, has just written an essay entitled Waitangi: New Zealand's Enduring Struggle (published by the Australia-New Zealand Studies Centre, at Pennsylvania State University). When British explorers went around the world, they were told by the British Government to do a deal... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 2:04 PM Comment
Archive Article: Leaders and Information. 16th Oct 98
December 23, 2008 | There is always a great interest in leadership. But what is required of leaders in the current world of great change? Professor Harlan Cleveland, who has had a very distinguished career in US politics and universities, has given a set of lectures at the International Leadership Academy on "Leadership and the Information Revolution". There are six points worth noting. First, the information revolution is very different from the previous agricultural and industrial revolutions. Unlike tangible resources, information expands as it is used; information tends toward glut rather than scarcity; a common complaint about information is not skimpy rations but overload.... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:59 PM Comment
Archive Article: Lifting International Standards. June 12 98
December 23, 2008 | With so much concern about corruption, it is encouraging to report that there is now an international non-governmental organization campaigning to lift standards. The magazine Transitions, which is the standard publication for tracing the evolution of Eastern Europe from communism to a freer society, has a series of articles on corruption in Eastern Europe. One of the articles is an interview with Dieter Frisch of Transparency International. Transparency International was formed in 1993 by a former World Bank director Peter Eigen. It has 70 national chapters worldwide (including Australia). Dieter Frisch, who also has a background in development policy, said... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:53 PM Comment
Archive Article: Local Nuclear War 24 April 98.
December 23, 2008 | There is now virtually no risk of a deliberate World War III between the Americans and Russians. But there is a risk of local nuclear wars. There is currently concern about India and Pakistan: they have fought three wars in the last 51 years: are they about to have another?. Dr David Dickens is Deputy Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at Wellington, New Zealand and he has written a booklet called More Than Bombs and Border Tension: India and Regional Security. Dr Dickens does not share the pessimistic views of India. On the contrary, instead of viewing India... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:45 PM Comment
Archive Article: Making The Most Of The New Era. 3rd Oct 03
December 23, 2008 | Australia is an oasis of peace in a world of turmoil. It is necessary to get this country's problems in perspective - they are not nearly as bad as they are in other parts of the world. It is important that we do not become overwhelmed with fear. This is particularly so in Australia, where we really have so much going for us. Last week I spoke at the crowded Batemans Bay Outstanding Business Awards Dinner. Wesley Uniting Employment was one of the Dinner's sponsors. Batemans Bay is itself a good example of renewal and growth. It is a hive... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:41 PM Comment
Archive Article: Peacebuilding In Complex Emergencies. 15 Aug 03
December 23, 2008 | The Howard Government has overturned a tradition in Australian foreign and defence policy. It has decided to get involved directly in the internal affairs of a South Pacific neighbour. The Australian-led intervention force represents a new era in Australian policy. I have just been reading a publication that will be of guidance to that force. Australian has traditionally avoided involvement in the internal affairs of its South Pacific neighbours so as to avoid any suggestion that it is a form of colonial power. But September 11 has shown the risk of leaving failed states to fester: they can be taken... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:33 PM Comment
Archive Article: People Are Tired Of Change. Aug 98.
December 23, 2008 | Reform fatigue is gripping Australia. People are getting tired of all the changes. They see themselves as the casualties of change. Well, unfortunately, the pace of change has only just begun. There's a wave of nostalgia sweeping across Australia (and indeed many other countries). Baby Boomers in western countries remember with fondness the good old days of the 1960s, especially the bumper year of 1968. Their parents yearn for the stability of the 1950s. But we cannot put the clock back. There are two major economic driving forces in world affairs: globalization and technological development. Globalization means that the world... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:28 PM Comment
Archive Article: Perth Leads The Way into The Hydrogen Era. 17 Oct 03
December 23, 2008 | The world has had about a century in the "petroleum era". There is speculation about the looming end of that era and its replacement with the "hydrogen era". President Bush in this year's State of the Union Address (which has attracted so much attention because of the references to Iraq) may actually have caused the speech to be of even more long-lasting significance from a point of view hardly commented on at the time. The President announced that he was proposing US$1.2 billion for research funding so that America can lead the world in hydrogen powered automobiles. His vision was... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:22 PM Comment
Archive Article: Room For Homeless People 26th Dec 03.
December 23, 2008 | At this time of the years we have been thinking of the world's most famous homeless family, for whom "there was no room at the inn". Last week, I spent an inspiring evening with over a hundred people, most of whom were also homeless, celebrating the birth of Jesus. Wesley Mission has been involved in the care of homeless people for over a century. It is now one of the country's largest providers of such accommodation. The head of the programme, Rev Noreen Towers, is one of this country's main experts in this subject, including having been a Churchill Fellow... Full article »
Posted by: Amanda Foxon-Hill at 1:19 PM Comment
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