Decoding Australian foreign policy
Some assistance for those trying to understand contemporary Australian foreign policy, especially those looking for illusive consistency, principles and ethics.
Crimes we aren’t concerned about because they are committed by friends and allies
- French state violence against the gilets jaunes in Paris
- Indian state terrorism in Kashmir
- UK and US-backed Saudi and UAE atrocities in Yemen
- Washington’s attempt to overthrow the government of Venezuela
Crimes we don’t care about or quietly support
- Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor
- Indonesian military and police violence against West Papuans
- Israel’s bombing of Syria
- Israel’s bombing of Lebanon
- Israel’s bombing of Iraq
- Israel’s attacks on civilians in Gaza
Crimes we have never heard about or pretend we haven’t
- Morocco’s illegal occupation of Western Sahara
- US and European support for terrorists in Syria
- NATO’s attack on Libya
- Israel’s crimes in Gaza and on the West Bank
Freedom of navigation that must be upheld and maintained
- in the South China Sea
- in the Straits of Hormuz
Freedom of navigation that we aren’t interested in
- in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Gaza (subject to an illegal blockade by Israel)
Unacceptable racism and bigotry
- Anti-Americanism
- Anti-Semitism
Acceptable racism and bigotry
- Russophobia
- Sinophobia
- Islamophobia
Media freedom, prisoners and journalists we support
- Peter Greste in Egypt
- Yang Hengjun in China
Media freedom, prisoners and journalists we oppose
- Julian Assange in the UK
- Edward Snowden in Russia
- Chelsea Manning in the US
Foreign influence, spying and interference that concerns us
- from China
- from Russia
Foreign influence, spying and interference we don’t care about and never mention
- from the US
- from the UK
- from India
- from Indonesia
Countries we like to attack, invade and occupy
- North Korea
- Vietnam
- Afghanistan
- Iraq
- Syria
Attacks on the ‘rules-based world order’ and international law that we oppose
- Russia’s annexation of Crimea
- China’s repression of theUighur in Xinjiang Province
- China’s building of air strips in the South China Sea
- Iran’s seizure of ships in the Straits of Hormuz
Attacks on the ‘rules-based world order’ and International law that we support or stay silent about
- Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza
- Israel’s violent colonisation of the West Bank
- Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA with Iran
- Washington’s withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement
- Washington’s recognition of the Golan Heights as part of Israel
- Washington’s embassy move and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
- Washington’s withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
- Turkey’s occupation of northern Cyprus
- the ICJ ruling Israel’s separation wall illegal
- the ICJ ruling against the US for illegally mining Managua Harbor in Nicaragua
- US and UK ignoring ICJ opinion on Chagos Islands (aka Diego Garcia)
Economic sanction we approve of
- against Iran
- against Cuba
- against Venezuela
- against Russia
Economic sanctions we oppose
- BDS against Israel
Protests we support
- in Hong Kong
- the Uighur in China
- Anti-Putin protestors in Russia
Protests we oppose and ignore
- those concerned about anthropocentric climate change
- freedom and self-determination for West Papuans
- anti-colonial protests by Palestinians
- self-determination for Kurds
Terrorists and terrorism we oppose
- A Qaeda
- Hamas
- Hezbollah
- ISIS
- Syrian state terrorism
- Iranian state terrorism
- Taliban
- Boko Haram
Terrorists and terrorism we support
- Free Syrian Army
- Israeli state terrorism
- US state terrorism
- Saudi state terrorism
- UAE state terrorism
Separation walls we oppose
- the Berlin Wall
Separation walls we stay quiet about
- the US-Mexico wall
Separation walls we support
- Israel and the West Bank and Gaza
- US embassy in Jerusalem
Free trade we like and support
- traded commodities
- money
- foreign investment
- tourism
- foreign students (except Chinese spies)
Free trade we oppose
- asylum seekers
- refugees
- immigrants
