American author and journalist Chris Hedges reminded us in a recent article that “the last days of dying empires are dominated by idiots”, whose stupidity was marked by disconnect with reality and retreat “into echo chambers where fact and fiction were indistinguishable”.
Hedges regards “Donald Trump, and the sycophantic buffoons in his administration”, as the world’s most recent version of this phenomenon. But it is not difficult to see similar signs of decay and idiocy in the West in general, from Britain, France and Germany to Australia.
The focus here is on Australia, a state which has decided, over the last 30 years or so, to attach itself more firmly to the apron-strings of “mother England” and “father America” rather than recognise that it is well past time to throw out the stupid colonial mentality of forelock-tugging subservience.
Such grovelling has morphed from “deputy sheriff” in illegal “shock and awe” wars not sanctioned by international law, into an associated chain of additional self-destructive stupidities.
What could be more stupid than abandoning independent constructive roles in east and south-east Asia?
Or jumping aboard the Sinophobia brigade of Joe Biden and Donald Trump?
Or creating the monstrous AUKUS, turning Australia into a US-controlled military “force posture” base, and handing defence and foreign policies to Washington?
All of that has landed Australia in the odious and unenviable position of estrangement, distrust and contempt from its closest neighbours, many of which are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, now spreading its economic, social and cultural links with Beijing and Persian Gulf states.
Defence minister Richard Marles, in loyal servitude to the Pentagon and the US military, handed $800 million to the newly-elected Trump administration in February, with the promise to enlarge the US military “footprint” in Australia exponentially.
Marles has stupidly endorsed the inane proposals of the hard-right US defense secretary to foster conflict throughout the east-Asian hemisphere with China. He seems oblivious to the reality that most ASEAN countries, especially those in immediate proximity to Australia, are more interested in strengthening relations with China, not wrecking them.
Now that Israel has launched a large-scale military war against Iran, clearly well-planned over many months with US cooperation — the ongoing US-Iran nuclear talks providing an effective smokescreen to obscure US intent — the depth and cost of Australian political stupidity and detachment from reality takes on entirely new dimensions.
Australia’s Prime Minister, a man whose self-esteem appears to thrive on personal contact with the rich and powerful, from the king of England and Joe Biden to Narendra Modi and the Pope, seems weirdly ignorant that Trump is creating a neo-fascist regime in the US, and regards international diplomacy as a game of deception, dishonesty and subterfuge.
Albanese’s stated purpose at the G7 meeting is to have a meaningful meeting with Trump on Australia’s behalf; he should withdraw from the AUKUS fiasco and not shovel in more Australian funds and resources.
This is especially the case in circumstances where the Trump regime is systematically destroying the basic foundations of democracy in the US, funding the final stages of genocide in Gaza, undermining the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with Russia, supporting an Israeli war against Iran and demonstrating that it cannot be trusted at all in negotiating international agreements.
However, Albanese and foreign minister Penny Wong have given absurd and nonsensical responses to Israel’s comprehensive, broad-spectrum surprise attack on Iran as “Israel’s right to defend itself” and “Iran should return to negotiations”. They ignore the fact that Israel initiated the war and that Iran was betrayed by a US negotiation process which was used to lull it into a false expectation that a diplomatic agreement was possible.
For the Trump administration, Albanese is easily manipulated to serve US imperial interests as a subject state. That has been its template throughout the years of the Biden administration and now for months under Trump.
Given the government’s pro-Israel and pro-AUKUS stand, it is extremely doubtful that Albanese will reflect our interests in any meeting with Trump at the G7 meeting. It is highly likely that we will see a further expansion of political stupidity in terms of a strengthened commitment to Australia becoming a forward base for US military forces, whether against Iran in the coming days and weeks and months, or against China.
Alienation from our near neighbours and major trading partner, China, will worsen this scenario and further push this country to the periphery of relevance as a voice worthy of notice in regional or global affairs.
It’s somehow acceptable to the Albanese government that the Mad King, whose idea of peace is wrecking his own country and wanting a new Mar-a-Lago on the bones of thousands of children in Gaza, must be respected, given homage and paid exorbitant tribute guaranteed to rip Australia’s future to shreds.
Why that is the case is another story.
[Peter Henning has authored three books on Tasmanians during World War II, the last being Veils and Tin Hats about Tasmanian nurses at war.]