Buchanan + Manning: The NATO Summit + A Response to Failing Economic Globalisation
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will approach this episode in two parts.
First we will detail what to expect from the NATO leaders’ summit, which includes addresses from the prime ministers of Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Why is NATO including addresses of NATO partners in this year’s leaders’ summit?
And secondly, are we beginning to see changes to the pre-pandemic globalisation framework? Are we witnessing a response to the breakdown of the global economic order?
If so, what does the emergence of near-shoring and friend-shoring mean for supply-chain issues, cost of living, and the global economy?
Join Paul and Selwyn for this LIVE recording of this podcast while they consider these big issues, and remember any comments you make while live can be included in this programme.
Buchanan + Manning: What's Happening Between the USA and Latin America?
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will examine political events taking shape in South America.
In particular, Buchanan and Manning will detail how there is a presidential run-off election in Colombia this Saturday and examine the outcomes of recent elections in Chile, Nicaragua, Honduras and Peru.
Paul will take us through the political landscape and highlight what this means for populism, left-right ideologies and for the South American continent and its respective political partners.
For example; in this episode Buchanan and Manning will examine the so-called Pink Tide of (supposed) indigenous socialism started by Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales - and what relevancy this has had with regard to the Summit of Americas.
And, with respect to the Summit of Americas, this event will be used as a test of how far the United States has fallen as a global leader.
Buchanan + Manning: Foreign Policy Decisions Loom for Pacific Region
In this week's podcast Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will deep-dive into the latest geopolitics from around the world.
This month has seen the United States President Joe Biden forward commit to increasing the USA's presence in the Pacific. The announcement was pitched during a Whitehouse meeting in Washington DC with New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Meanwhile, at the same time, the People's Republic of China's foreign minister Wang Yi was on a whistle-stop series of meetings with Pacific regional leaders, seeking mutual agreements on investment, infrastructure development, and security.
And back in China, the PRC took exception to elements of the US-NZ joint statement where Biden and Ardern jointly stated: "... we note with concern the security agreement between the People’s Republic of China and the Solomon Islands.”
That position compelled China's spokesperson for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian, to state: the joint statement distorts and smears China’s normal cooperation with Pacific Island countries.
New Zealand, it seems, is now positioned squarely upon the fault-line between to opposing global powers.
Now add into the foreign policy mix the election of a new Labour Government in Australia where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was quickly sworn in alongside his cabinet and then whisked off to a QUAD security pact leaders' summit.
Buchanan + Manning: NATO Expansion + CSTO Summit + Regional Security
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will examine the Implications of the Russia-Ukrainian conflict and how it impacts on regional security architecture.
In particular, we will assess Finland and Sweden’s move to become NATO members and whether Turkey will prevent this from occurring.
Also, this week, Russia’s Vladimir Putin hosted the leaders of Russia’s equivalent to NATO - the CSTO, which stands for the Collective Security Treaty Organization and includes: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
Belarus’ authoritarian leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko, was the only leader of the CSTO to speak persuasively about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Paul and I will analyse the CSTO meeting and discuss its relevancy from a security and geopolitical perspective and what implications all this has on the East Asia region.
Join Paul and Selwyn for this LIVE recording of this podcast while they consider these big issues, and remember any comments you make while live can be included in this programme.
Buchanan and Manning: Military Diplomacy and the Global Security New Normal
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will discuss how numerous countries have committed aid, intelligence expertise, military hardware and weapons to a multilateral effort in support of Ukraine.
What does this 2022-style of military diplomacy mean for the independent foreign policies of countries like New Zealand - with its style of incremental contributions in aid of the defence of Ukraine?
For example, the New Zealand Government this week confirmed the deployment of a C-130 Hercules with 50 personnel to Europe; a further eight logistics specialists based in Germany; $13 million in further support to procure equipment for the Ukraine military.
So today, we will examine how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with its method of total annihilation, has drawn once relatively independent nations into the fold of western security alliances. And we will consider whether such moves will become a permanent configuration?
Also in this episode, we will discuss the South-West Pacific strategic balance. Specifically, why has the People’s Republic of China, and the Solomon Islands bilateral security agreement, upset Australia, New Zealand, and the United States of America?
Buchanan + Manning: Russia's Atrocities Revealed But Can Justice Be Achieved?
In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning analyse how it is now clear atrocities committed against Ukrainian civilians is widespread, appears systematic, and may be coldly planned by Russian leaders as troops withdraw toward the east. But can justice be achieved?
The crimes committed in Ukraine could be defined by four categories:
* War crimes (which includes the targeting of civilians),
* Crimes against humanity (which crosses a scale because it is systematic and essentially focusses on individuals),
* Genocide (where groups are targeted),
* Crime of aggression (which is the waging of an illegal war).
But as Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will discuss; it is challenging in the extreme to bring a leader of a nuclear power to justice.
QUESTIONS:
* Were the atrocities identified a deliberate, systematic attempt to erase Ukrainian populations and culture?
* Were they crimes committed by troops so as to cover their retreat, killing and leaving dead Ukrainians behind, so that the Ukrainian armed forces were forced to stop and to attend to them?
* What of enforcement capability, where authoritarian leaders will oppose any attempt to bring anyone but the lowest level "rogue" personnel to justice. Is it satisfactory if recourse and prosecution becomes a mostly Western (mostly European) affair?
Join Paul and Selwyn for this LIVE recording of this podcast while they consider these big issues, and remember any comments you make while live can be included in this programme.
Buchanan + Manning: What can bring the Russian war against Ukraine to a close?
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning raise the question:
If escalation of the Russian war against Ukraine will occur should NATO or European Union nations intervene to protect Ukraine, who or what can assist in bringing this war to a close?
Today, we deep dive into how concerned nations may be able to come to Ukraine’s aid, and under what circumstances could this be possible, and how will such resolutions be defined.
Join Paul and Selwyn for this LIVE recording of this podcast while they consider these big issues, and remember any comments you make while live can be included in this programme.
Buchanan + Manning: Can Deterrence be an effective tool against Putin's offensive in Ukraine?
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will unpack why the west is losing a strategic deterrence advantage against Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin.
In this episode Buchanan and Manning will analyse whether deterrence, in its various forms, is an effective tool against aggressive authoritarian opponents and specifically why NATO and the United States is at a disadvantage when attempting to use deterrence to gain leverage over Putin and the Russian offensive occurring against Ukraine and its peoples.
Buchanan + Manning on why Putin has exhausted the support of his natural allies
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will discuss the ongoing Russian attacks against Ukraine, including:
Whether the Russian Federation’s president Vladimir Putin has lost the support of significant leaders of allied nations, and if so what does this mean for Russia as a global power?
We will also discuss the enduring impact of Oligarch wealth being frozen in Switzerland and the SWIFT international banking system blocking funds transfers to and from Russia.
And finally, we will examine the status of the European Union and NATO as a military force opposing Putin’s Russia, and whether Russian generals eventually confront Putin's power.
Join Paul and Selwyn for this LIVE recording of this podcast while they consider these big issues, and remember any comments you make while live can be included in this programme.
LIVE THURS: Buchanan + Manning on Sanctions and Global Bipolarity
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will discuss whether sanctions will be effective in deterring Russian president Vladimir Putin from a full invasion of Ukraine and indeed cause Russian military to return to the Russian side of the Ukraine border.
Or, alternatively, does the Russian Federation now have a momentum and the support of a coalition of authoritarian governments that will render sanctions ineffective?
Are we witnessing the advent of what we will call: the progression of global bipolarity?
Join Paul and Selwyn for this LIVE recording of this podcast while they consider these big issues, and remember any comments you make while live can be included in this programme.
Buchanan + Manning on Foreign Affairs: What does 2022 hold in store?
A View from Afar: In this the first episode for 2022 Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning discuss What we all should expect to unfold in 2022 - especially with regard to foreign affairs and global security?
In particular Buchanan and Manning will discuss:
- What’s behind this Europe, USA, NATO, Ukraine, Russia diplo-battle?
- What to understand from how authoritarian states are reacting to the USA’s re-emergence as a superpower?
- What does the intensity of US-led military Air-Land-Sea exercises signal?
Thurs@Midday: Buchanan and Manning Consider the Global Issues that Define 2021
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will consider and analyse the most significant global issues that define 2021. The topics will include:
- Leadership: Trump, Putin, Xi, Biden,
- Pandemic: Impact of Covid-19 & variants on global security
- Security: Afghanistan, AUKUS, Autonomous Weapons, Cyber-Hackers/Attackers.
Join Paul and Selwyn for this LIVE recording of this podcast while they consider these big issues, and remember any comments you make while live can be included in this programme.
LIVE@MIDDAY: Why Bannonism-Trumpism Has Set Its Sights on Aotearoa New Zealand
A View from Afar – In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will deep-dive into how Aotearoa New Zealand is in the cross-hairs of two distinct political powers - one has been around for awhile and applies influence operations aimed at elites; and the other uses cultural and ideological diffusion that is aimed at civil society. One is a state power, and the other is a cultural ideological phenomenon.
The former wants to change the perspectives of elites in favour of the People’s Republic of China; whereas the latter originates from the United States of America and aims to change the character of democracy itself.
The latter is an under-defined, hardly hidden ideology that we will refer to as Bannonism-Trumpism.
So what is taking shape in New Zealand? Why is New Zealand a political lab-rat of sorts?
How is this battle taking place for the minds and political thinking of New Zealand voters?
What should you be aware of?
What political parties are most vulnerable to these two powerful external influences?
What is the end-game?
Is resistance achievable?
LIVE@MIDDAY: Buchanan + Manning on One Year Since Trump Lost The White House
A View from Afar - In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will discuss: how it is now over one year since United States voters went to the polls and elected Joe Biden as president - or perhaps it’s fair to say, voted Donald Trump out of the White House.
In this episode, Buchanan and Manning will analyse the big issues that have challenged the Joe Biden Administration, and examine Biden’s wins and losses as a first term US President.
So far there have been two iconic moments in the Biden presidency: getting an infrastructure rebuild plan through the House of Representatives; and inching toward a rapprochement with the People’s Republic of China.
Both have taken place this week.
What is the sum of Joe Biden's impact on domestic USA and around the world?
And has Biden's biggest challenge been domestic, on confronting the question of how to overcome the enduring legacy of Donald Trump?
While evidence suggests Trumpism has now become a vocal force throughout the United States, it has also become a cultural ideology for export . Evidence of that can be seen in liberal democracies around the world, in countries such as New Zealand and Australia.
Has Biden been able to realign the USA's outward cultural expression to one of change, or has Trump won that fight with Steve Bannon and other disciples packaging their views for export?
Join Paul and Selwyn for this LIVE recording of this podcast while they consider these big issues, and remember any comments you make while live can be included in this programme.
LIVE@MIDDAY: Buchanan + Manning on Covid-19 Driven Economic Change
A View from Afar - In this podcast, political scientist Paul Buchanan and Selwyn Manning will discuss the Covid-19 driven transition from Neo-liberal to Neo-Keynesian Economics.
In particular, Buchanan and Manning will examine whether we are witnessing a fundamental change to global economics and will consider:
How since the Covid-19 pandemic arrived even neo-liberal state economies have embraced an expansionist government strategy and significant degrees of stimulus.
It would appear that the excesses of small government, market driven economies have, at this time, run their course.
But what will replace the earlier systems?
From a political economy point of view, what can we expect to take shape as the Pandemic grinds on, even while we all have had a glimpse of what a post-Pandemic new normal may mean?
Join Paul and Selwyn for this LIVE recording of this podcast while they consider these big issues, and remember any comments you make while live can be included in this programme.
