In the context of Britain’s colonial administrations of terror, the 1975 constitutional coup in Australia may hardly seem worth remembering. However, the removal of Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s reformist Labor government must be included, even though if pales in comparison to British atrocities in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean that occurred under her reign.

RIMPAC 2022 comes at a sensitive moment when the US and its allies have stepped up provocative actions in East Asia, aimed mainly at China, a rising power that seemingly challenges US hegemony in the Pacific. However, for many people including Indigenous Pacific Islanders, US militarism remains front and centre in their fight for sovereignty and peace.

Local BAYAN and allied organizations such as Malaya Canada remain vigilant in the face of what is to come under the new Marcos regime. Progressive groups are rallying for genuine democracy and real change in the Philippines, protesting against historical revisionism and state corruption, and working together to resist another era of darkness.

So, is this the moment of collapse in the Chinese model of development and the end of all that talk about ‘moving towards socialism’ and so on? Many Western experts think so. What will cause this collapse, in their view, is the failure of the Chinese leaders to ‘liberalize’ the economy and open it up even more to capitalist companies and markets.

The fight to reclaim Okinawa continues despite ferocious opposition from the ruling parties in Japan who take advantage of their power and the fact some Okinawans’ livelihoods depend on base-related employment or business. This resistance is part of a larger movement for Indigenous rights, peace, and justice across the Asia Pacific region.

Okinawans, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, have been fighting to rid Okinawa of US bases for decades, giving rise to one of the strongest peace movements in the world, attracting broad international support. Thus, we were doubly shocked to learn that the Canadian Armed Forces are regularly using US military installations on Okinawa today.

Recently, a number of right-wing think tanks in Canada and allied countries, including the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, have been publishing articles urging Canada to take a greater interest in establishing a powerful military and economic presence in the “Indo-Pacific.” As Owen Schalk writes, this represents a perilous escalation of tensions in service of the new Cold War.

Any American president who talks about combatting climate change while not making a lasting peace with China is a hypocrite. Such a peace could also lead to a significant reduction in the national militaries that burn through massive amounts of fossil fuels themselves. Peace is good for climate change action. War—even the threat of it—is its nemesis.

India, under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been firmly in the US camp, taking part in reviving the Quad and signing three foundational defense agreements with the United States. But has India now shifted from this alignment based on its dealings with Russia? Is non-alignment back on the table? The answer to this question is far more complicated than it would appear on the surface.

The Chinese economy has slowed down, and with it the demand for Australia’s exports. Anyway, the imperialist bloc wants Australia to disengage from China. The cost of living is rising sharply; rising interest rates risk a serious housing crisis; and global warming is out of control. Neither government nor opposition have any answers. Australia’s luck is turning for the worse.