Richard Broinowski

Richard Broinowski reviews 'The New American Militarism' by Andrew J. Bacevich and 'Unintended Consequences' by Kenneth J. Hagan and Ian J. Bickerton

November 2007, no. 296 • 01 November 2007

Andrew Bacevich is a former West Point graduate, a principled man on the conservative side of politics who considered it wrong for wealthy citizens to leave the fighting of America’s wars to the poor and disadvantaged. He had fought in Vietnam, and his son, a newly commissioned second lieutenant in the United States Army, had volunteered for duty in Iraq. Just before Bacevich Sr was to attend th ... (read more)

Richard Broinowski reviews 'Vietnam Days: Australia and the impact of Vietnam', edited by Peter Pierce, Jeffrey Grey, and Jeff Doyle

September 1991, no. 134 • 01 September 1991

In their introduction to this collection of essays, the editors state that Australia’s war experiences in Vietnam left some lasting legacies, but ones that were either unexpected or unintended: a loss of moral authority on the part of Australian conservative governments, a breakdown in the defence and foreign policy consensus about the ‘threat’ to Australia, the revival of populist politics ... (read more)

Richard Broinowski reviews 'North Korea: State of paranoia' by Paul French

October 2014, no. 365 • 01 October 2014

North Korea always gets media attention for negative reasons: a border skirmish with its southern neighbour; a missile trial launch or nuclear test; vitriolic propaganda attacks on South Korea, Japan, or the United States; or the appalling findings of some human rights group like Michael Kirby’s recent UN Commission of Inquiry on North Korea’s human rights abuses. The picture that emerges is o ... (read more)

Richard Broinowski reviews 'Charles Robert Scrivener: The surveyor who sited Australia's national capital twice' by Terry Birtles

November 2013, no. 356 • 31 October 2013

In the 1890s the six Australian colonies were preoccupied not only with getting a fair deal over tariffs and customs – and maintaining the purity of the Anglo-Saxon race – but also with the location of the national capital. Denizens of Melbourne and Sydney felt that it should be one of them. The compromise was a capital in New South Wales, closer to Sydney than Melbourne, but with Melbourne as ... (read more)

Richard Broinowski reviews 'Sydney' by Julia Horne and Geoffrey Sherington and 'From New Left to Factional Left' by Alan Barcan

December 2012–January 2013, no. 347 • 26 November 2012

When I became an adjunct professor at the University of Sydney in 2004, I knew nothing of its history, and little of the ideological battles that had taken place there. These two books provide a rich narrative of both, and made me appreciate the privilege I have, even as a marginal player, in belonging to such a significant institution. ... (read more)

Richard Broinowski reviews 'Dancing with Warriors: A diplomatic memoir' by Philip Flood

December 2011–January 2012, no. 337 • 24 November 2011

A current view among foreign policy academics is that the pursuit of Australia’s foreign interests is too important to be left to the diplomats. Here is a timely antidote from Philip Flood, an Australian diplomat who distinguished himself as a maker and shaper of foreign policy, particularly in South-East Asia. ... (read more)

Richard Broinowski reviews 'Reporter: Forty Years Covering Asia' by John McBeth

July–August 2011, no. 333 • 29 June 2011

From childhood on a dairy farm in the flats beneath Mount Egmont, in New Zealand, John McBeth rose to become a senior foreign correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review, one of Asia’s most influential English-language news magazines. Like other old-school journalists, he asserts at the beginning of his highly entertaining memoir that no one can be ‘taught’ journalism; you are either ... (read more)

Richard Broinowski reviews 'The Korean War: Australia in the Giant’s Playground' by Cameron Forbes

April 2011, no. 330 • 25 March 2011

To go on thinking of the Korean War as a ‘forgotten’ war in a ‘hermit’ country, as we too often do, ignores the many authoritative accounts of it. Cameron Forbes’s new book is the latest. Forbes provides an emotional narrative of the war. A large part concerns the economic and social background, antecedents, character, and personalities of Australian soldiers and airmen who participated ... (read more)