There is no such thing as a “free lunch”. To continue the food metaphor, Canadian PM Mark Carney’s comment that if you are “not at the table, you are on the menu” is prophetic.
By now, Australians should realise that “Make America Great Again” can only be achieved at the expense of the independence of middle powers, Australia and Canada included.
AUKUS is not about a few nuclear submarines. It is about cementing Australia’s subservience to USA military directives. Donald Trump’s persistence in criticising and economically punishing Australia for not militarily supporting the USA invasion of Iran is telling.
When does fiction become prophecy – and when does prophecy turn to reality? These are the questions that inspired Rod Johnston to write the geopolitical novel, “Queen’s Pawn to D4”, which explores the background and future perils of Australia’s close military subservience to the United States.
In today’s Iran war environment, this is a timely in-depth analysis of serious geopolitical issues, set in a fictional narrative.
Five years from now, a gas pipeline explosion in northern Australia is dismissed by the government as an accident. Four unlikely allies emerge: an aging senator fighting for peace, a glamorous journalist uncovering her ancestral ties to conflict, a “can-do” Aussie adventurer risking everything to expose hidden dangers, and a young research officer, who learns that her ambition is nothing without compassion and cooperation. As they confront apathy, deceit, and shadowy forces shaping the nation’s future, their choices will determine whether history repeats – a future of military alignment and war; or a new paradigm, one of peaceful coexistence and international friendship.
Read “Queen’s Pawn to D4” by Rod Johnston.
