Copyright brisbanetimes
Is this jarring? Should it be? A few months ago, I wrote about the strange gap that had opened up in our national discussion of America. We seemed perfectly capable of discussing its slide into authoritarianism. Capable, too, of discussing AUKUS in fairly detailed terms. Oddly, though, the two discussions never seemed to meet. Last week, that chasm seemed to grow even larger. There is always an argument that morality has little to do with the realpolitik of foreign affairs. Two years ago, at the National Press Club, Paul Keating was asked about China’s treatment of the Uighur minority. Keating said, “What if the Chinese said, ‘Look, what about the deaths in custody of Aboriginal people in your prison system?’ You know, wouldn’t that be a valid point for them? In other words, great power diplomacy cannot be about reaching down into the social entrails of these states any more than they can with us.” He went on to talk – reasonably enough – about India’s treatment of Muslims, and how little that seemed to figure in talk about our nation’s relationship with India. What is new is that we are not used to considering American human rights abuses – or democratic failures – in the way we are those of other countries. This is partly wilful blindness. During the years of our alliance, America supported the ascension of the murderous Augusto Pinochet in Chile. It made a fraudulent case to justify invading Iraq. It pretended torture was acceptable.
