No Enemies

Is increased defence spending all that Australia needs to ensure its national security? How well placed are we to deal with global shocks and surprises? How should Australia recalibrate its national security settings to deal with global disruption? Drawing on thirty years of experience as a senior government adviser on foreign policy, Allan Behm explores the thinking behind Australia’s security approach and how it’s been shaped by Australia’s cultural and historical experiences. He argues that our mindset is built around pathologies: racism, misogyny, isolation, insecurity, a brashness that masks a deep lack of self-confidence, and the perverse effects of the cultural cringe. No Enemies No Friends doesn’t just show why Australia has become so good at getting things so wrong. Rather, Behm offers practical policy ideas, imbued with optimism, arguing we have every capability to improve. We need to maintain a credible defence force and invest in diplomacy to reduce our dependence on military force and defence alliances. Forward-looking, this is a meditation on how to approach international affairs with sure-footedness in a less predictable world. This is crucial for maintaining Australia’s long-term security and establishing the nation’s confidence to become a significant international actor.

When the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on December 10, 2010, its recipient, Liu Xiaobo, was in Jinzhou Prison, serving an eleven-year sentence for what Beijing called “incitement to subvert state power.” In Oslo, actress Liv Ullmann read a long statement the activist had prepared for his 2009 trial. It read in part: “I stand by the convictions I expressed in my ‘June Second Hunger Strike Declaration’ twenty years ago—I have no enemies and no hatred. None of the police who monitored, arrested, and interrogated me, none of the prosecutors who indicted me, and none of the judges who judged me are my enemies.” That statement is one of the pieces in this book, which includes writings spanning two decades, providing insight into all aspects of Chinese life. These works not only chronicle a leading dissident’s struggle against tyranny but enrich the record of universal longing for freedom and dignity. Liu speaks pragmatically, yet with deep-seated passion, about peasant land disputes, the Han Chinese in Tibet, child slavery, the CCP’s Olympic strategy, the Internet in China, the contemporary craze for Confucius, and the Tiananmen massacre. Also presented are poems written for his wife, Liu Xia, public documents, and a foreword by Václav Havel. This collection is an aid to reflection for Western readers who might take for granted the values Liu has dedicated his life to achieving for his homeland.

Dennis Fleming's 18-yr-old sister, Mickey, was murdered by serial killer Anthony J. LaRette, Jr. An intensely personal true crime memoir. Through a combination of solid journalism and introspective reflection, Dennis weaves an intricate story filled with sadness, anger, and even humor about his attempts to cope with the greatest tragedy he'd ever known. A life-affirming story about one man's twenty-five-year search for meaning and fulfillment in the face of a devastating situation. It's also about keeping a promise to someone you love. From the shocking details of Mickey's murder and his subsequent suicide attempt to the mixed feelings he experienced as he witnessed LaRette's execution, Dennis delves deeply into the complex process of coming to grips with his sister's death and of eventually finding forgiveness in his heart for her killer.

Th ere Are No Enemies explores a Practical Phi losophy of Life for huma nk ind based upon reverence for life and Th e Science of Being Altogether fi rst off ered by A ristotle, the Philosopher. Human beings are al l deemed to share a com mon spiritualit y which c an be accessed by the indiv idua l conscience and is div i ne, operating in the fi eld of understanding. Th e fi eld of science shares the same source as the fi eld of spir itua lity Writ ten by an arti st-scholar, the a r tistic suspension of disbelief is off ered to eff ect a vision of humanit y part icipating harmoniously in the Life Force of t he universe itsel f and using a s a touchstone for their common spirituality, their own religion, their own God, Allah, Yahwah, cal led by any name or no name. Following t he philosophy applicat ions of it are off ered concerni ng Iraq, Israel, Terrorists, the Money God, Hatred, Diplomacy, t he War Machine, Aust ralian Aboriginal Spiritual it y, Native American Peace Examples as well a s poetry excerpted from the authors other books: Th uGun and Natasha, Th e Round Table, Maria and the Comet and Anz ac to Understanding.

Joshua Kampa, the illegitimate son of a mute Spanish whore and a black serviceman, has always dreamed of Africa. But his dreams are of an Africa far in the past and are so vivid and in such hallucinatory detail that he is able to question the understanding of eminent paleontologists. As a result, Joshua is invited to join a most unusual time travel project and is transported millions of years into the past of his dreams. In early Pleistocene Africa, living among the pre-human species Homo habilis, experiencing the same hardships and the same intense pleasures, Joshua finds, for the first time in his troubled life, not only contentment but real love - a love that transcends almost everything. Intelligent, thoughtful and deeply moving, No Enemy but Time brilliantly evokes the remote past and, at the same time, presents a powerful and convincing portrayal of a relationship surmounting even the most daunting barriers. It is a challenging and highly original novel exploring the nature a nd origins of humankind.

'Better mad with the crowd than sane all alone' In these witty, Machiavellian aphorisms, unlikely Spanish priest Baltasar Gracián shows us how to exploit friends and enemies alike to thrive in a world of deception and illusion. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658). Gracián's work is available in Penguin Classics in The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence.

Acclaimed poet Jimmy Santiago Baca knows something is wrong with contemporary society. He’s afraid “that the whole network / that connects us / and society together / is going to collapse / that our lives / will be dependent on tiny / little blue wires / that can’t shake my hand / or share my joy, / that won’t challenge the police / to stop beating a brown man / or can’t do even something as small / and gentle as smile.” In this collection of new poems, Baca expresses his sense of responsibility to use his gift for the greater good. “If not me, then who / speaks to money, power, privilege / if not / an ordinary man / then who?” He chastises those who use their connections to benefit themselves at the expense of the impoverished, imprisoned and undocumented. Frequently, he takes aim at poets and politicians who put their lucrative positions ahead of their constituents: “Governor, if you choose a career / where you have to ignore the truth / and pillage the unfortunate, at least / outlaw automatic weapons.” While many of these poems are stinging rebukes against the wealthy and powerful and their disregard for children living in poverty and the environment, others are beautiful odes to his indigenous roots. There are buffalo with their gentle hearts, sacred places where he prays to his ancestors and the plants growing on steep mountainsides that give “me courage to keep clinging to hope and to learn / life’s most important lesson / practice how to lean in life so as not to fall.” Baca writes urgently about the most important themes of our generation, including education, justice, the environment and even the coronavirus. Ironically, he notes, “the enemy didn’t come at us crossing borders, / swinging machetes and machine guns.” No, nature herself has come to clean house, to give “Mother Earth a reprieve from our greed.”