Latest news with #Raby
7NEWS
12-07-2025
- Business
- 7NEWS
The Issue with Tim Lester: Diplomat Geoff Raby on Anthony Albanese's all-important meeting with Xi Jinping in China
Geoff Raby has no doubt how he would advise Anthony Albanese if he were briefing the Prime Minister in the minutes before this coming week's planned talks with China's President Xi Jinping. 'I'd be telling him that this is a very important moment in Australia-China relations,' Raby said. As Australia's Ambassador in Beijing, Raby counselled prime ministers John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard on the critical relationship with China. In the decade-and-a-half since, China has surged as a military superpower, while two-way trade has all but trebled — built on $100 billion a year of Australian iron ore exports. Before leaving Sydney, the Prime Minister acknowledged that — on the list of our trading partners — China is bigger than the next three combined. 'The relationship in China means jobs in Australia. It's as simple as that,' Albanese said. China is the export market we can't live without, at the same time as our longtime security guarantor, the United States, regards China as its greatest military rival. After decades of experience in China diplomacy — stretching back to a stint in Australia's Beijing Embassy in the 1980s — Geoff Raby acknowledges China 'needs to be watched' but says the common assumption that it's now the world's great military threat, is wrong. 'My own view is that China is not a threat to Australia's security as such. China is much more interested in its own stability (and) economic performance,' Raby said. More important to Raby is the fact China has land borders with 14 countries and territorial issues with Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan and Hong Kong that loom large in Beijing's calculations. Add in a dependence on foreign energy and natural resources, and China is a 'constrained superpower'. 'This is all part of us having to recognise an emerging new power and be smart in how we deal with it,' Raby said. But one feature of Australia's recent security policy has been anything but 'smart', according to Raby. AUKUS, the giant nuclear submarine pact with the United States and the United Kingdom is set to cost hundreds of billions of dollars over coming decades. Raby called it 'a foreign policy failure for Australia'. 'We have had decades of trying to integrate ourselves into Asia … That has been the cornerstone of our foreign policy for 40-odd years. AUKUS really tears that up,' he said. As Prime Minister Albanese visits China, AUKUS approaches a crossroad in Washington. The Pentagon is reassessing the security pact to see if it fits with President Donald Trump's 'America First' agenda. As well, the Trump Administration's demand that the Albanese government sharply increase military spending has stoked doubts in Australia about the commitment of the United States to our defence. Raby shares that concern. 'Having put this big bet on the US, can we rely on them to be there whenever we need them? Serious defence analysts question that these days,' he said. Raby argued more of Australia's security ought to rest on regional relationships and less on our AUKUS partners. 'Independent foreign policy is essential. We have to be able to make these decisions for ourselves,' he said. So where does that leave Anthony Albanese in his Beijing meeting with Xi Jinping? Raby said the Prime Minister must raise human rights issues and consular cases involving imprisoned Australians. As well he needs from President Xi 'a very clear understanding that China sees a future in a close economic relationship with Australia'. The veteran diplomat also cautioned that the 'personal dynamic is extremely important'. It may be even more so at this, the fourth leaders' meeting between Xi and Albanese. Our Prime Minister has yet to clinch his first Trump meeting. Relations with the U.S. President appear cool. Any sign of warmth in the talks with Xi is sure to stand out. For more from Tim Lester and his interview with Geoff Raby, you can listen to The Issue in the player below or watch their full conversation in the video above.
AllAfrica
31-03-2025
- Politics
- AllAfrica
Great Game On: Shining light on the contest for Central Asia
The Founding Fathers advised Americans to steer clear of entangling alliances if they wished to preserve their newly acquired Republic. This may be news to some of our politicos but not to President Donald Trump. No US president has been leerier of the interventionist foreign policy bequeathed to us by Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt than Trump. Immune to the globalist enthusiasm for 'democracy building' and 'forever wars,' Trump lives in the realm of reality – not ideological pseudo-reality. Trump has had enough of the 'values-based' foreign policy that, in the matter of Ukraine, may have brought us closer to thermonuclear war than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis. Unlike so many of his political adversaries, Trump is not indifferent to the negative impact a misconstrued foreign policy could have on ordinary people, families, the nation at large and, for that matter, the world. With that in mind, and in view of the rising importance of Asia, Geoff Raby's new book – 'Great Game On: The Contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy ' – is worth reading to get a better handle on the history and current state of great power dynamics in Eurasia and Central Asia. Raby served as Australian Ambassador to China from 2007 to 2011. He has done a service by focusing on Central Asia in view of its considerable and growing importance. The region encompasses Afghanistan, Inner Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang (China), and is more than 300,000 square miles larger than the continental United States. That's a big chunk of real estate which the US ignores at its peril. Raby – a mostly non-ideological foreign policy practitioner – deftly describes not only the 19th century Anglo-Russian 'Great Game' but the emergent 21st century 'New Great Game,' i.e., the great power competition for influence over Central Asia between China, Russia and, to a lesser extent, the United States. As such, he delves into the respective geopolitical ambitions of China and Russia in Eurasia over the past 100 years with a spotlight on Central Asia. Raby argues that 'Core Eurasia' – in other words, Central Asia – is 'the principal theater of contest' between the great powers and that 'the key pivots on the chess board are Afghanistan and Xinjiang.' He has a point, but it's also the case that Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, with their massive reserves of natural resources, extensive trade routes – east-west and north-south – and welcoming attitude toward the outside world represent a stable setting in which the US can expand its economic ties. (See: Time for a US pivot to Central Asia ) To his credit, Raby eschews the moralism of so many foreign policy gurus (who rarely get around to considering morality). Raby, from all indications, is a proponent of the realist school of politics. He is concerned about national self-interest, security and power relationships rather than presumed ideological imperatives as the principal drivers of inter-state relations. Raby's treatment of the United States' presence in Central Asia is skimpy – but that is telling in itself: Washington pays Central Asia scant attention, so there's not much to write about. That should change under Trump. Raby provides much-needed historical context without which it is impossible to understand the competition for influence in the region. He makes insightful, thought-provoking comments on the geostrategic thinking of the great powers in light of history – for example, Mackinder's 'Heartland' theory, i.e., 'whoever controlled Central Asia would be the dominant world power.' Helpfully, the author provides the reader with maps to navigate a vast region that could easily thwart even adepts at world geography. Thus, the reader can easily find Türkmenbaşy, Kashgar and the Wakhan Corridor as well as inner Mongolia, various mountain ranges and rivers and myriad other places unknown to most people. And having traveled extensively in Central Asia, Raby provides a store of anecdotes that helps demystify the inscrutability and romance of these far-off lands and peoples. The book is extensively researched and footnoted – a sign of the author's sober-mindedness. Raby claims that China has emerged 'as the primary Eurasian power' in the new age of multipolarity that is upon us, an increasingly recognized reality. The US, though, should take this state of affairs in stride and deal with it not through any form or degree of belligerence or aggressiveness and ditch its usual moral preachments that historically have been the stock and trade of USAID, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other mouthpieces and instruments of liberal internationalist and globalist orthodoxy. What Vice President JD Vance told the Munich Security Conference (see his speech) is also good advice for US policymakers: a little introspection is advisable. Raby believes that 'Great Powers can find a strategic accommodation without going to war … Options for finding strategic stability … are still worth pursuing.' Nicely put – a vision that Trump's State Department and the various Central Asian states share (see this author's Central Asian School of Diplomacy) i.e., diplomacy is the smartest, most cost-effective way to resolve conflicts, defend national interests and avoid armed conflict. Raby has recently suggested that China, for the first time in its history, feels secure along its Eurasian land frontiers and is now free to project power globally, a matter of some concern for those in the neighborhood. Having said that, one way to address China's resurgence, Raby suggests, might be for the West to engineer a so-called 'reverse Kissinger,' i.e., entice Russia to 'look West' and distance itself from China. Only time will tell whether that is a real possibility; meanwhile, the West would be well-advised to understand Beijing's geopolitical mindset and history as it confronts its growing ambitions. Raby reminds the reader that the West should stop framing the Great Game as a contest between 'democracy' and 'autocracy' or 'good guys vs bad guys.' Stated differently, the use of preachy, moralistic, diplomatic lingo is a non-starter. Certainly, it is a money-loser when dealing with China, Central Asia or most anyone else. Trump understands that. Raby correctly states that 'Russia's trade with Central Asia is dwarfed by China's' and 'China has replaced Russia as Central Asia's major source of foreign direct investment.' He sheds light on contested matters such as the 'debt trap,' 'debt sustainability' and the Belt & Road Initiative. But he might have pointed out that Central Asian governments are selective in their partnerships. They will not accept one-way investment deals that are perceived to have few long-term benefits for the country or, worse, inadvertently lead to geoeconomic subjugation. To be sure, Central Asia wants win-win deals as well as free and fair trade – a mindset more in tune with Trump's than with that of much of the American foreign policy establishment. In case anyone missed it, Central Asian governments – whether you like them or not – want investors – whether Chinese, Indian or American – to make sensible, non-ideological cross-border long-term economic commitments to develop smart infrastructure connectivity and integration and create jobs and decent wages for families and the region's growing populations. This vision is in line with Trumpian economic policy at home. Without explicitly saying so, Raby does not appear to be optimistic about the US's long-term prospects in Central Asia since China's aim to absorb Central Asia – transform it into a veritable 'Sinostan' – 'is an advanced work in progress. But Russia and China will continue to look to each other for support in their contests with the United States and this will remain a strong point of convergence in their relationship.' If true, all the more reason for the US government and business community to get in on the action in Central Asia, namely, expand trade relations and, more importantly, set up joint ventures that give US companies skin in the game. Toward this end, Trump's State Department should grease the wheels. If Washington doesn't deliver soon on substance, Central Asians will continue to get the best infrastructure, logistics and mining deals (critical metals and oil & gas) that China, Russia and others have to offer. This would be only logical if the US were to remove itself de facto from the equation. For those eager to understand the historical and present-day ins and outs of great power competition in Central Asia, they would be well advised to read ' Great Game On: The Contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy.' This would include policymakers. If American ingenuity and creativity were to be introduced into the arena shorn of hidden political and/or woke agendas and offered Central Asia attractive win-win economic arrangements, the US would stand a good chance of not only staying in the (great) game but prevailing. Javier M Piedra has 40 years of international banking and finance experience and was former acting assistant administrator, Bureau for Asia, USAID (2018 – 21) Alexander B Gray is former deputy assistant to the president and chief of staff, White House National Security Council (2019-21)
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Like socializing, but not too much? This serene spot's got you covered on the Space Coast.
Rocky Raby is a regular at the Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library. After hearing what was planned for the empty, recently renovated two-story riverfront building on the Cocoa property, the 66-year-old Cocoa resident was all in. What was originally built as a kit home for the Travis family in 1925 at 219 Indian River Drive, the library's River House has reopened with a powerful purpose – to provide a smaller social space to meet others and take part in various activities without the larger, busier library crowds. Recently renovated, even the walls and ceilings are unique, slightly reminiscent of a baked good topped with fluffy, pointed white whipped cream and lovely hardwood flooring. 'It's a comfortable, homey atmosphere where you can meet new people – without having to clean your own house before guests get there,' Raby jested. More: 5 things you should know about mental health care in Brevard Raby's a fan of the adult Dungeons and Dragons games offered through the central Brevard County Library, one of many new programs offered at the River House. Plus, he considers this smaller venue 'a safe place to meet new people as well.' That's exactly what the people behind the programming want to hear, especially on the heels of growing studies that show loneliness has become an American epidemic. 'We realized we have the perfect space to do something that was really in line with what's needed right now,' said Michael Boonstra, training coordinator for Brevard County Library Services. 'That's kind of how we got here.' With a slow rollout that began in late January, library officials have begun new programs, with a goal of serving residents in more individualized ways. (See what's offered at and choose the 'River House' location option.) The purpose is to generate a sense of belonging by connecting residents with other community members in a low-tech, no-pressure zone. Programs include: Sensory playtime Youth drum circle Silent Book Club for adults Fiber Art Fridays; one for kids, another for adults An adult Dungeons and Dragons Club 'You have this beautiful view, so it provides a space that feels more like going to a friend's house rather than going to your public library or government building,' explained Gregory St. Leon, library assistant and River House program coordinator. More: 'This is an epidemic.." "We keep ignoring it." Why Brevard's homeless survey matters to all Recently, St. Leon was opening up the site and watched as playful dolphins swam past in the river. 'Little things like that just add to the atmosphere,' he said. Text as seen on Brevard How this app can help you:∎Borrow your items directly with self-checkout∎Place item holds on the go∎Search for items with text or barcode∎Receive account and due date notifications∎Find your closest Brevard County Library∎Find events and programs at your library∎Access digital content while you're on the go, including books, databases, and learning resources like LinkedIn LearningBCL Go is supported by both Android and Apple, and can be found in the Google Play store and the App Store. All you need to log in is your library card number and your last name! Check out this short how-to video Loneliness had been on the rise, with some experts coining it an 'epidemic.' Enter the COVID-19 pandemic. People became isolated. Add in the uncertainty and fear as everything seemingly changed so much in how people lived their everyday lives. Studies began rolling out, and loneliness had a starring role. As the COVID-19 emergency wound down, a new advisory warned that loneliness had become a new public health emergency. A February 2024 Library Journal news story cited Cigna Group research that found 58% of Americans 'are considered lonely." Those most at risk included people with lower incomes and adults 18 to 24, which showed that age range was double those of people 55 and up. More: 'It gets better. I'm proof.' Are people more comfortable talking about mental health? Loneliness is so much more than just feeling down in the dumps. It can affect physical and mental health, too. Check out these figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Turns out, inadequate or poor social connections can put people at serious risk for different diseases: Increase the risk of heart disease by 29% Up the chances of stroke by 32% Add a 50% increased risk of developing dementia for older adults A 60% increased risk for premature death Given the potential health dangers for the lonely, something sparked for the River House team. To this library crew, it became crystal clear – offering free services in a quaint, homey-type atmosphere would align with the needs of so many. St. Leon was tasked with applying for a grant under the Northeast Florida Library Information Network (NEFLIN) via its Innovation Project program, which awarded Brevard County Libraries $7,149.14 to support the River House's programs. While the money isn't in-house yet, there were ways to jumpstart River House with some no- or low-cost options, such as the Adult Silent Book Club. More: 'Unrealistic expectations and unrealistic goals': How social media affects adults The book club is offered from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursdays, giving readers a stunning view of the Indian River to glance up at every so often while silently reading a book of their choice alongside others who just want to be around others – with no pressure to talk while reading. At 11 a.m., book review chats and recommendations are optional. Plus, on the last Thursday of the month (and even some special occasions), Space Coast Therapy Dogs get to hang with these booklovers. (And bonus! Coffee and tea are offered.) More: Mental health first aid aims to recognize, respond and reduce bias While events held in the main library were a hit, they tended to be larger. And that just doesn't work with everyone. 'We were having a need for something smaller,' Boonstra said. 'There were people that felt overwhelmed in those situations, or the kids that maybe have sensory issues and things like that ... that wasn't the best fit for them.' Opening in late January, programs have been launched slowly with intention. 'The buildup has been nice, so we can kind of get our bearings,' St. Leon said. 'See what works, see what doesn't.' The River House has programs for all ages. Look at an example of the offering for the week of Feb. 24, 2025: Monday, Feb. 24, at 10 a.m.: Sensory play time for babies and toddlers Monday, Feb. 24, at 11 a.m.: Sensory play time for preschoolers Thursday, Feb. 27, at 10 a.m.: Adult Silent Book Club Friday, Feb. 28, at 1 p.m.: Adult Fiber Arts Fridays Friday, Feb. 28, at 2:30 p.m.: Youth Fiber Arts Fridays Staff is gradually building additional programs. Such as a youth drum circle on Tuesdays, which provides kids with drums and percussions, giving them a chance to make music. 'I'll bring our guitar and play some kids songs,' St. Leon said. 'A lot of the kids, through simple songs, simple beats … they just love to shake the tambourine or bang the drum. So, kind of letting them go a little wild with their imagination is very healthy.' More: 'A heart too big for herself': Brevard family tells raw truth about addiction in obituary Borrowing from the kids' Dungeons and Dragons clubs, there's one for adults – another loneliness-busting experience. 'It gives the adults an opportunity to play,' said Laura Eastman Hawthorne, Library II Lead and supervisor of the River House. And don't think of the Fiber Arts club as just a place to randomly knit crafts. More: 'Scary to ask for help:' 211 Brevard fields crisis calls from suicide to housing concerns 'I've noticed that the people who do come to the adult one, they just want a space to bounce ideas off of,' St. Leon said. 'We'll just talk and make art together.' Plus, participants can produce some things out of the program that will be helpful to the community, such as blankets, hats and scarves for those who need it during Brevard's colder weather. 'We're going to implement more community-based programming, such as a community garden,' said Eastman Hawthorne, adding these will be done in huge tubs, not in the actual soil of the property. '(Gardening) will be huge for all ages, a way to bring them together and produce something as a community.' More: 'The most perfect way to end a vacation': Therapy dogs at Melbourne airport a hit Some of the other ideas include possibly an open mic for artists, poets and musicians of all ages. 'Kind of all these things,' Eastman Hawthorne said, 'combating that loneliness epidemic.' Community ideas are welcome, too! While renting out the River House is not an option – nor are meetings – those behind the programming want to hear them! 'Our ukulele program was all the direct result of a gentleman from Merritt Island who saw the program … in Hawaii, and he wanted our libraries to have ukuleles,' said Wendy Jo Bost, library services director in Cocoa. More: "Why? Why did you bring me back?" Addiction nearly killed them. They vowed to get sober. If you are interested in the River House and have an idea for a new program, give Eastman Hawthorne a call at (321) 633-1792 or shoot her an email at lhawthorne@ You never know. Your idea pitch may just turn into the next big thing at the River House. This reporting is supported by a Journalism Funding Partners grant. Mental Health Reporter Sara Paulson can be reached at spaulson@ This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Cocoa library's River House the spot to socialize, on smaller scale
