I'm going to be moving back to Australia, probably at the beginning of February 2004. I plan to continue working on this blog, although it's very likely that my focus will shift a little, so there will be more postings directly about Australian topics. But I certainly won't cease writing about those American issues which have ramifications for Australia and the other small countries (politically speaking) of the world. American domestic laws and politics, whether we like it or not, have a great effect on Australia. ...
For example, the US in its trade negotiations with Australia, is trying to make us enact an equivalent to the DMCA. The US was once a example to the rest of the world concerning freedom of speech, rights to political dissent and the rule of law (domestically and internationally). But as these things begin to be compromised in the endless war against terrorism and extreme partisanship, it makes things worse for civil liberties and democracy everywhere - when one of the biggest proponents changes course and starts undermining rather than promoting these values.
I hope that my experience of living in the US for six years will help give me a more nuanced view of this country, when I write about it from abroad. Too many people in Australia and other western countries fall into the trap of anti-Americanism, which is ultimately unproductive and inaccurate, because it simplistically dismisses the good (the good people, the good ideas and the good works) that takes place in the US. There is currently a struggle taking place for the American soul, which the rest of the world ignores at its peril.
