Author: James

On 17th November 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a historic speech to the joint Houses of Parliament, praising Australia-China relations as reaching “a new and higher starting point”. Since then, China’s bilateral relations with the West have declined by almost every possible metric, fuelled by Xi’s relentless pursuit of establishing his nation as a military, economic and political superpower that seeks to challenge the world order created by the…

In the years after the First World War, Germany faced countless social, political and economic challenges that brought it to the brink of complete collapse more than once. Civil unrest and crippling debt plagued the nation, while the severe terms of the Treaty of Versailles caused prices to increase by over one trillion times from 1918 to 1923. After the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the end of the…

“It was a cold bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen”. George Orwell’s 1984 is a timeless work of dystopian fiction that has consistently resonated with readers and remained relevant through its deeply gripping storyline. The novel describes a totalitarian superstate in which an all-powerful dictator ‘Big Brother’ has embedded himself into every aspect of society and brainwashed the populace into unwavering obedience, monitoring their every move and…