Russia and China are merely reacting to Western Imperialism.The USA has over 700 military bases around the planet with 40 surrounding Iran alone.They are the supreme military force.

China is winning by economic power and has no interest in war,yet the focus has turned from Osama to Russia/China.

Both Malcolm Fraser and Paul Keating recently criticised the Gillard Govt for siding with the USA in the White Paper.ie a secret scenario of Aust joining the USA in an attack on China.

Should we be siding with the USA for their imperialistic adventurism? Our economy will be devestated if we make China our enemy.This is why people like Gina Rinehart want more of a say.Our Govt is not acting in our national interest.

Russia is not interested in war.It wants to protect it's own national sovereigty.Which country has the track record of aggression and interference WW2? Since 1942 the USA has attacked over 20 countries.

It is time we stood up to NATO and the USA and stop this march to war.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/

Julie,
Please get a grip.
Look at the extraordinary challenges facing you as a shadow minister, your party, the Australian Parliament and the nation.
There are some extremely pressing matters facing the country - asylum seekers foresmost at the moment - and you want to talk about Russia?
Look, we know you do not write these yourself, Julie.
But these pieces obviously involve someone's time and effort in your office.
Please get youir team back to engaging with fixing the enormous problems within your shadow ministry, instead of saying, "Look, over there! Russia!"

Alan I totally agree with you.

Julie you state "Of even greater concern about Russia's behaviour is that it may be using the Syrian violence to advance its influence and strategic reach in the Middle East."

What the hell do you think the US and NATO is doing, exactly the same, and with your apparent support given the myopic view you put forth.

Never mind we have a humanitarian disaster unfolding on our north-western coast and you blindly follow MR "No" and continue the folly by ignoring any semblance of dignity in solving this issue.

If this is your 'Liberal' thinking, I know where my vote will not be going next year, shameful.

Does Julie Bishop think we are wearing white hats?

http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/81458

Our pollies are out of touch.With the power of the internet there is in Zibigniew Brezezinski "a global political awakening." Once a war mongerer himself ,Zibig is now against all this aggression because he knows that WW3 is looming and Russia,China and others do not want to be enslaved by their New World Order.

Guess what Julia? Nor do the people of the West.We do not want a one world Govt run by a fascist UN and their banker puppet masters.

Another good site Julie is, http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/ Sibel Edmonds is one courageous woman who stood up to the tyranny of the US establishment.

Very insightful and interesting article Julie. And one that underlines why we need to become entirely independent in our oil supplies! And a reason to resist any attempt to lock up great swathes of marine seascape!
If we are really over fishing, then we can buy back fishing licences and or introduce seasons and bag limits. Like that which now controls the King crab take, in northern hemisphere.
The still largely unexplored Coral sea may hold more hydrocarbon reserves than the entire know middle east reserves?
It seems patent pragmatism to explore and then exploit those same reserves, particularly if they do indeed rival or even eclipse troubled Middle East entire reserves.
Another pertinent reason is, our own indigenous traditional sweet light crude can be used almost as is as a virtually naturally occurring diesel, needing only a little insitu chill filtering, to remove the small soluble wax content, that solidifies in the injectors, on cold and frosty mornings; and our NG exits the ground at sub zero temperatures.
The very fact that there is no need to basically refine our sweet light crude, means it creates four times less carbon, than fully refined, fully imported Middle East oil sourced fuel products.
If we do indeed have the professionally predicted reserves to our immediate north, we need to exploit them.
If that then floods the international energy market; and or, basically deprives Russia of its current oil revenue incomes; and or, the power and influence it buys?
That will be, I believe, no bad thing
Nor will the conversion to a much lower carbon creating locally available fuel alternative. Or the trillions in export incomes they could produce for Australia.
Our allies will thank us, if we can ensure much lower cost and less carbon polluting oil supplies?
It really is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, why we and we alone, prevent ourselves from exploring and exploiting these vastly lower carbon emitting, and far less costly hydrocarbon reserves?
Rhrosty.

A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma sounds like reason the present coalition actually allowed incomplete science of CO2 'carbon pricing' tax agenda to be legislated into law based on deceit.

Could it be this week that foreign affairs are focus of Julie Bishop debate on purpose to detract from the Australian national issue of CO2 tax introduction this Sunday?

Is a regime controlling Australia? Why is it so that false pretences in national parliament are not being exposed?

Julie, many people can see that the white stuff rising from the tapered chimney-like towers at power stations is actually steam/water vapour, and is not smoke and CO2 as news script over those images leads the gullible to believe.

What about real and possible causes of weather change? I question why photosynthesis-linked warmth in ocean algae plant matter has not been measured and assessed in AGW and Kyoto and carbon tax science.

I also question why the Abbott-Truss (Howard) coalition has not duly responded to investigate substance of evidence indicating unprecedented sewage nutrient pollution is proliferating unprecedented algae warming ocean water, not CO2.
Take a look where ice is melting:
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/june/arctic-algal-blooms-060712.html

We are being fed ongoing lies.

Lindy Chamberlain comes to mind, convicted by media just like CO2 has been edited and blamed in front of our faces.

Who should we believe? Steam is reported to look like CO2 and Abbott-Truss coalition ignores that fact and has not accordingly challenged CO2 and ETS agenda.

Is Syria's Assad guilty without trial? Some of us can see the cropped images of a small gathering of people being reported to look like a big crowd. At the start of these ‘Arab Springs’ it can be seen that just a handful of pro-rebel people are being edited and shown and reported to look like a big crowd majority, a community and national majority.

By the way Julie, who is manufacturing and supplying arms to the rebels? How many dead have been killed by rebels? And when will the next ‘no fly zone’ begin?

The world needs prosperity and peace, not war mongering

Julie, far too many nations in this world operate out of self-interest. Then far too many politicians operate out of self-interest as do far too many corporations and religious institutions.

Self interest works against peace and cooperation and ensures endless war. We should be operating from a position of what is best for all the world's people rather than a selfish few.

P.S. I note your many articles and also that you never engage with folks who bother to comment. Do you think you are above us?

I agree with all Julie says here. I wouldn’t underestimate Putin for a minute. His aim is to Rebuild Russia back to it’s former position of strength .

That is what drives the man, if you study his rise from a poor peasant boy to the highest position in Russia, he has openly stated that he wants to restore his homeland back to a strong, prosperous and powerful nation.

He may be more correct in siding with the leaders in Syria than the Americans are in siding with the Muslim Brotherhood.
I admire the man’s dedication to Russia and wish we had such strong leaders in the West but I would watch him like a hawk in regard to what his motives may be at any given time. Don't underestimate Putin.

How do we educate people like Cherful? Iraq was an invasion based totally on lies in which one million people were murdered.Ah but they were people with brown skin who don't really count.

We now know that the Gulf Of Tonkin incident in which North Vietnam was supposed to attack a US ship was a total lie.This was the incident that gave the US the excuse to invade Vietnam.Another war for profit for the Banking Military Industrial Complex.

We also know that in 1966 the US Liberty was attacked by Israel in another false flag attack to make the USA bomb Egypt.The USA had nukes at the ready until they learned the reality.

See Pres Dwight Eisenhower reveal the evils of the Military Industrial Complex.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY

This very same group are pushing for war since we the people now realise it is they who have stolen our pension funds and super.They continue to pillage our economies via counterfeiting our currencies and toxic derivatives.

The enemy always comes from within.

Labor tragics attack Bishop for submitting an article within her portfolio, and ignoring the disaster that is Labor's border policy, and are then surprised when she does not engage in debate. Surely there has been no lack of debate on Labor's failures?

Bob Carr's only contribution to the border issue is an unbecoming tirade against the high court judges.

18000 people have died in the Syrian uprising, is this too small an issue?

Labor and coalition politics need a clean out. It appeared change was occurring when Howard lost government and his electorate.
Meanwhile about 25,000 children are still dying every day, including those due to the recent 69 percent increase in maternal mortality in Solomon Islands.
Neither Labor nor the coalition pay due attention to nearby foreign affairs or even to local national affairs. Damage and destruction to Great Barrier Reef and other SW Pacific Ocean food web nursery ecosystems is even continuing and worsening.
Information of substance about key ocean food sustainability collapse indicators is being gagged at government and major media editorial level.
Truth of food production and supply and sustainability in the Pacific and in countries refugees are fleeing should be known in order to see why boat people want to leave their own countries. Then possible real solutions could become known.
At present there is even general total ignorance that devastated fisheries are causing fishing boats to become run down and disposable at whatever low cost sale, for one way people smuggling voyages.
Local affairs are ignored. Julie Bishop and my present MP Bronwyn Bishop and nearby Tony Abbott have not duly responded to relevant issues raised, neither has the Rudd-Gillard Labor CO2 debate process and government. Or is it an Aus regime?
What's the difference between 2,000 dead asylum seekers and 25,000 malnourished dead children? Who can afford fish affordable to many Australians?
Malcolm Fraser has been the only leader that has shown any real interest in real life humanitarian fishery devastation linked issues but politics ended that. There is a big difference between Fraser-type of politics and politics of Howard Abbott ilk.
Meanwhile the NBN and being able to see your doctor online seems like the main expenditure agenda.
It has been said that spending some money on advertising to warn of the danger and suffering for boat should be spent in the countries of origin of boat people and their travel departure points.
There are numerous foreign affairs that need debate. Why go so far away at this point and unjustly convict Syria’s Assad?

Every western style economy rests on just two pillars, energy and capital!
Before the GFC America was importing 70 billions worth of foreign oil. [40% of its then needs.]
When the price of oil traversed through the $87.00 a barrel, The US economy began to contract. Middle East suppliers, whose extraction costs are around a dollar a barrel were laughing all the way to the bank.
Moreover, it is patently clear that a percentage of this oil revenue finances terrorism. The former Malaysian Prime Minister, urged OPEC to see oil as an economic weapon.
Clearly some of our current energy suppliers, despise everything we stand for or believe in?
I believe it is only a question of time before Iran develops a missile capable of transporting a nuclear warhead to Israel?
One can be certain Isreal will not simply submit to the warmongering sabre rattling of a nation or fanatical Leaders, whose expressed goal is to drive Israel into the sea.
Israel understands what is at stake and needs to settle the Palestinian problem ASAP.
War in the smouldering powder keg Middle East, will drive up the price of oil well beyond an economy crippling $200.00 a barrel.
We need to stare this possibility in the eye, and consider just how much increasing reliance on fully imported foreign oil, we and we alone are subjecting ourselves to?
Parliamentary pragmatists would simply stop chanting the meaningless mantra/slogan, that the govt has no business in business, and get the govt into the oil business.
But particularly, if we do indeed have hydrocarbon resources to our immediate north, to rival or eclipse, the entire known Middle East reserves?
Whose interests would be served by a conflict or conflagration in the Middle East?
Certainly none of the nations currently dependant on it for all or some of their energy supplies!
So, how about an oil rich Russia now presided over by a patently power hungry, homophobic, President Putin, who already uses Russia's copious, if comparatively expensive to recover, energy resources, as a behaviour modifying, economic weapon or tool?
Rhrosty.