Advertise on podcast: Rear Vision — How History Shaped Today

Drug trafficking across the Pacific. Why is it increasing and can it be stopped?

Separatist sentiments are stirring in the Canadian province of Alberta. Voters will soon cast their ballots in a referendum on whether to begin moves to formally separate from the rest of the nation. We look at the history of separatism in Canada and at the pernicious impact of foreign interference. Guests: Marcus Kolga - Director of DisinfoWatch. Senior fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute  Robert Currie – King’s Counsel. Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University Randy Boissonnault - former Member of the Canadian Parliament for Edmonton Centre Dr Ryan Griffiths – Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University

How a Cold War listening post in outback Australia has become a  nerve centre of U.S. surveillance

Our understanding of the past has always been contentious and ripe for argumentation.  How we think and write about historic events changes as new sources of information are found, and fresh details emerge about people and events.  In this episode, as part of ABC Radio National’s Top 100 Australian Books, we hear from three leading Australian authors about the history of Australian history.  Guests: Dr Anna Clark – Professor of History, University of Technology Sydney Dr Tim Rowse – Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney University Dr Michelle Arrow – Professor of Modern History, Macquarie University, Immediate Past President of the Australian Historical Association

Today the Red Sea’s crucial choke-point at the Bab el-Mandeb is becoming as infamous as the Strait of Hormuz.

Dictators and autocrats deride human rights as a “western concept” – think Vladamir Putin and Xi Jinping, among others. They reject the narrative that a global concern for individual freedoms has steadily grown since the end of WWII. What if they’re correct? At least partially so. What if international support for the ideal of universal human rights was never really as strong as it seemed? Could a reassessment of the history of human rights help us explain current threats to personal freedoms across the globe? Guests: Dr Alison Brysk – Distinguished Professor of Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara Dr Samuel Moyn – Professor of Law and History, Yale University Dr Barbara Keys – Professor of US History, Durham University Dr Jenna Reinbold – Associate Professor of Religion, Colgate University

This year has seen an uncharacteristic flurry of meetings and engagement between North Korea, China and Russia. Is a North Asia bromance blossoming or are we seeing a calculated collaboration?

The conflict between Israel and Lebanon that flared up in March this year is not new. Despite having no major border dispute or a struggle over resources, Israel and Lebanon have been in conflict for decades.  The history of Lebanon’s relationship with Israel and how it continues to be shaped by the story of the Palestinian people.

Hezbollah has been a key political and military player in Lebanon for decades.  In 2000 it forced the Israeli military out of Southern Lebanon and since then has been in almost constant conflict with Israel. Since the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel, that conflict has escalated resulting in an invasion of Southern Lebanon by the Israel military.  For many in the Arab world Hezbollah is an organisation leading the resistance against Israeli aggression in the Middle East. In the West they are seen as an Iranian proxy and a terrorist group. Where does the truth lie and how did Hezbollah come into existence?

Fifteen years ago, events in Libya dominated world headlines. In 2011, during the “Arab Spring”, Western leaders pledged their determination to free the Libyan people from decades of oppression under Muammar Gaddafi. NATO jets were deployed. Today, a decade and a half later, Libya is effectively two nations not one, tyrany still rules, and the plight of the Libyan people has largely been forgotten. We ask, how and why? We also find out why a Trump emissary is now sniffing around Tripoli and Benghazi  Guests: Tim Eaton – Senior Researcher Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House  Rhiannon Smith – General Manager, Researcher and Analyst, Libya-Analysis Emadeddin Badi – Associate Fellow, Chatham House

Despite their long history in this country,  Muslims in Australia are often the flashpoint for immigration fears and concern about extremism.

The United States has just imposed new tariffs on Australia and other countries for supposedly not doing enough to combat forced labour in international supply chains. Analysts say the move is political, but regardless it does once again highlight the ongoing issue of slavery. Slavery has been a constant of human history from ancient to modern times. The human rights group Walk Free estimates that almost 50 million people world-wide live in a modern form of enslavement. So how has our understanding of slavery changed over time? And why is it often still portrayed as a thing of the past?  Guests: Dr Catherine Armstrong – Reader in Modern History, Loughborough University Susan Hutchinson – PHD Candidate, Australian National University. Architect of the Prosecute Don’t Perpetrate campaign Dr Paige Gleeson – Adjunct Fellow, History & Classics, School of Humanities, University of Tasmania Dr Justine Nolan – Professor of Law and Justice, UNSW Sydney. Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute

What happens when the bombs and the fighting stop? Who pays for all the damage? It’s estimated that rebuilding Gaza alone, will cost more than US$70 billion.  What strategy is needed to turn battlefields and ruins into peace and prosperity?

The government of Emmanuel Macron is struggling to deal with ongoing tension and resentment in France’s external territory, New Caledonia. The latest diplomatic and legislative efforts to determine the archipelago’s future have failed, and recent local elections have only cemented the stalemate between pro-independence supporters and those New Caledonians who want to remain a part of France. We explore what that means for the people of New Caledonia; France’s historic presence in the Pacific; President Macron’s grand Indo-pacific strategy; and for the 2027 French presidential elections. Guests: Dr Denise Fisher – Visiting Fellow, Centre for European Studies, Australian National University and former Australian Consul General in Noumea Cade Winter – Researcher, Yale Review of International Studies, Yale University Dr Frederic Grare – Senior Research Fellow, National Security College, Australian National University  Nic Maclellan -Correspondent, Islands Pacific Magazine and Pacific Affairs Correspondent, Inside Story

One third of the world's fertiliser is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. How did fertiliser supply become so concentrated in the Middle East and what happens when this supply is suddenly at risk?