It seems likely that our prime minister will meet Donald Trump at the United Nations General Assembly later this month. (more…)
Category: USA
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Best of 2025 – Mamdani’s victory bought hope to Gaza
Zohran Mamdani is a Ugandan-born Muslim American politician, outspoken supporter of Palestine, and the new Mayor of New York City. His victory there is a symbolic moment that reflects a deeper shift in American awareness toward global justice, especially the Palestinian cause. (more…)
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Best of 2025 – When the centre cannot hold: US polarisation is driving the word away
Once admired for its democratic institutions, cultural dynamism, and global leadership, the United States now finds itself in a different spotlight. (more…)
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Best of 2025 – Australia and Taiwan caught between Trump and Xi’s great-man fantasies
If there was any doubt in Canberra that the traditional political alignment with the US is in turmoil, the past week or so confirms it irrefutably. (more…)
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Best of 2025 – Australia must defend International Criminal Court
If it were China or Russia, the imposition of sanctions and threats of harm to prosecutors and judges of the International Criminal Court would be front page news in Australia. (more…)
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2025 in Review: The fading West, a cautious Labor win and an uncertain world
From the erosion of Western authority to Australia’s election result, 2025 exposed deep shifts in global power, alliance politics and the limits of domestic reform.
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Why did Trump send his warships to Venezuela?
As US pressure on Venezuela intensifies, Washington is reviving an openly interventionist approach to Latin America. The targets extend beyond Caracas to the region as a whole.
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Font of all knowledge? Of Rubio, Rupert and playing to type
A curious US culture-war memo about typefaces becomes a sharp lesson in readability, newspaper craft, and how badly those lessons have been forgotten in Australian journalism.
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2025 in Review: Bullies and sycophants, cowardice on high, courage from below
A year defined by bullying power politics, media cowardice and moral failure – alongside rare but vital acts of courage that point to a different future. (more…)
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From partnership to pressure: why India–US ties have frayed
The downturn in India–US relations during Trump’s second presidency exposes deeper structural weaknesses in the partnership, from trade and strategic autonomy to diverging political priorities. (more…)
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Deleting climate science: the Trump EPA rewrites the causes of warming
The Trump administration has removed references to human-caused climate change and key scientific data from EPA websites, alarming climate scientists and health experts. (more…)
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Ceding the future to China
Delivered as remarks to Brown University’s Watson School during its “China Chat” series, Chas Freeman reflects on China’s return to global prominence and the United States’ accelerating retreat from the international order it once led – and asks what coexistence looks like as power shifts in the 21st century.
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China’s challenge is explaining why it succeeded
Western commentary often dwells on China’s problems while overlooking the cultural and historical foundations of its extraordinary achievements. Understanding both is essential to informed judgement. (more…)
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When foreign policy becomes domestic theatre
Australia’s response to Japan’s rhetoric has been framed as a test of loyalty, but the outrage is largely media-driven. Caution in foreign policy is not betrayal – it is a rational defence of national interest.
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UK–US drug deal risks turning the NHS into a casualty of Trump trade politics
A new agreement with the Trump administration would force Britain’s National Health Service to pay billions more for medicines to avoid tariffs – prompting outrage from MPs, health experts and patient advocates.
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Trade and tariffs: how reciprocity turned into retaliation
Tariff powers once tightly constrained by Congress have steadily migrated to the US presidency. That shift is reshaping global trade – and exposing countries like Australia to greater economic coercion.
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Silencing Starlink over Taiwan would be a massive military challenge
Chinese scientists have modelled how Starlink could be jammed over an area the size of Taiwan – and found it would take an unprecedented scale of coordinated electronic warfare. (more…)
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Trump’s latest Epstein gambit
The next time you hear that Trump has somehow reversed his earlier resistance to releasing the Epstein files, remember that he hasn’t. He could have ordered their disclosure long ago; he never needed a congressional resolution compelling it. (more…)
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Two Trump peace plans
Trump’s proposed peace plan for Ukraine is sparking outrage across Europe. But how does this response compare with his earlier plan for Gaza?
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Five reasons Trump’s economy stinks and 10 things the Dems should do about It
The Trump economy is truly awful for most Americans. Democrats need to show America that they can be better trusted to bring prices down and real wages up. (more…)
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Australians are markedly more worried about the US, but still wary about China
Australians’ concerns and mistrust of China are easing, while doubts about the US are increasing.
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From Whitlam to AUKUS: Sovereignty silenced
When governor-general Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whitlam on 11 November 1975, Australia lost more than a government. It lost a measure of its independence a loss that still shadows our politics half a century later. (more…)
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US Democrats cave once more
The perils of unprincipled, performative so-called “resistance.” (more…)
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Emergency powers and tariffs: The US Supreme Court’s test of the President’s authority
The Supreme Court is set to decide on the limits of executive power – and that decision will have practical implications for Australia.
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Nuclear testing threatens global stability
Gareth Evans, Robert Hill, and Larissa Waters are among the Australian signatories of a statement calling on Trump to clarify that the US will not resume nuclear explosive testing.
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Seoul’s submarine ambitions – what do they mean for the region?
South Korea is currently in final negotiations with the US on a deal that could reshape the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific: the construction of nuclear-powered submarines. (more…)
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Mamdani’s victory bought hope to Gaza
Zohran Mamdani is a Ugandan-born Muslim American politician, outspoken supporter of Palestine, and the new Mayor of New York City. His victory there is a symbolic moment that reflects a deeper shift in American awareness toward global justice, especially the Palestinian cause. (more…)
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Burn it all down movements
When a 34-year-old democratic socialist defeats a political dynasty in the nation’s largest city, we’re witnessing more than another electoral upset. (more…)
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Lame duck syndrome emerging
Reality finally starts to bite in the US and it hasn’t come in a misspelt all-capital letters post Truth Social. (more…)
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‘Spooky fiddling’: Preparing the ground – Part 3
“There is profoundly increasing evidence that foreign espionage and intelligence activities are being practised in Australia on a wide scale… I believe the evidence is so grave and so alarming in its implications that it demands the fullest explanation. The deception over the CIA and the activities of foreign installations on our soil… are an onslaught on Australia’s sovereignty.” – Gough Whitlam, House of Representatives, 1977 (more…)