Mark Carney’s blunt declaration that the rules-based international order has ruptured challenges countries like Australia to rethink their alliances and consider new coalitions among middle powers. (more…)
Category: USA
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Message from the Editor
When I stared in newspapers it was often said that today’s paper is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapper. It is a relief to know that some are not so casual about the press. John Menadue and Paul Keating both have long memories, and mark a special anniversary today. It is exactly three years to the day since The Age and SMH ran a series called ‘Red Alert – warning war with China would come within three years, making that deadline today.
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The $175 billion question: will the US Supreme Court stop the war fund?
A US court order forcing the refund of $175 billion in tariff taxes has triggered a constitutional confrontation over whether a president can bypass Congress to fund global conflict.
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Australia’s politics of consensus is stifling dissent and compassion
Governments sustain power by repeating stories about themselves. In Australia’s federal parliament, a narrow political consensus – marked by conformity, cruelty and evasion – is weakening democratic debate and eroding the principles of human rights and international law.
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We have been here before – and we never learn
From Afghanistan to Iraq and Libya, repeated military interventions have weakened rather than strengthened US power. With new strikes on Iran launched without congressional authorisation, the pattern of executive overreach and strategic miscalculation deepens.
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Australia’s shameless support for the US attack on Iran makes us gullible, duplicitous, or both
For Anthony Albanese – as well as Mark Carney and Keir Starmer – to go along with Trump and Netanyahu’s cynical ploy negates any sense of moral authority we possess – a catastrophe for the rules-based order. (more…)
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You don’t have to like Iran’s government to oppose this war
After the killing of more than 150 schoolchildren in southern Iran, memories of a visit to Isfahan in 2018 return with painful clarity for Eugene Doyle. Beyond governments and geopolitics are ordinary families, whose children now bear the cost of escalating war. (more…)
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The US-Israeli attack on Iran is also an assault on the United Nations
The US–Israel war on Iran is a direct breach of the UN Charter and a blow to international law. But the attempt to impose global hegemony and hollow out the UN will ultimately fail in a multipolar world determined to resist domination. (more…)
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Another poor US intelligence call?
As the US strikes Iran while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, questions grow about selective enforcement of international law and a long record of flawed intelligence assessments. (more…)
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If Iran resists, the global economy will pay
Western governments, including Australia and New Zealand, have backed US and Israeli strikes on Iran. But the decision risks economic catastrophe, regional escalation and the further erosion of international law. (more…)
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Trump and Netanyahu want regime change, but Iran’s regime was built for survival. A long war is now likely
The US–Israel strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader have pushed the Middle East into open war. But regime change in Tehran is far from assured and the conflict could trigger prolonged regional instability with global consequences.
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‘Insane this is legal’: Bettors make huge profits from suspiciously timed wagers on Iran war
Newly created accounts made around $1 million betting on the precise timing of US strikes on Iran, prompting calls for investigation into whether prediction markets are being used to profit from war.
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Trump’s dangerous war without consent
The United States is now at war with Iran without congressional approval, and the costs – strategic, human and constitutional – could be catastrophic. (more…)
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Jeffrey Sachs on the US and Israel war with Iran
The US is fighting to maintain hegemony, in a war that will have shocking global ramifications, says Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs in conversation with Glenn Diesen. (more…)
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From Minneapolis to Africa – how states fracture when legitimacy fails
From Nigeria to Ethiopia, African conflicts show how federations unravel when force loses accountability. Minnesota’s standoff with Washington reveals the same warning signs.
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From Iraq to Iran – how international law has unravelled
In 2003, governments at least felt compelled to argue the legality of war. In 2026, a possible strike on Iran proceeds without even the pretence of legal justification. (more…)
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‘Arsonist as Fire Chief’: Fed appoints Wall Street lobbyist to key bank oversight role
The Federal Reserve has appointed longtime Wall Street lawyer Randall Guynn as its new director of supervision and regulation – a move critics say risks entrenching industry influence at the heart of financial oversight.
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Pax Americana and the starvation siege of Cuba
For more than three decades the world has voted overwhelmingly to end the US embargo on Cuba. Washington ignores the law, the UN, and the humanitarian cost – and its allies look away. (more…)
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Five takeaways from Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address
How did our region see the US President’s speech? Dewey Sim of South China Morning Post reports that in the 1 hour 47 minute address, Trump cast himself as a global peacemaker and touted his economic credentials. (more…)
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President Trump: Give back the money and stop grabbing more
The White House and Congress can and should provide relief to American families who bore the costs of illegal tariffs. The administration has the responsibility to design such relief. (more…)
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Iran on the brink
After decades of US-backed regime-change wars across the Middle East, Iran now stands alone. A new conflict would deepen regional instability and test Australia’s willingness to say no.
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Starlink, China and the governance of low Earth orbit
China’s massive satellite filings highlight how low Earth orbit has already been transformed by industrial-scale deployment – and how existing governance is struggling to keep pace.
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Countering bully, tyrant Trump’s intimidating expletives – it could work
Donald Trump’s rise and endurance rest on intimidation, repetition and media amplification – and on the long failure of opponents to confront those tactics directly.
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Prince Andrew arrested – why not King Trump?
If no one is above the law in the UK, not even royalty, presumably no one is above the law in the US, not even a president. (more…)
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Reverend Jesse Jackson’s legacy on the Middle East
Tributes to Reverend Jesse Jackson rightly honour his civil rights leadership. Far fewer acknowledge his long, consistent support for Palestinian self-determination – and the political costs he paid for it. (more…)
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US attitude towards Vietnam remains imperialist, not capitalist
Vietnam’s Communist Party leader To Lam has consolidated power and set ambitious growth targets for the country’s future. While reforms have unlocked momentum, centralisation, debt, corruption and geopolitical pressure raise questions about sustainability. (more…)
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Judge pushes back on Trump-style ‘Ministry of Truth’
A Republican-appointed federal judge has ordered the restoration of slavery exhibits at an historic US site, rejecting claims that the executive can decide what historical truth should be.
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‘It’s my government’: Robert Reich’s short note to Kristi Noem
To a current US cabinet secretary from a former one. (more…)
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Judge rebukes US defence secretary over bid to silence retired veteran
A federal judge has blocked an attempt by the US defence secretary to punish a retired naval officer and senator for speaking out, delivering a sharp rebuke to efforts to narrow constitutional protections for veterans. (more…)
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Cruelty as policy only works until the public recoils
Trump’s immigration crackdown reveals how governments test public tolerance for cruelty exercised in the name of order – a lesson with clear echoes in Australia’s own recent history. (more…)