Washington hopes unprecedented sanctions will force Iran into submission. China and Pakistan are already refusing to comply, while retaliation could deepen the economic damage for the US and its allies. (more…)
Category: USA
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Hard New World: Can Australia survive America’s decline?
Hugh White’s new book warns that declining US power and China’s rise are remaking Asia, while Australia remains dangerously attached to old assumptions about American protection. (more…)
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Trump cannot deport students for pro-Palestinian speech, judge rules
A US federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration violated constitutional protections by using immigration powers against international students for pro-Palestinian speech. (more…)
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Why America’s political system has failed to contain Trump
Donald Trump’s political dominance reflects more than one man’s power. Hugh White writes that deep public discontent and failing institutions have left America vulnerable to a second political revolution. (more…)
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Albanese, climate change and the case for greater independence
Australia faces worsening climate risks while expanding fossil fuel projects and deepening its ties with Washington. Could Anthony Albanese pursue a more independent path on climate, energy and foreign policy? (more…)
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Nolan’s The Odyssey and the moral blindness of power
Christopher Nolan’s *The Odyssey* offers a warning for modern powers: military strength means little when nations abandon restraint, moral responsibility and shared humanity. (more…)
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Trump destabilising East Asia’s security order
Trump’s transactional approach to US alliances is pushing South Korea and Japan towards greater strategic autonomy, as China seeks to shape an increasingly uncertain East Asian security order. (more…)
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Trump’s Canada trade war spirals as talks collapse
The collapse of US-Canada trade talks marks a new low between the two nations, with warnings of major economic and human impacts on both sides of national borders. (more…)
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Trump’s trolling is not a sideshow. It is a democratic strategy
Democratic oversight breaks down when voters can no longer tell genuine abuses of power from partisan attacks. Strategic trolling exploits that uncertainty and makes legitimate warnings easier to dismiss. (more…)
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Trump is making China look better to the world
Across much of the world, attitudes towards China are improving as views of the United States deteriorate, with trust in American leadership, reliability and respect for freedoms all taking a hit. (more…)
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Trump’s Truth Social business blurs the line between politics and profit
Donald Trump’s latest business venture – selling advance access to his market-moving Truth Social posts – further intertwines his presidential role with his private financial interests, allowing paying customers to receive information that could influence markets before it is made public. (more…)
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Shadow flights: Australia’s F-35 parts pipeline to Israel now runs through the US
Leaked shipping records show Australian F-35 parts continuing to reach Israel on passenger aircraft, with shipments now routed through the United States rather than Thailand. (more…)
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Democrats should make Trump’s $1.1 million an hour impossible to ignore
The reported $2.2 billion in profits involving Donald Trump and his family during his first year back in office has prompted scrutiny of the president’s financial interests. The Democrats should make the scale of the gains more tangible and push for greater scrutiny of presidential conflicts of interest. (more…)
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Why the US-Iran ceasefire collapsed
A US-Iran ceasefire agreement intended to pave the way for 60 days of peace talks collapsed amid renewed military strikes and disputes over the Strait of Hormuz. With both sides accusing each other of violating the deal, negotiations remain deadlocked and the wider war shows little sign of being resolved. (more…)
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Cuba needs energy security, not another generation of collective punishment
Six months of intensified US pressure on Cuba’s energy supply have deepened blackouts, transport failures and shortages. The immediate need is humanitarian relief; the longer-term answer is energy sovereignty. (more…)
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A Trump-linked oil push raises the stakes in Greenland
Donald Trump has renewed his threats to take Greenland as a US oil company with ties to his allies makes unauthorised preparations to drill there, raising fears that pressure on the territory is moving beyond rhetoric. (more…)
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Regime Change: essential, chilling reading on Trump’s second term
Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s Regime Change documents the corruption, cruelty and concentration of power defining Donald Trump’s second presidency – and why the international restraints he is dismantling still matter. (more…)
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Human rights groups challenge Trump’s attack on the ICC
Four US human rights groups are challenging Trump administration sanctions they say criminalise cooperation with the International Criminal Court and obstruct efforts to pursue justice for Gaza. (more…)
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November could be the turning point in the Trump era
Donald Trump may refuse to accept Republican losses in November, but America’s electoral institutions are likely to hold – and the midterms could mark a decisive shift towards a post-Trump political era. (more…)
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A 321-diamond ring, a tariff exemption and questions for Trump
A diamond-studded ring given to Donald Trump weeks before Belgian diamonds received tariff relief has prompted Democratic senators to question whether gifts are influencing White House trade decisions.
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From Marat to Trump: what history tells us about terror and power
A new biography of French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat offers a lens through which to consider two very different reigns of terror – and what their histories might tell us about Donald Trump’s America. (more…)
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Sanctions can be as deadly as war – and children pay the price
New research links unilateral economic sanctions to more than half a million deaths each year, with children under five disproportionately affected. Cuba shows how policies intended to punish governments can instead devastate civilian lives. (more…)
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Iran is making Trump pay for his way out
Trump may be willing to declare victory if Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran is using its leverage to demand sanctions relief, compensation and an end to US military pressure. (more…)
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Not really like us – a new view of Trump’s America
Kieran Kelly’s Not Really Like Us traces a lifelong fascination with America that gives way to a more cautious view of the US as powerful, vital to Australia – and fundamentally different. (more…)
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Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan win is a blow to AIPAC
Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary marks a major defeat for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and pro-Israel spending, and could signal a wider shift in Democratic politics over Gaza. (more…)
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The hounding of Tony Fauci shows Trump’s ugly America
The attacks on Tony Fauci over COVID-19 advice, masks, gain-of-function research and rejected treatments are vindictive politics dressed up as accountability.
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Terrorism and the deliberate corruption of language and meaning
The word “terrorism” is applied selectively to enemies of the US and its allies, turning a legal and moral category into propaganda that obscures state violence and normalises genocide. (more…)
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Pine Gap protest exposes Australia’s Indigenous rights hypocrisy
Australia champions Indigenous rights internationally, yet the militarisation of northern Australia raises urgent questions about consultation, consent and the use of Indigenous lands for defence purposes. (more…)
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Trump has broken Zeus’ law
Greek tragedy offers a way to read the present: when mercy, law, restraint and community are replaced by power, vengeance and wealth, disorder follows.
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Gaza has broken Washington’s Israel consensus
US military support for Israel is facing its deepest political and legal crisis in decades, as Gaza exposes the gap between Washington’s stated values and its role as arms supplier and diplomatic protector. (more…)