The deliberate undermining of democratic norms and the conflation of personal power with national interest are consistent with patterns seen in states that have tipped into authoritarian rule. (more…)
Category: USA
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Trump’s attacks on Harvard: Cardinal Wolsey and the prologue to an Australian encounter? Part 1 of 2
The White House is now more accurately described as an Imperial War Room: from it, President Trump directs indiscriminate attacks on whatever is enraging him. (more…)
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US unlikely to be able to hold its own against China
Were the US to come up against China in a war in the Pacific, indications are that Washington would have the worse of the exchanges. (more…)
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Weaponising the Department of Justice: echoes of the Star Chamber
Instead of acting as a guardian of the law, the Justice Department will use judicial power to pursue political vendettas and silence dissent. (more…)
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What Trump is building is the problem, not the man himself
We treat Donald Trump as the primary obstacle to a smooth trade order but he is not the problem. What he is building is the problem because it replicates the rising mechanisms of democratically elected political fascism. (more…)
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China takes a softly-softly approach to diplomacy in the US
China’s ambassador to Washington, Xie Feng has adopted a less assertive approach than some of his predecessors. (more…)
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‘Strategic clarity’ over Taiwan is just so much American bombast
Ally or not, no one with a decent sense of self-preservation can afford to take a security guarantee by the United States at face value nowadays. (more…)
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Friday essay: let’s rethink Australia’s national security – and focus on fairness and climate action, not blind fealty to the US
The change in the US after Donald Trump returned to power should make us think deeply whether Washington’s aims and policies will offer us the security we need.
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Warren Report: Musk leveraged government access for personal gain
“Since Election Day, Musk’s staggering net worth has increased by over $100 billion,” the report states. (more…)
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Build-up to the ultimate surveillance state has just begun
While most of us are transfixed daily by more horrific atrocities, potentially deadlier operations are likely to far outlast the genocide in Gaza. (more…)
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US military waste contractor with flawed safety record backing Australian N-waste dump
A US military mega-contractor assisting an Australian company to develop a proposal for a nuclear waste dump in Central Australia has a flawed safety record in handling nuclear waste storage. (more…)
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Australia doing nothing to attract American scientific talent
Australia has an historic opportunity to expand its scientific research and reap significant benefits. (more…)
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China and the art of war
I have a love-hate relationship with China. As a university student, I was entranced by China’s history and rich culture. (more…)
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Marco Rubio: The secretary of statelessness
Question: What member of Trump’s cabinet has four major posts, but only one job? Answer: Marco Rubio (more…)
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Shangri-la is not Shangri-la
Asia, and China’s relationship with Asia, is a more complex environment than that understood by Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump and many in the West. This Shangri-la dialogue sought false friendship, and portended little peace and tranquillity. (more…)
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Marles’ tough guy tosh hurts Australia
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles is a provocateur. His hawkish language kindles military confrontation between the United States and the Peoples’ Republic of China. (more…)
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The US dual economy: trending toward the periphery
Over the past 45 years, the United States has experienced deepening economic divisions between the rich and poor. (more…)
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Tariff shockwaves: Indonesia’s export strategy under fire
While trade negotiation between Indonesia and the US is still underway, the archipelago must reassess its non-tariff measures to address US concerns while ensuring fair trade practices and maintaining economic stability. (more…)
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Thirty-five richest Republicans set to ‘line their own pockets’ while taking food, healthcare from millions
“The Trump tax scam is a grift for the ultra-rich, including those who are in charge of passing this legislation themselves, and a betrayal to hardworking Americans everywhere,” said the head of Accountable.US. (more…)
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Jerry Falwell and the Christian culture wars
In May 1979, Jerry Falwell invited a select group of Christian conservative leaders to a strategic planning retreat at his Lynchburg, VA, estate. (more…)
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China-US trade deal: The ‘win’ belongs to globalisation
In a breakthrough for global trade, China and the United States concluded ice-breaking talks in Geneva with a deal to temporarily roll back tariffs and create a new bilateral consultation mechanism. (more…)
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Our retreat from Asia has become a rout
On almost every measure, Australia has gone backwards on engaging with our region, and particularly with China, and it is time to do something about it. (more…)
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Trump’s second term is taking the US back to the bad old days
“Words mean just what I say they mean”, Humpty Dumpty (more…)
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China’s calm response to US’ impulsive tariffs gets noticed
Shortly after China and the United States announced tariff adjustment measures in Geneva, Switzerland, Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist Aron Solomon argued in a Newsweek article that the US now has an administration that “governs not with strategy, but with impulse”. (more…)
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Trump inflicts cruelty on the disadvantaged – and seems to enjoy it
Perhaps the most despicable of the character flaws of Donald Trump is his cruelty and his apparent enjoyment of the same! (more…)
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Dangers and conveniences of combining great power with egomania
To take just one possible indicator, if the worldwide stampede to safe haven investments is anything to go by, there is a general sense of foreboding out there regarding President Trump’s election to a second term in office and the deleterious effects of this on the global economy, the stability of international relations and the likelihood of war with China, the genocide in Gaza, the gathering pace of global warming, authoritarian rule, and the suppression of dissent. (more…)
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Greg Sheridan piles on the Murdoch delusions
While Paul Kelly has written wisely about Donald Trump, many of his Murdoch colleagues appear discombobulated by the real estate developer’s return to the US presidency. Who can blame them? They’re not alone. (more…)
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The US Supremes, not its critics, are trashing the rule of law
The American Chief Justice, John Roberts, has complained that judges are being trashed, and has warned that the rule of law is being endangered. (more…)
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Even once reluctant scholars now agree on Israel’s Gaza assault: It’s a genocide
“Can I name someone whose work I respect who doesn’t consider it genocide?” said one researcher. “No.” (more…)
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The Trump coalition wants to end democracy as we know it
Four groups aim to degrade our one-person-one-vote election system so a few billionaires and certain religious zealots can consolidate their political power. (more…)