Israel’s influence over US foreign policy is weakening as the political costs of unconditional support rise, and that shift may also reshape the pro-Israel lobby’s power in Australia. (more…)
Category: USA
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The UK’s financial dependence on US speculators
Relying on US investment in the UK bond market is a major constraint for any British prime minister. (more…)
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Getting out of the Iranian quagmire
Trump wants to end the war with Iran. That involves protecting Lebanon from Israel. (more…)
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The Iran deal exposes the futility of Trump’s war
A fragile US-Iran agreement may end a war that failed to topple Tehran or destroy its nuclear capacity, leaving Iran with greater regional leverage, Israel exposed and Washington facing hard questions about what the conflict achieved. (more…)
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Decolonising democracy – part eight
In the final part of this series, John Keane asks whether democracies will have the resolve to stand up to the USA and to find remedies for the maladies of representative democracy. (more…)
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Decolonising democracy – part seven
In the seventh of an eight-part series, John Keane asks if other democracies can decouple themselves from the American empire. (more…)
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Foreclosing on the future
A draft ruling on how research is funded in the Unites States aims to keep the scientific community on a very short leash. (more…)
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Decolonising democracy – part six
In the sixth of an eight-part series, John Keane discusses the ramifications of the US withdrawal from international organisations on other democracies. (more…)
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Hanson, Morrison and Trump: lies, fear, and how to fight back – Message from the Editor
Fear and panic aren’t just bad in themselves; they often lead to stasis. (more…)
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Decolonising democracy – part five
In the fifth of an eight-part series, John Keane says the declining US empire will manage without democracy as it turns on its own citizens. (more…)
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SpaceX is the new East India Company
As SpaceX prepares to list on the Nasdaq tomorrow in what could be the largest IPO in history, its rise raises a deeper question: how much sovereign power governments are prepared to allow a private company to accumulate in space. (more…)
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Trump goes shopping in the US Indian Ocean Island chain
President Trump is reportedly wanting to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius as his way of securing control of Diego Garcia. First, the United Kingdom must hand back their sovereignty. (more…)
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America cannot shoot its way out of decline
Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget would not make the United States safer, but would divert resources from the education, infrastructure, research and resilience needed to rebuild national strength. (more…)
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Decolonising democracy – part four
In the fourth of an eight-part series, John Keane shows how the fading American empire is resorting to military solutions for its mounting global ills, without winning. (more…)
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Could Texas really swing back to the Democrats?
Texas may still lean Republican, but shifting party identification, economic discontent and doubts about Donald Trump’s leadership are giving Democrats new reasons to believe the state could become competitive.
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Decolonising democracy – part three
In the third of an eight-part series, John Keane traces America’s shift from being defender-in-chief of democracy to MAGA’s denunciation of it. (more…)
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Trump urges Israel not to retaliate after Iran missile strikes
Iran has launched missile strikes towards Israel, calling the attack a warning over Israel’s continued assault on southern Lebanon and threatening broader regional action if attacks continue. (more…)
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Decolonising democracy – part two
In the second of an eight-part series, John Keane shows how the American empire deployed the idea of ‘liberal democracy’ to bolster its own interests. (more…)
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Trust US War Secretary Hegseth? Sure can’t
Pete Hegseth’s Shangri-La Dialogue speech revealed the contradictions at the heart of Trump’s foreign policy: demanding allied military obedience while claiming to defend sovereignty, stability and freedom of choice. (more…)
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A war with no end in sight
The Iran war is testing the assumptions behind US and Israeli strategy, with Tehran’s capacity to withstand economic pressure and continue missile production raising political risks for both Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. (more…)
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That sinking feeling – Message from the Editor
Sometimes you just have to wait.
I’m not a very patient person, but I have learned two things about patience and persistence:
the hard, really important stuff never comes quickly; and
issues run in cycles. If you don’t hit the finish line this time, hang on: there will almost certainly be another opportunity. (more…)
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The San Diego mosque attack was not a random attack
The attack on the Islamic Centre of San Diego was part of the normalisation of anti-Muslim sentiment in North America. (more…)
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The Tech Right and MAGA are heading for a collision
Donald Trump’s alliance with Silicon Valley’s Tech Right has united two fundamentally incompatible visions of the future. As AI infrastructure drives up energy costs, the contradiction between technocratic disruption and populist politics is becoming harder to ignore. (more…)
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Duterte’s trial should worry Trump
The court cases facing Nicolás Maduro and Rodrigo Duterte highlight the legal exposure of leaders who use violence, abduction and war as instruments of power – and raise hard questions about Donald Trump’s own vulnerability to international law.
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The genie is out of the bottle. Where to from here for Iran’s Arab neighbours?
The Iran war has damaged US leverage in the Persian Gulf, strengthened Iran’s regional bargaining position and forced Gulf Arab states to reassess their reliance on Washington.
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The Virginia-class submarine deal exposes the real purpose of AUKUS
The shift to second-hand Virginia-class submarines exposes the deeper flaw in AUKUS: Australia is committing vast public funds to a capability designed around US strategic priorities rather than Australia’s own defence needs.
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The cruelty toward immigrants is not incidental. It is the point
The Trump administration’s campaign against immigrants is no longer confined to border enforcement or undocumented arrivals. It has become a broad effort to make life in the United States unbearable for foreign-born people and their families.
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Why Trump should be indicted
The 2016 Iran nuclear agreement imposed strict, independently verified limits on Iran’s nuclear program. Its existence raises fundamental questions about the legality of the Trump administration’s 2026 attack on Iran.
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Judge blocks Trump’s attempt to rename the Kennedy Center after himself
A US federal judge has ruled that Donald Trump’s attempt to rename the John F Kennedy Center after himself violated federal law, reaffirming that only Congress can alter the institution’s name.
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US stalks Cuba
The Western world is hiding in the corner, averting its gaze as the US moves ever-closer to yet another war of aggression this time against the small, impoverished island nation of Cuba, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio signalling that a US war on Cuba is almost inevitable. (more…)