Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are ruthless, but they are not irrational, reports Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh. (more…)
Category: USA
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War games behind the Iran Curtain
The US and UK governments continue to ignore their parliaments and public opinion, on the most important issue, going to war. Again Australia is on the wrong side. (more…)
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The Emperor has no clothes
The continuing saga of the Trump ballroom is yet another sign that everything the man touches turns to anything but gold, writes Noel Turnbull. (more…)
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Thugocracy: the Iran war shows how instability can become profitable
The Iran war has revealed how instability can become a powerful political instrument that benefits insiders and gives them incentives to prolong conflict. (more…)
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Putin and Trump can’t win
Believing in their military might, neither Putin nor Trump considered the consequences of their attacks on Ukraine and Iran. Now their wars are failing. (more…)
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The leader of the ‘free world’ is no longer the leader of the world
Trump’s visit to Beijing reveals how the balance of power – bilaterally and globally – has shifted to China’s advantage. (more…)
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US condemns Israel’s Ben-Gvir while sanctioning Gaza flotilla organisers
A rare public rebuke of Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir by US Ambassador Mike Huckabee has highlighted growing international condemnation over the treatment of Gaza flotilla activists, even as Washington continues sanctioning Palestinian groups and organisers.
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Inside the Senate’s revolt to stop Trump’s war
A bipartisan Senate vote to advance a War Powers Resolution against Operation Epic Fury marks a significant challenge to the Trump administration’s attempt to wage war against Iran without sustained congressional authorisation. (more…)
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Freedom Flotilla Coalition says Israeli forces attacked aid boats for 35 hours
In a statement from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s US arm, organisers say Israeli forces carried out a prolonged assault on civilian aid boats in international waters, using gunfire, water cannons and violent boardings against unarmed volunteers attempting to reach Gaza.
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Trump goes to Beijing: what’s in it for Australia?
The recent Trump-Xi meeting in Beijing may not have resolved major geopolitical disputes, but renewed dialogue between the United States and China represents an important step toward reducing tensions and strategic misunderstanding.
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Elon Musk lost his case against OpenAI – but the bigger questions remain
A US jury dismissed Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI on procedural grounds, leaving unresolved deeper questions about whether the company has abandoned its original nonprofit mission in pursuit of commercial dominance.
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The American mis-imagination of China
In a speech to a colloquium on John Hay’s Open Door Policy, former US diplomat Chas Freeman argues that America’s current approach to China is strategically self-defeating and increasingly detached from geopolitical reality. (more…)
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Why the next Trump-Xi summit could be in Australia’s backyard
As Washington and Beijing reshape the Indo-Pacific order through direct negotiation, Australia risks remaining strategically reactive instead of positioning itself as a trusted diplomatic bridge between the two powers. (more…)
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Trump’s aid cuts are pushing more Americans to food banks
Food banks across the United States are reporting surging demand as cuts to food assistance, rising prices and inflation leave millions of vulnerable Americans struggling to afford groceries.
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Support for impeaching Trump is now firmly mainstream
Polling suggests support for impeaching Donald Trump has returned to levels seen during Watergate and Trump’s first presidency, even as the US political system still makes removal from office highly unlikely.
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The US and Iran are trapped in a dangerous cycle of escalation
The war between the US and Iran is increasingly being driven by the self-reinforcing dynamics of escalation, retaliation and mistrust that make de-escalation politically and strategically difficult.
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America’s suicide pact
Donald Trump is not an aberration but the culmination of decades of political decay, elite corruption, corporate power and democratic collapse within the United States. (more…)
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Cannes and the courts deliver a sharp rebuke to political silencing – Message from the Editor
Two seemingly unconnected things happened this week, one at the Cannes film festival on the French Riviera, the other in the US District Court in Washington. The events concerned two women – Susan Sarandon and Francesca Albanese. So what connects an icon of the screen with an Italian human-rights lawyer, and why does it matter?
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It’s crucial to follow the money on the US national debt
A big chunk of the growing interest payments American taxpayers make on the federal debt is going to wealthy Americans. (more…)
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Demagogues, despots and the rise of ‘phantom democracies’
Modern despots increasingly mimic the language and rituals of democracy while concentrating power through manipulation, spectacle, nationalism and the managed consent of their citizens.
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What does Pentagon chief Hegseth’s presence in China say about Trump’s military agenda?
Donald Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping is expected to focus heavily on military communications, Taiwan, nuclear tensions and crisis management as both sides seek to avoid dangerous escalation between the world’s two largest powers.
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As Trump visits China, Beijing is reshaping the global technology race
Donald Trump’s visit to China comes as the country’s new Five-Year Plan places technological self-reliance and frontier scientific innovation at the centre of its strategy for long-term economic and geopolitical competition.
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The war on Iran will likely end in American retreat
The US and Israel expected a rapid collapse of the Iranian regime, but the war has instead exposed the limits of American power, the rising cost of modern warfare and Iran’s capacity to impose regional consequences. (more…)
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Trump’s China visit watched in US for signs of stability – and tangible wins
Donald Trump’s visit to China comes amid mounting tensions over trade, AI, security and the Middle East, but both Washington and Beijing appear determined to prevent the relationship sliding into deeper confrontation.
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Is Australia America’s 51st state in Asia?
Both Labor and the Coalition are deepening Australia’s alignment with the United States, even as doubts grow about AUKUS, the rules-based order and the risks of being drawn into a US-China conflict. (more…)
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Trump raises voice – Vatican lowers heat
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Rome visit exposes the contrast between White House fury and papal diplomacy. (more…)
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On-again, off-again war/peace rhetoric: just epic insider trading?
Epic insider trading by those who likely know Trump’s plans is one characteristic of the US war on Iran, with some observers suggesting the on-again off-again peace deals are deliberately choreographed for the markets.
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India’s farms dodged the Hormuz crisis, but its budget didn’t
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels on 17 April 2026 came as a great relief for India. But the blocking of the strait revealed both how exposed Indian agriculture is to a single waterway and how heavily the government must lean on subsidies to insulate farmers from the consequences. (more…)
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Trump’s tragedy of errors
Regardless of how long US President Donald Trump’s ill-advised war and today’s stagflationary conditions last, the long-run consequences will be profound. Fancying himself an absolute monarch, Trump has broken something he cannot fix and unleashed forces he cannot control. (more…)
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America builds AI, China uses it to transform systems
The US continues to lead in developing AI, but risks falling behind in deploying it at scale. China, once seen primarily as a follower, is positioning itself as a leader in implementation. If this persists, the consequences will be seen in the competitiveness of national economies. (more…)