United States
Back to the future for the US State Department?
Former US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis once quipped that, “if you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition”. In assessing the wrangling over the…
Malcolm Turnbull makes a call to global leaders with advice on Trump
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has told his side of that phone call with Donald Trump before. Don’t give in to a bully is Turnbull’s line. His 2020 memoir goes into some…
The China alibi
The 2024 Lowy Institute Poll makes fascinating reading, not least for the paradigm shift that it shows in attitudes to China. As recently as 2020, the majority of Australians (55%…
Joe Biden should pardon Donald Trump
Donald Trump has run afoul of the rules-based order. And in a manner so-often emblematic of America’s approach to the world, he has pugnaciously declared that the rules don…
The “Squad” is a welcome spin-off, but the Quad is the main game
In light of the successful first-ever US-Japan-Philippines trilateral summit and joint maritime patrols in the South China Sea involving the United States, Japan, Australia, and…
Biden’s new Antarctic statement holds lessons for Australia
US President Joe Biden has used the occasion of this year’s Antarctic Treaty consultative meeting to release a new high-level policy statement on Antarctica. The “National…
Whether EVs or solar panels, protectionism has the same distorting effect
It is commonly agreed that the Biden administration’s recently announced 100% tariff on Chinese made electric cars is entirely symbolic. Already impeded by a 25% tariff, China…
The macroeconomic limit of American exceptionalism
Donald Trump was long obsessed with trade deficits and railed it was “very bad” whenever the balance ran against the United States. So, it’s not surprising to see one of Trump’s…
In the story of an assassination plot, India decides to shoot the messenger
Whenever anonymous sources are cited in media reports, it’s open to the audience to assume that a leak is deliberate, part of a strategy to send a message. The old saying goes…
“Squad” goals: Consolidating the new quadrilateral partnership
A few days ago, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin hosted his counterparts from three allied nations – Japan, Australia and, crucially, the Philippines – in Hawaii, also home to…