United States
Why Hillary Clinton still haunts Donald Trump
Despite White House adviser Kellyanne Conway’s fearlessly fictitious claim that nobody in the Trump administration is still talking about Hillary Clinton, President Donald Trump…
US National Defense Strategy may force Australia to get off the fence
Sometimes your closest friends, rather than your rivals, cause the biggest headaches. The blunt language contained in the 2018 US National Defense Strategy (NDS) is likely to…
Economic diplomacy brief: Trump turns global, Pacific aid, Chinese tourism, and more
Davos men
With the North Korean nuclear threat seemingly sidelined until after the Winter Olympics at least, this geopolitical year is starting in a curiously similar way to last…
Pakistan: A reluctant ally
In one of his first tweets of the year, US President Donald Trump launched a tirade against Pakistan. ‘The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars…
A turning point in US economic relations with China
The US appears to have reached a turning point in its economic relationship with China.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, candidate Donald Trump accused Chinese policy…
Best of The Interpreter 2017: Donald Trump
The world was still reeling in January from Donald Trump’s inauguration speech. Barbara Slavin:
As Americans ponder the future with fear, it is hard to reassure friends around…
‘Economic aggression’: Donald Trump picks a fight with China
The Trump administration’s determination to meet China’s ‘economic aggression’, announced in this week’s National Security Strategy (NSS), is already being portrayed as a striking…
What the least credible document in US strategic history reveals
The Trump administration’s just-released National Security Strategy (NSS) is, unsurprisingly, the least credible document in the history of US foreign policy-making. Its words are…
Clear messages required in Twitter-age of diplomacy
Robert Ayson is quite right to pick me up on the distinction between pre-emptive and preventative military strikes. My post on Australia’s policy towards a US attack on North…
What should Australia rule out on North Korea?
In place of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's ambiguous commitment to support US military action against North Korea, Hugh White wants a clear statement ruling out Australia's…