Trump first

Trump’s “America first” foreign policy is a cloak for his all consuming ‘Trump first” agenda and, like his domestic policies, aims to wrong-foot traditional norms and institutions to tighten his authoritarian control.

Stand back and stand by

Donald Trump’s unchecked descent into authoritarian insanity continues to gain pace with his plan to use America’s military against its own people.

Trump’s contempt for press freedom

United States President Donald Trump is well advanced in his systematic campaign to undermine the American media and eviscerate its traditional function of holding people in power to account.

Fighting fire with fire

California Governor Gavin Newsom has adopted a Trump-style, high-intensity propaganda strategy—complete with trolling, mock slogans, and theatrical ridicule—positioning himself as a bold counterforce in America’s fractured political arena. His brazen tactics energise Democrats but risk backlash from Trump loyalists, raising the question of whether sharp satire can truly sway minds in an age of polarised “truths” and emotional politics.

Trump’s new brand of McCarthyism

The murder of Trumpian activist Charlie Kirk has sparked a coordinated campaign against critics of the Trump regime that echoes one of the darkest chapters in American history.

Trump’s assault on democracy

Donald Trump is never less than brazen in his contempt for democratic norms and he’s been quick to use Charlie Kirk’s killing as a pretext for crushing dissent and demonising any political opposition.

Kirk’s crusade

Charlie Kirk talked with young people at universities for a reason – he wanted American education to return to traditional values

A history of violence

Political violence has always been part of America’s story, rather than a passing anomaly, and only by facing this history head-on can Americans begin to imagine a politics not defined by the gun.

Death in the afternoon

Charlie Kirk has joined the long list of politicians in the United States to be assassinated, and his murder at a speaking event in Utah by an unknown gunman may tip the country even closer to anarchy, if not outright civil war.

The odd couple

As rich and powerful first-world nations, America and Australia share a problem: how to recalibrate their relationship to deliver peace and prosperity rather than conflict and disharmony. In his new book “The Odd Couple”, Allan Behm suggests ways that America and Australia can reframe their relationship to strengthen well-being and human security worldwide.

The right hand man’s right hand man

libertarian tech titan Peter Thiel helped make JD Vance. The Republican kingmaker’s influence is growing

The hard fall of American soft power

Six months after Donald Trump summarily destroyed USAID as one of his first acts on taking office, US soft power is in steep decline.