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.

America’s place in a changing world

Democratic allies should call out America’s brutish approach to resetting its relations with them and work together in fields where the USA used to lead but Trump is at least addressing problems too many have left to fester for too long.

The wrong answers to the right questions

New York Times columnist David Brooks once remarked that Donald Trump is the wrong answer to the right questions—a sentiment that captures the core challenge facing US policy in East Asia.

Embracing abundance

The economic chaos, personal cruelty and cultural vandalism wrought by Donald Trump means the Democrats must clip his wings at the November 2026 mid-term elections, and a bestselling new book might be the key.

The hard fall of soft power

The erosion of American soft power, accelerated by the hollowing out of foreign aid and Washington’s turn to protectionism, marks a retreat from the global influence the United States once had and can only leave the world poorer and more vulnerable to authoritarian aggression.

The rise of “techno-fascism”

Donald Trump’s unprecedented assault on American government and democracy has its roots in the writings of techno-fascists like Curtis Yarvin.