Truth and trust are in short supply in Western democracies. It’s imperative our political leaders end the constant bickering and sideshows and restore public confidence in good governance.
- Emeritus Professor of International Relations, La Trobe University
The interest and theatre around the Helsinki meeting may be high, but meaningful negotiation is seriously restricted for many reasons.
Mounting evidence suggests we are so mesmerised by the theatre around Donald Trump that we have lost sight of how the US security establishment wields power.
While some countries were taking a major step toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, the US and its allies were focusing on ineffective, counter-productive sanctions against North Korea.
America’s relations with Russia and China are now mired in angst, uncertainty and mutual suspicion.
Far from ‘making America great again’, Donald Trump’s sloganeering will deepen mistrust of US motives and irreparably damage any prospect of co-existence, let alone a more co-operative world order.
There has never been a time when the disconnect between political elites and the public interest was greater than it is today.
The outcome of this election may depend more on what we make of it than on what Trump and his advisers intend. Though daunting, the challenge is pregnant with possibilities.
The Trump circus has distracted from genuine scrutiny of Hillary Clinton’s approach to global challenges if she becomes president - and the signs are not good.
Barack Obama assumed office in January 2009 amid public euphoria and high expectations of greater racial harmony and reduced gun violence at home and a more stable and peaceful international order.
The problem confronting political parties is that the people in leadership positions are intellectually and emotionally ill-equipped to grasp the complex transformation in human affairs now under way.
There is little of Gareth Evans’ sweeping analysis in the cabinet papers of 1990-91 of a rapidly changing world order or of his vision of good international citizenship.
We appear to have reached one of those extraordinary moments in history when people everywhere, communities and even entire nations, feel increasingly stressed and vulnerable. The same may be said of the…
In the lead-up to the budget, the story of crisis has been hammered home, but there’s more to a country than its structural deficit. So how is Australia doing overall? In this special series, ten writers…
Every so often over the last 50 years, Australia’s relations with Indonesia have hit stormy waters. The present tensions over the spying scandal may not be the most serious, but they are serious enough…
Welcome to the first of The Conversation Election 2013 State of the Nation essays. These articles by leading experts in their field provide an in-depth look at the key policy challenges affecting Australia…
Western commentators seem generally mesmerised by North Korea’s quixotic behaviour. The country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, is described as “delusional”, “fruitcake”, “reckless”, and the actions of North Korea’s…
The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the subsequent election of Pope Francis have provoked intense public interest and media attention across the globe. How could it be otherwise? The Catholic Church…
The new year is scarcely a month old. Yet we have seen enough to know that the fires raging in different parts of the Middle East and North Africa will not easily abate – and that the firefighting efforts…
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