USA

Analysis and Comment (37)

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The impending Keystone XL decision will signal whether the US is ready to move from quick profits to investments in renewable technology. Flickr/shannonpatrick

Keystone XL threatens true American ‘energy independence’

By John Mathews, Macquarie Graduate School of Management

The Obama Administration is facing a critical choice over whether to approve an extension of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. If approved it will carry heavy crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta to refineries…
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Tornadoes are common in the US Great Plains, but still devastating. Carsten Peter/EPA/World Press Photo

Explainer: why are tornadoes so destructive?

By Ailie Gallant, Monash University

Tornadoes are a part of life for people living in the Great Plains of the United States. In Oklahoma, a state that averages 62 tornadoes a year, people are prepared as best as they can be and are well…
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In the last few years, both China and the US have ramped up efforts to address climate change. Stefano Paltera/US Dept. of Energy Solar Decathlon

China and the US step up on climate

By Tim Flannery

Ambition has awakened the global energy giants, China and the United States. Both nations have recently strengthened commitments to address climate change and announced plans to strengthen collaboration…
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The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill was a tragedy, but what legacy has it left? AAP/Bevil Knapp.

Two years on: the legacy of the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill

By Richard A. Snyder, Ph.D., University of West Florida

It is now two and a half years since the Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Both the people and the ecosystem of the Gulf were changed by this massive spill; how well…
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Even if Congress is opposed, President Obama has made it clear he means to act on climate change. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

State of the Union: climate change action is a domestic concern

By Katherine Lake, University of Melbourne

In his Inauguration address on 21 January, Obama placed tackling climate change high on the agenda for his second term. His definitive statement that “we will respond to the threat of climate change” signalled…
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A boom in cheap gas is weaning the US off foreign fossil fuels, and that has implications for geo-politics. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

How is US non-conventional fossil fuel affecting the rest of the world?

By Barry Naughten

Instead of increased reliance on gas imports expected five years ago the US now has an abundance of cheap gas for domestic use, and is even projecting LNG exports. Reliance on oil imports has fallen from…
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A sign outside Sandy Hook Elementary School echoes the thoughts of many this week. AAP/Justin Lane

Gun control in modern America: hope for change?

By David Malet, University of Melbourne

I have been asked a number of barely concealed variations on the question “What’s wrong with you Yanks?” this week. Lacking anything better, my answer to the American thanatos with guns has been our national…
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President Barack Obama hinted at gun reform in his speech at Newtown. EPA/Olivier Douliery

Gun control and the price of freedom: Obama’s great challenge

By David Smith

Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year…
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Once the shock of the Connecticut shootings has receded, will US law actually change? EPA/Justin Lane

The gun lobby, the Second Amendment and the Sandy Hook shootings

By Binoy Kampmark, RMIT University

It is a form of warfare in urban settings. The recent spate of shootings in the United States have seen the assailants dressed in combat gear – in Aurora, Colorado, an Oregon shopping mall and the latest…
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When 20 children – along with six adults – are murdered in cold blood, is there an appropriate response? EPA/Michael Nelson

Connecticut shootings: we must carefully define our response

By Douglas Ezzy, University of Tasmania

There are two ways of responding to deadly violence such as the school shooting in Connecticut. We can respond violently, as a way of protecting ourselves from the fear and anxiety we feel. Or, we can…
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US Marine Corps Camp Schwab: on-site protesters have hindered Japan’s new US airbase construction here to replace the controversial Futenma Air Station. EPA/Ashimine

Australia is now Uncle Sam’s ‘Keystone of the Pacific’: learn from Okinawa

By Miyume Tanji

Uncle Sam’s military presence in Australia is greater now than ever, and more is on the way. The hundreds of Marines rotational in Darwin since April will grow to 2,500 by 2016, bringing with them more…
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As New York City firefighters look over two houses struck by trees in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, both Republicans and Democrats worry about the impact on voter turnout. EPA/Justin Lane

Why Sandy could be the ‘October Surprise’ of the 2012 presidential election

By Ed Blakely

On November 4, 1979 when Jimmy Carter’s presidency depended on gaining the freedom of the US hostages held by Iranian student militants, he was unable to achieve this goal even when it looked like the…
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Residents of Virginia have begun sandbagging against the arrival of Sandy. EPA/MIchael Reynolds

Hurricane Sandy mixes super-storm conditions with climate change

By Kevin Trenberth, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

As I write this, Hurricane Sandy remains a very large, powerful hurricane. On Sunday afternoon (local time), Sandy brought winds gusting to 103km/h to coastal North Carolina. Heavy rains are already occurring…
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A United States Air Force RF-101 Voodoo aircraft pilot photographs a Russian ship loaded with missiles while the aircraft itself casts a shadow in Port Casilda, Cuba, Nov. 6, 1962. EPA/Defense Imagery

Australia’s untold reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis

By Laura Stanley, Victoria University

Fifty years ago, the United States and the Soviet Union stood on the brink of nuclear war over Soviet missiles in Cuba. Since then, the Cuban Missile Crisis has been recognised as one of the most definitive…
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Over summer, the US has been dry and hot. It’s not alone. EPA/Larry W Smith

Northern hemisphere has another hot, hot summer

By Blair Trewin, Australian Bureau of Meteorology

The 2012 northern hemisphere summer, like its two predecessors, has seen a wide range of climate extremes, many involving heat. In most recent summers there has been at least one part of the world with…
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Like Barack Obama, Richard Nixon was once a first-term president in charge of a spluttering economy. Marion Doss

Lessons of economic history: Nixon, Obama and the politics of austerity

By Wesley Widmaier, Griffith University

Yesterday the Federal Reserve announced limited measures to boost the economy. Whatever effect they will have on the economy, they are unlikely to be of any benefit to Obama. Indeed, history shows that…
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Pakistani citizens showed their opposition to the reopening of supply routes at a protest in Karachi this week. EPA/Rehan Khan

Pakistan blockade: US convoys are not going anywhere soon

By Claude Rakisits, Deakin University

For the past six weeks a high-level US team has been in Pakistan trying to negotiate a resumption of the convoys which travel through the country and provide Coalition forces in Afghanistan with about…
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The US is growing in popularity down under … have we all got Obamamania? AAP/Scott Barbour

Has Australia fallen for Obama’s soft power?

By David Smith

When Barack Obama was under fire for his foreign policy inexperience in 2007, he told the New York Times that his unique biography could be a vital instrument in a new American foreign policy. “If you…
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Stationing US troops in Darwin does not align with our foreign policy interests. AAP/Xavier La Canna

Defence agreements with US harm Australia’s reputation in Asia

By John Langmore, University of Melbourne

AUSTRALIA IN THE ASIAN CENTURY – A series examining Australia’s role in the rapidly transforming Asian region. Delivered in partnership with the Australian government. Today, Professor John Langmore argues…
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The Australian government faces a difficult task in balancing relationships with China and the US. EPA/Minoru Iwasaki/Pool

What the Huawei case tells us about the Australia, US, China nexus

By Adam Lockyer

The recommendation by intelligence agency ASIO that Chinese telecommunications company Huawei be banned from tendering in the National Broadband Network because of cyber security concerns, raises serious…
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Republicans today went to the polls on Super Tuesday, but no clear candidate for the presidential nomination emerged. EPA/Ryan Stone

Super Tuesday: what we learned about the Republican presidential race

By Tom Switzer

Voting in the Super Tuesday Republican primaries has ended in every participating state except Alaska. The results have been shared: front runners Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have all…
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US-China competition could lead to a brighter clean energy future, or a trade war. whitehouse.gov

Who owns the sun? Patent law and clean energy

By Matthew Rimmer

There is a trade war brewing between the United States and China over intellectual property relating to clean technologies – particularly solar power. Steven Chu, a scientist, Nobel Laureate in Physics…
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Mitt Romney has targeted voters in different market segments in his bid to win the Republican nomination. EPA/Michael Nelson

Would you like fries with your vote? The rise of political marketing

By Andrew Hughes

One of the more interesting techniques emerging from the United States Republican Nomination Primary Contest has been the strategy being used in television advertising by some candidates, in particular…
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No one goes to Paula Deen for health advice. Bristol Motor Speedway Dragway

In defence of Paula Deen, battered cheesecake and ‘food porn’

By Lauren Rosewarne, University of Melbourne

I’ll be completely up front. I love celebrity cook Paula Deen. I love the drawl, I love the finger licking, I love her ever-so-slightly inappropriate relationship with her sons. That time she described…
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The aftermath of a bombing in Tehran that killed a nuclear scientist. EPA/STR

Are we stumbling towards war with Iran?

By Anthony Billingsley

Relations between Iran and the United States and its ally Israel have descended into the worst crisis in years. Concern is growing that the situation could quickly degenerate into conflict. The origins…
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The Cronulla riots saw ugly attacks on people of “Middle Eastern appearance”. AAP

9/11 anniversary: reflections on the ripple-down effect

By Andrew Jakubowicz, University of Technology, Sydney

It’s about that moment; if you’re old enough it’s the indelible memory of JFK being shot. As a teenager I was listening to the car radio when I heard. For Gen X it’s 9/11, the midnight phonecalls, the…
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The East African drought is one of the area’s worst in 60 years. AAP

From Kenya to Texas: recent climate extremes around the world

By Blair Trewin, Australian Bureau of Meteorology

2010 was the world’s hottest year on record, with global temperatures 0.53°C above the long-term (1961-1990) average. 2011 started with a strong La Niña (perhaps the strongest since 1917), something which…
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Stock markets around the world plummeted after news of the US credit rating downgrade (EPA/FRANK RUMPENHORST)

Debt dive: why is the US at the mercy of anonymous credit agencies?

By Binoy Kampmark, RMIT University

Without the firing of a single shot in anger, a country has been, at least in a sense, brought to its economic knees. The capitalist system, with variations and aberrations, is now reacting. Shares are…
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Minnesota’s three-week shutdown saw basic government services stripped back. Flickr/mngop

Minnesota shutdown broadens the blue-red chasm in US politics

By Lee Munnich, University of Minnesota

Minnesotans have breathed a sigh of relief after the state’s Republican-led legislature signed off on a budget deal negotiated with Democratic Governor Mark Dayton, ending a three-week state government…
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Pupils at this charter school appreciate President Obama’s support, but it’s not the only option. Flickr/The White House

Don’t play the market when it comes to children’s education

By Joel Windle, Monash University and Christopher Lubienski, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Education policy in the United States is paved with some glaring failures. Despite this, many Australian reformers are looking west for inspiration, as the Gonski review of education funding is carried…

Research Briefs (5)

Invasive fish prove to be resourceful

Purdue University

Invasive species of fish, collectively known as Asian carp, may prove more of a concern to American river systems than previously…

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