A scholars’ panel looks at the diplomacy, the science and the pragmatism behind the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed between Iran and six world powers.
When the President of the United States burst into song on the weekend, music amplified the emotional force of his words.
EPA/Richard Ellis
Only a hard heart could fail to respond on some emotional level when Barack Obama, eulogising at one of the most emotionally and racially charged funerals in US history, started singing Amazing Grace.
The president reacts to the news of the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
On the face of it, Iraq and the US Federal Reserve share little. One is a country plagued by division, war and mayhem since the US invasion of 2003. It is a brutal world where there are no friends, few…
US President Barack Obama speaks at the US-Africa leaders summit. The number of US programs and initiatives on the continent has grown exponentially.
EPA
Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to Kenya is a clear sign American military and economic involvement in Africa will continue to rise amid growing Chinese influence.
A valuable handshake between defense chiefs.
Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Greenhouse emissions from the aviation industry are still largely unregulated. The prospect of regulations for US flights sounds like progress, but it won’t happen without an elusive international consensus.
President Obama pulled out all the stops in recent days, but it wasn’t enough to convince House Democrats that he would negotiate a fair trade deal in the Pacific.
The fight over fast-track trade authority increasingly resembles a Shakespearean tragedy.
Tempest via www.shutterstock.com
Events in Washington this week on the proposed historic 12-member Trans-Pacific trade agreement have had all the key elements of a Shakespearean tragedy. A resolute, noble and well-intentioned ruler (played…
G7 leaders have pledged to help end the world’s fossil fuel use by the end of the century. It’s a laudable aim, but decarbonisation can and should be done by the middle, not the end, of this century.
John Kerry talks trade with workers at Boeing
POOL New/ Reuters
Washington is in the midst of a heated debate over President Obama’s proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. It certainly has created some unorthodox political bedfellows. The president is…
Why did Penn State take so long to disclose the breach?
Laptop image via www.shutterstock.com
The recent cyber attacks at Penn State have put personal information of 18,000 students in the hands of hackers. What should universities do to protect students’ privacy?
How often do politicians lie?
People image via www.shutterstock.com
There may be only one way to tell the truth, but there are at least five ways to “lie.” And our politicians seem to be the master of this art. A scholar decides to teach this to his students.
Who is the audience for the commencement address?
Penn State
American Presidents tend to use the commencement address to address the audience outside than within the graduation hall. This changes though if they go on to a second term.
Cuba’s pivot to the US is a signal to the region that its experiment with old-fashioned socialism will come to an end.
EPA/Alejandro Ernesto
The historic warming of US-Cuban relations offers new opportunity for American entrepreneurs and Cuba’s famously well-educated people – but it isn’t good news for Latin American socialists.
The Vietnam War memorial in Washington DC.
Geoff Livingston/Flickr
In a candid 1962 conversation with a Guardian editor, President Kennedy unpacked his views on Cuba, the Soviet Union, and nuclear war. What can Obama learn from him?
Professor in U.S. Politics and U.S. Foreign Relations at the United States Studies Centre and in the Discipline of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney