Welcome to our In Conversation between Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi and Dr Timothy Lynch, lecturer in American politics at Melbourne University. Since being appointed to the Senate in 2006, the Senator…
2500 US Marines will be deployed near Darwin in coming years, but we could also see an expanded American military presence elsewhere in northern Australia.
AAP/Malone
Negotiations are underway that could see some the US military’s most advanced drone aircraft based on the Australian Indian Ocean territory of the Cocos Islands. Combined with discussions around having…
Americans may be a little confused about Australia, but they sure do like us. AAP/Greg Wood.
Americans may not think about Australia much, but when they do, they try not to let facts get in the way. But why should we be surprised by that? With great passion comes great ignorance. And Americans…
The Palestinian delegation to UNESCO await the outcome of the vote on membership.
AAP
The United States announced last Monday that it would refuse to pay its 2011 funding commitment to the United Nations’ lead cultural and educational body following that organisation’s decision to admit…
China is becoming a superpower in space as well as on earth.
AAP
In the early hours of this morning, the tranquility of the remote Gobi desert was shattered by the sound of a brand new spacecraft hurtling towards the sky. The rocket, Shenzhou-8 or “Divine Vessel”, is…
The East Asia Summit could be a useful start on the road towards a ‘concert of powers’.
EPA/Christophe Archambault/Pool
AUSTRALIA IN ASIA: In the eighth part of our series, Sandy Gordon of the Australian National University looks at the possibility of an agreement which would draw the key Asian states together. The CIA…
Barack Obama’s handling of the economy will be closely scrutinised in the US presidential election campaign next year.
AFP/Mandel Ngan
President Barack Obama’s handling of the US economy has come under close scrutiny following the publication of Confidence Men by Ron Suskind - which charts his struggle to contain the Wall Street crash…
This past weekend, whole sections of the United States community felt something like a duty or desire to attend sites linked with the events of 11 September 2001. The public memory ceremonies at these…
American public transport employs biofuels instead of petrol .
AAP
“We are fortunate to be alive at this moment in history. Never before has our nation enjoyed, at once, so much prosperity and social progress with so little internal crisis and so few external threats…
Mourners will gather on the site of the Twin Towers to remember 9/11 victims today.
AFP/Alex Fuchs
Ten years ago today, on September 11th 2001, al-Qaida terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. Passengers on a fourth jet overpowered hijackers, bringing…
The Cronulla riots saw ugly attacks on people of “Middle Eastern appearance”.
AAP
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…
The East African drought is one of the area’s worst in 60 years.
AAP
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…
Jubiliant Libyans celebrate the arrival of rebel forces in central Tripoli.
AAP
The situation in Libya remains fluid but with armed rebel fighters now in Green Square in central Tripoli, it appears the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is in its final hours. Two of the dictator’s…
Change will again come to the White House. And it will come courtesy of another Texan.
EPA/Alex Jones/pool
We now know the name of the next president of the United States: Rick Perry. The range of poor choices facing Republicans – from the bland Mitt Romney to the polarising Michele Bachman – has been transformed…
Stock markets around the world plummeted after news of the US credit rating downgrade (EPA/FRANK RUMPENHORST)
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…
Minnesota’s three-week shutdown saw basic government services stripped back.
Flickr/mngop
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…
Anti-US feelings run high after drone attacks in north-western Pakistan EPA.
Washington’s decision last week to suspend $800 million in military aid to Pakistan should not have come as a surprise to anyone who has been following recent developments in the US-Pakistan relationship…
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…
Associate Professor in Islamic Studies, Director of The Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation and Executive Member of Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University