After America

The Australia-United States relationship is strong in spite of the flawed defence partnership.

What might the midterms mean for an historically unpopular president?

If the United States government isn’t caring for its own military personnel, how could policymakers expect the US to come to Australia’s aid?

The Australian government constantly talks up the international rules-based order – but its willingness to uphold the principles that underpin it is inconsistent at best.

Fragile men in government and tech are supercharging misogyny in the United States and beyond.

Faced with an entirely new type of president, the Australian government insists on playing an old game by the old rules.

No one knows what’ll happen at the November midterms or the next presidential election. Is the Australian government prepared for the worst-case scenario?

Former Washington Post journalist Anna Fifield reflects on her time at the paper, the state of American media, and New Zealand’s role in the world.

Introducing The Australia Institute's new podcast series, What's the Point? with Richard Denniss.

After a wild couple of weeks in the election, we discuss the emergence of Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee and the place of reproductive rights in the campaign.

On this special crossover episode of After America and Follow the Money, we discuss Biden’s decision to drop out of the campaign and why Democrats have rallied around Kamala Harris as the presumptive nominee.

Former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr joins us to discuss the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, the new Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, and the future of America’s place in the world.

What does the Supreme Court’s monumental ruling on presidential immunity mean for the future of American democracy?

Can Biden recover from a disastrous debate performance?

In After America, a new Australia Institute podcast, Dr Emma Shortis asks what this means for the rest of us, and how Australia can help shape our rapidly changing world for the better.

The Democrats leave their convention on a high note while Trump struggles to get an insult to stick.

The Democratic National Convention has landed in Chicago, Illinois. Will Kamala Harris be able to build on her campaign’s momentum or will the Republican ticket be able to stem the tide?

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz join us to discuss the presidential election, the AUKUS deal and the right-wing media machine.

We examine what Kamala Harris’ foreign policy might look like, Biden’s international legacy and the implications of a second Trump term for global security.

Even with his luxury jet grounded, Trump and his administration have flown the United States into a strategic black hole.

On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, in a heat wave, delayed by storms, Donald Trump gave a very Donald Trump speech.

Trump’s “peace” “deal” with Iran is already falling apart.

With the men’s football world cup underway and after a UFC event on the White House lawn, the relationship between sport and politics seems especially close in the United States right now.

Donald Trump pledged to reach a better deal with Iran than the Obama administration negotiated in 2015. He hasn’t – and probably won’t.

On this special episode, we’re joined by two commissioners from the new community-led, independent inquiry into the AUKUS security deal.

Even as the Trump administration facilitates the demise of the international order the United States helped create, the Australian government’s embrace of Aukus ties the two countries ever closer.

Despite the global upheaval caused by the Trump administration, the Australian government is trying to plough on with AUKUS as if Biden was still in charge.

Stuck in a quagmire of its own making in Iran, the Trump administration has little to show for its diplomatic efforts in Beijing.

A majority of Australians now think Donald Trump is a bigger threat to world peace than either Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping.

160 years after the American Civil War, the Confederacy is ascendent.

Violence is a feature of American democracy.

After tearing up the Iran nuclear deal negotiated under President Obama, Trump is trying to bomb his way to a better outcome and it’s failing spectacularly.

The Trump administration’s failure to reach an agreement with Iran to end the war shouldn’t come as a surprise.

The United States and Israel’s war on Iran has been disastrous.

Far from winding down, tit-for-tat threats on civilian energy infrastructure suggest the US-Israel war may enter a new spiral of violence.

The Trump administration’s war on Iran is the most “incompetent, incoherent” war the United States has fought in a century, according to one US Senator.

The Australian government has been trying to placate Trump in order to secure the AUKUS submarine deal – and now we are seeing the results.

In the MAGAverse, it’s white men who are born to rule – at home and abroad.

The ‘president of peace’ has started another war with Iran, with no apparent regard for the consequences.

The ‘president of peace’ is at it again: threatening Iran again and boasting that his ‘board of peace’ will look over the United Nations.

By removing guardrails around nuclear weapons, the Trump administration is making the world a far more dangerous place.

As American democracy teeters, the Australian government is trying to pretend everything is just fine.

With each passing day, the Make America Great Again movement is becoming more battle-hardened and less likely to disappear once Trump leaves office (whenever that may be).

Autocrats cannot rise to power by themselves – they need an architect.

The Trump administration may have killed what remained of the post-war international order, but last week Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered its eulogy.

American alliances aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.

From Minnesota to Greenland, the Trump administration is bulldozing guardrails meant to protect human life and dignity.

The Trump administration’s imperial march is gathering pace.

Defense Secretary Hegseth doesn’t want the US military to fight with “stupid rules of engagement”.

Trump’s statements about American nuclear testing left administration officials scrambling.

Rumours about America's role in the dismissal of Gough Whitlam have circulated for decades – but is there any truth to them?

By negotiating an end to the government shutdown without getting anything much in return, some Democrats have gone back to their old trick of resisting the President by giving him exactly what he needs.

In New York City, California, New Jersey and Virginia, American voters sent Trump and Republicans a clear message.

Trump and Xi may have come to a “deal”, but their meeting was a wasted opportunity. Plus: what do Australians think about our relationship with the US?

You may not be able to take the ‘president of peace’ at his word, but you can trust Trump to have his own interests in mind.

Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Donald Trump was relatively drama-free, but the devil is in the detail when it comes to the president’s ‘commitments’ on AUKUS and critical minerals.

Donald Trump may have declared the war on Gaza over, but a welcome-but-shaky ceasefire and lasting peace are not the same thing.

As Trump and his officials look at invoking the Insurrection Act, the administration is using the ongoing government shutdown to lay off workers and consolidate power.

After several failed attempts at brokering a ceasefire, President Donald Trump, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu, announced a 20-point peace plan for Gaza.

As Trump takes a sledgehammer to American democracy, Australia’s leader snagged a selfie – and a one-on-one meeting in October. How that will go is anyone’s guess.

After a rocky week for Australian diplomacy, Prime Minister Albanese is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly...and maybe, just maybe, a meeting with President Trump.

Instead of trying bring Americans together after the latest act of political violence, the Trump administration is fanning the flames of division.

Senior leaders from the Ukrainian Red Cross join us to discuss how international standards in armed conflict are being “compromised”.

An imperial revival is occurring under the second Trump presidency.

US President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin this week. But did he get played again?

On this episode of After America, Dr Emma Shortis and Angus Blackman discuss how Trump is normalising the idea that he might not leave the White House once his second term is up, before Helen Haines MP joins the show.

From Gaza to AUKUS, pressure for change is building on Australian foreign policy.

By courting neo-cons and failing to address cost of living concerns, have establishment Democrats signed the party’s death warrant?

On this episode of After America, Dr Emma Shortis and Angus Blackman take a step back to reflect on what’s happened since Trump was inaugurated in January.

A 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals would help Big Pharma make bigger profits, but it’d be a disaster for Americans’ health.

Trump’s Big Bill will turbocharge inequality and the climate catastrophe – and it’s all part of the administration’s plan to radically reshape American society.

Last week, President Donald Trump announced that the United States had signed a trade deal with China. Did it though?

It’s never about regime change (until it is).

Australia traded sovereignty for security with the AUKUS submarine deal, but it might end up with neither.

Trump promised a golden age for the US economy – and now a golden dome to protect the continent.

Trump’s confrontation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was about trying to show who’s in charge.

Donald Trump isn’t an aberration – he’s as much a product of American history as JFK or Barack Obama.

With Americans facing shortages and price hikes, the Trump administration is orchestrating a colossal transfer of wealth and power to the very rich.

How big a role did Trump play in Australia’s remarkable federal election result?

The white men in the White House are trying to radically reshape modern America.

The United States is disappearing down an authoritarian rabbit hole and Australian leaders are struggling to respond.

However well the 47th president hit ‘em in Florida, he cannot find a green with his tariffs.

The Australian defence and foreign policy establishment is trying to continue with alliance-as-usual with America, but Trump will always put Australia’s interests second.

The Trump administration’s approach to the world can be summed up in three emojis: fist, American flag, fire. The president, meanwhile, is busy “not joking” about staying in office for an unconstitutional third term.

Trump has signed an Executive Order the seeks to dismantle the Federal Department of Education – but can he actually do it?

The will-he-or-won't-he game over Trump’s steel and alumnium tariffs is over. Turns out he will – despite the apparent offerings of the Australian Government.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia joins us to discuss why defending Ukraine’s sovereignty is critical for Australia, America and other democracies around the world.

After a week when America’s reliability as an ally was been called into question, new research shows that more Australians think Donald Trump is the greatest threat to world peace than either Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin.

Trump appears to want a quick and dirty end to Russia’s invasion, but at what cost to Ukraine and to America’s reputation?

The Trump administration is chatting with Putin and telling European leaders that they’re the problem. So what does this mean for Australia?

Trump’s proposal for the US to “own” Gaza and force out the Palestinian population would make it American policy to support “a crime against humanity”, says US foreign policy expert, Matt Duss.

We discuss US tariffs against its three largest trading partners, the political battle over who gets to be American, and Trump’s imperial ambitions.

President Donald Trump has been issuing Executive Orders and dominating the media cycle, trying to radically reshape America and the world in the process.

The second Trump era has begun.

From threatening to annex Greenland to blaming California Democrats for the state’s deadly wildfires, the Trump circus is back in town – and he’s not even president yet.

Don Watson joins us to discuss Trump’s beyond-bizarre cabinet selections, Joe Biden’s tainted legacy, and what this might all mean for Australia on the final episode of After America for 2024.