The Coalition’s nuclear ‘plan’ is a cynical, Trump-like distraction – so why does the media (and this podcast) fall for the trap?

“The US-Australia alliance is consistently described as being based on shared democratic values.”

Today, in a surprise development likely weeks in the planning, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was able to leave the United Kingdom for the first time in more than a decade after reaching a plea deal with the US government.

With just five months until the presidential election, American democracy is under serious threat.

This edition: Independents call out the gas industry and Australia’s consultant addiction continues

“This is a narrative that Trump has been running for a long time, saying that the Department of Justice is in particular, but the entire security state is completely corrupt.” “Trump has been really effective at weaponising that narrative and in galvanizing his base in particular.” – International & Security Affairs Senior Researcher Dr Emma

In the week leading up to the conviction delivered in a Manhattan courtroom on Friday, right-wing media was focused on Donald Trump’s innocence.

Who would have thought that the legal and personal travails of Julian Assange, the Australian citizen whom US authorities are invested in prosecuting and jailing for the rest of his life without deep consideration of his fundamental rights, would become a lightning rod for former President Trump’s re-election hopes?

While we could be forgiven for thinking 2024 will be all about American democracy, this year is in fact a big one for democracies across the world, writes Dr Emma Shortis.

The 2024 National Defence Strategy (NDS) looks more like the impactless pronouncements of consultants’ “decks” than a persuasive guide to the government’s security plans for the next decade or two.

The UK High Court decision to grant Julian Assange’s request to appeal against his extradition to the United States provides a welcome, but temporary stay and hope for the campaign to free him, while continuing his punishment-by-process at the hands of Australia’s closest ally.

Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset.

In April 2022, conservative American think tank the Heritage Foundation, working with a broad coalition of 50 conservative organisations, launched Project 2025: a plan for the next conservative president of the United States.

When big questions about American foreign policy collide with an election, it’s rarely good news for a sitting president.

Allan Behm’s address to the Australian Institute of International Affairs Korea Forum, Sydney on 15 April 2024.

Watch Dr Emma Shortis’ address to ‘Night Falls In The Evening Lands: The Assange Epic’ at RMIT University, Melbourne, on 9th March 2024.

Being second in line for leadership of the most powerful country in the world is not an easy job.

Rather than backing cheap and abundant renewable energy, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has gone all in on nuclear.

After scarcely mentioning it for nearly a decade while in government, the Coalition are now hot to trot on nuclear power – but why?

Nuclear energy really is remarkable.

When AUKUS was announced, the ANU was quick off the mark to cash in.

The Australian Government should be using its unique position to leverage our close relationship with the United States over the ongoing conflict in Gaza, writes Dr Emma Shortis.

Instead of worrying about whether Trump hates us, we should be thinking, together, about how to forge a world which remains free of his demagoguery, writes Dr Emma Shortis.

Yanis Varoufakis addressed the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday 13 March, 2024.

Wednesday 14 February is a big day in Indonesia. The nation goes to the polls, and a new President will be elected. A popular and successful President will be succeeded by one of three candidates, none of whom is especially popular or generates much enthusiasm among voters.

With the Iowa Republican caucus over, the starting gun on the 2024 US Election has fired, with the promise of a dramatic election year, and democracy itself on the ballot. This was recorded on Tuesday 23rd January 2024 and things may have changed since recording. australiainstitute.org.au // @theausinstitute Guest: Dr Emma Shortis, Senior Researcher, International &

“Who in God’s name does he think he is?”

Be it administrative incompetence, secrecy and trickery, the failure of the Morrison government to hand over Cabinet documents about the Iraq War to the National Archives should trigger serious analysis of how Australia enters conflicts, writes Ebony Bennett.

With a Trump resurgence looming, the Australian Government’s fixation on AUKUS should not come at the expense of what we are frequently assured is one of the core components of the US-Australia alliance: shared democratic values, writes Dr Emma Shortis.