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As we review 2025, the temptation is to look for neat summaries and settled conclusions.

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Iran war may accelerate a new Middle East security order
Eugene Doyle,  Chas Freeman

Iran war may accelerate a new Middle East security order

The war on Iran may have far-reaching consequences for Gulf security, regional alliances and the future of the US presence in the Middle East. Eugene Doyle talks with former US Ambassador Chas Freeman, to try and see the road ahead.

AUKUS: So many questions, so few answers
Doug Cameron

AUKUS: So many questions, so few answers

The Australian public deserve to understand the implications of the Morrison/Albanese secretive, AUKUS agreement.

Five steps to prevent the Iran war from becoming a global catastrophe
Jeffrey D. Sachs,  Sybil Fares

Five steps to prevent the Iran war from becoming a global catastrophe

The war involving Israel, the United States and Iran risks escalating across the Middle East and beyond unless a coordinated diplomatic settlement is pursued.

The Budget needs real tax reform, not tinkering
Crispin Hull

The Budget needs real tax reform, not tinkering

Australia’s tax system increasingly favours capital and older wealth while leaving younger Australians with rising debts and shrinking opportunities.

Mary Kostakidis case heads to court after mediation fails
Paul Gregoire

Mary Kostakidis case heads to court after mediation fails

A failed mediation means a high-profile discrimination complaint over social media posts about Israel will now be decided in court.

Reclaiming the common good from neoliberalism
Allan Patience

Reclaiming the common good from neoliberalism

New thinking about the common good challenges decades of neoliberal policy and raises questions about inequality, public services and Australia’s federal system.

Why did Dennis Richardson walk away from the antisemitism commission?
Mike Gilligan

Why did Dennis Richardson walk away from the antisemitism commission?

Dennis Richardson’s resignation from the antisemitism royal commission has been widely portrayed as a setback, but the episode raises deeper questions about the inquiry.

Australia’s fuel security crisis needs less diesel, not more refineries
Bruce Hardy

Australia’s fuel security crisis needs less diesel, not more refineries

Australia’s heavy reliance on imported diesel has left the economy exposed to global shocks, highlighting the need to cut demand rather than simply increase supply.

Iran war exposes confusion at the heart of Australia’s foreign policy
James Curran

Iran war exposes confusion at the heart of Australia’s foreign policy

Australia’s carefully calibrated but confusing diplomacy has struggled to cope with the political and strategic consequences of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Freedom at last for the Robodebt Six, thanks to the NACC
Jack Waterford

Freedom at last for the Robodebt Six, thanks to the NACC

New findings from the anti-corruption commission clear several figures of corruption over Robodebt, but the affair still exposes profound failures in public administration.

Frank Brennan on the fog of war
Frank Brennan

Frank Brennan on the fog of war

As conflict spreads across the Middle East, the moral test of war returns to first principles – legality, justification and the danger of acting in blindness.

Read our series

A Year in Review 10 Anti China Media Watch 20 Australia in Our Region 14
Best of 2025 136 Gourley on Government 12 History 1
Review 11 The Dismissal at 50 28 The UN at 80 4
Year in Review 2 Young Global Leaders 6

Latest on Palestine and Israel

Mary Kostakidis case heads to court after mediation fails
Paul Gregoire

Mary Kostakidis case heads to court after mediation fails

A failed mediation means a high-profile discrimination complaint over social media posts about Israel will now be decided in court.

Why did Dennis Richardson walk away from the antisemitism commission?
Mike Gilligan

Why did Dennis Richardson walk away from the antisemitism commission?

Dennis Richardson’s resignation from the antisemitism royal commission has been widely portrayed as a setback, but the episode raises deeper questions about the inquiry.

Antisemitism: “It’s a trick. We always use it.”
Peter Slezak

Antisemitism: “It’s a trick. We always use it.”

Public debate about genocide in Gaza is increasingly dominated by claims of antisemitism. The result is a political climate where outrage at Israel’s actions is recast as prejudice.

Iran war – controlling the narrative
Paul Heywood-Smith

Iran war – controlling the narrative

Claims that groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah are simply terrorist organisations reflect a political narrative that obscures the context of occupation and resistance.

The Albanese controversy shows how universities have lost their way
Henry Reynolds

The Albanese controversy shows how universities have lost their way

A cancelled venue for a UN rapporteur’s appearance highlights how universities are increasingly restricting debate about Israel and Palestine under pressure over antisemitism.

Diplomacy as cover – how the road to war with Iran was paved
Refaat Ibrahim

Diplomacy as cover – how the road to war with Iran was paved

Negotiations with Iran appeared to promise a diplomatic breakthrough, but the launch of Operation Epic Fury suggests the talks served mainly to mask a pre-planned path to war driven by political and strategic pressure.

A growing Jewish challenge to Israel’s war narrative
Awni Etaywe

A growing Jewish challenge to Israel’s war narrative

Jewish organisations using social media are challenging dominant narratives about Israel’s actions in Gaza, framing the conflict through human rights, international law and Jewish ethical traditions.

Settler colonialism: what it can tell you about the Israel/Palestine conflict
Chris Sidoti,  Henry Reynolds,  Francesca Albanese,  Lana Tatour

Settler colonialism: what it can tell you about the Israel/Palestine conflict

In spite of a last minute venue cancellation by Adelaide University, a sold-out Adelaide crowd heard from Chris Sidoti, Francesca Albanese, Henry Reynolds and Lana Tatour on lessons and links for Australia on settler colonialism and the Israel/Palestine conflict. The event was hosted by Association for the Promotion of International Law (APIL).

John Menadue's book on Israel's war against Gaza

Israel's war against Gaza

Media coverage of the war in Gaza since October 2023 has spread a series of lies propagated by Israel and the United States. This publication presents information, analysis, clarification, views and perspectives largely unavailable in mainstream media in Australia and elsewhere.

Download the PDF

Latest on China

Sanctioned Rubio to take part in Trump’s China trip
Dewey Sim

Sanctioned Rubio to take part in Trump’s China trip

The US secretary of state, previously sanctioned by Beijing, is expected to accompany Donald Trump on a visit to China as both sides prepare for high-level talks.

China’s tech ambitions, Nepal’s political upheaval and the BTS comeback – Asian Media Report
David Armstrong

China’s tech ambitions, Nepal’s political upheaval and the BTS comeback – Asian Media Report

Five-year-plan stresses AI, Xi-Trump summit still on track, K-pop sensation’s global comeback, landslide win in Nepal elections, security risks self-radicalise online, and Manila drops Nobel laureate charges.

If China is Iran's 'most powerful ally,' then Australia must be China's
Fred Zhang

If China is Iran's 'most powerful ally,' then Australia must be China's

A media analysis asks why China hasn’t defended Iran. But the real puzzle is why anyone assumes Beijing has a military obligation to do so.

John Menadue

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More from Pearls and Irritations

Ministerial responsibilities and Robodebt
Michael Keating

Ministerial responsibilities and Robodebt

Refreshing the city – rethinking our greatest invention
David Holm

Refreshing the city – rethinking our greatest invention

Sanctioned Rubio to take part in Trump’s China trip
Dewey Sim

Sanctioned Rubio to take part in Trump’s China trip

Five years after March 4 Justice, women are still being killed
Janine Hendry

Five years after March 4 Justice, women are still being killed

Asia’s energy-reliant economies face ‘existential threat’ from prolonged Iran war
Biman Mukherji

Asia’s energy-reliant economies face ‘existential threat’ from prolonged Iran war

Mearsheimer on Iran: no off-ramp, no clear victory, huge global risk
Chris Hedges,  John J. Mearsheimer

Mearsheimer on Iran: no off-ramp, no clear victory, huge global risk

Allegra Spender reopens the tax debate – but the real divide is wealth, not generations
Stewart Sweeney

Allegra Spender reopens the tax debate – but the real divide is wealth, not generations

The great discontinuity: the war on Iran marks the end of the world we knew
Cameron Leckie

The great discontinuity: the war on Iran marks the end of the world we knew

Are soil carbon schemes really working?
David Lindenmayer,  Ben C. Scheele,  Elle Bowd,  Craig Strong,  Andrew Macintosh,  Maldwyn J. Evans

Are soil carbon schemes really working?

Matt Canavan’s climate scepticism is a policy dead end for the Coalition
Jeremy Webb

Matt Canavan’s climate scepticism is a policy dead end for the Coalition

After the Iran war, Gulf nations face tough decisions on the US
Bob Bowker

After the Iran war, Gulf nations face tough decisions on the US

Antisemitism: “It’s a trick. We always use it.”
Peter Slezak

Antisemitism: “It’s a trick. We always use it.”

Latest letters to the editor

The coming energy crisis

Jenny Goldie — Cooma NSW

I am grateful to Eugene Doyle for spelling out the details of the coming energy shock arising from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It's a case of batten down the hatches, though I'm not sure the Albanese government fully understands the gravity of the crisis at hand. Energy analyst Matt Mushalik wrote to his local federal MP Jerome Laxale recommending or noting the following: (1) Reduce or stop permanent migration. Every migrant will increase the length of petrol lines and demand for goods in shopping centres. (2) Diesel is most important. Government must think of priorities. Agriculture,...
Albo's cowardice is painting a target on our backs

Richard Llewellyn — Colo Vale

The comment by Paul Dibb that: “The joint US–Australia intelligence facility at Pine Gap near Alice Springs will be by far China’s most important and time-urgent nuclear target. should send an ice-spike of fear down Albanese's backbone, if indeed he has such a thing. Many years ago, I was a student at ANU of what is now known as geopolitics and Des Ball was one of my tutors. I have written of this before but it needs repetition. Pine Gap is unquestionably a highly prime target for any entity involved in combat with the USA that has the...
Gas companies are ripping us off

Amy Hiller — Melbourne, Victoria

Thank you to Peter Sainsbury for shining a light on Australia’s LNG exporters, who are reaping windfall profits from conflict in the Middle East. Companies such as Santos and Woodside have played a major role in making Australia the second‑largest exporter of climate pollution globally. The resulting climate impacts – intensifying floods, fires and heatwaves – are hitting communities hard, yet the public receives very little benefit from the gas being extracted. Senator David Pocock has revealed that the beer excise brings in more revenue than the petroleum resource rent tax. This is deeply unfair. When the Albanese government curb...
Australian doomcasters

Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041

The club of Australian doom forecasters that come out of the woodwork every so often to predict the end of civilisation as we know it, can always be relied upon to do their acts on cue for their masters in the MSPO (Main stream propaganda organs) and the MIC (Military-Industrial complex) when orders for new military hardware and are not doing so well and when the Murdoch and SMH/Age sewers want to frighten the bejesus out of the bewildered herd to boost their readership and to control the public mind. But like Chicken Little they have done it so often...

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Latest from Al Jazeera

Ex-Belgian diplomat ordered to stand trial over murder of Congo’s Lumumba
Etienne Davignon, 93, is the only one alive among 10 Belgians accused by the Congolese leader's family of complicity.
Israel carrying out ‘mass expulsion of Palestinians’ in West Bank, UN warns
UN rights office says more than 36,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced in a year due to Israeli settler, army violence.
Why Iranians are taking to Tehran’s streets during war
As bombs fall and millions are displaced, protests grow in Iran. Could this war be strengthening Iran’s resolve?
What the Iran war looks like from the occupied West Bank
Iran missile shrapnel falls on West Bank Palestinians as settler attacks, Israeli raids and restrictions continue.
Why aren’t gold prices rising, despite Iran war uncertainty?
Gold holds steady despite war and rising oil prices, as recent volatility and a strong dollar reduce its appeal.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon may amount to war crimes, UN rights office says
'Deliberately attacking civilians, civilian objects amounts to war crime,' UN says after resurgence in Israeli strikes.