Canada and Australia: working together – without the US
Mark Carney’s blunt declaration that the rules-based international order has ruptured challenges countries like Australia to rethink their alliances and consider new coalitions among middle powers.
Recent articles in World
7 March 2026
Message from the Editor
When I stared in newspapers it was often said that today’s paper is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapper. It is a relief to know that some are not so casual about the press. John Menadue and Paul Keating both have long memories, and mark a special anniversary today. It is exactly three years to the day since The Age and SMH ran a series called 'Red Alert – warning war with China would come within three years, making that deadline today.
7 March 2026
Where are Iran’s allies? Why Moscow and Beijing are keeping their distance
Russia and China have condemned the US–Israeli attack on Iran as illegal, but both powers have drawn clear limits on their support, stopping well short of military intervention.
6 March 2026
'Rude, arrogant and entitled’: ex-Prince Andrew’s arrest is the inevitable conclusion to a sordid royal tale of privilege and protection
The arrest of ex-Prince Andrew over alleged misconduct is not an isolated scandal but the product of a system that shields the royal family from scrutiny. Without transparency and accountability, privilege can become a pathway to abuse of power.
6 March 2026
How long can Israel sustain a military conflict with Iran?
Public support for Israel’s war effort contrasts with doubts over its long-term military and economic sustainability.
6 March 2026
International law or ‘might is right’? Australia’s choice on Iran
The US and Israeli strikes on Iran have not been legally justified under international law. As the Trump administration pushes an increasingly unilateral approach to global power, Australia faces a choice – defend the UN Charter or remain silent.
6 March 2026
Prabowo’s Middle East peace gambit is long on theatre, short on strategy
The weapons are fast and devastating, driven by big bucks and high tech. They're being used in a war of religions that's almost 14 centuries old. Both sides have recruited God. A man of war from Southeast Asia thinks he can bring reason to bear. He can't.
6 March 2026
Australia’s politics of consensus is stifling dissent and compassion
Governments sustain power by repeating stories about themselves. In Australia’s federal parliament, a narrow political consensus – marked by conformity, cruelty and evasion – is weakening democratic debate and eroding the principles of human rights and international law.
6 March 2026
Australia needs to read its own geography
As Australia deepens its alignment with Washington through AUKUS and expanded military integration, it risks compromising the regional trust and autonomy that underpin its long-term prosperity and security.
5 March 2026
Prabowo’s Middle East peace gambit is long on theatre, short on strategy
The weapons are fast and devastating, driven by big bucks and high tech. They're being used in a war of religions that's almost 14 centuries old. Both sides have recruited God. A man of war from Southeast Asia thinks he can bring reason to bear. He can't.
5 March 2026
International law or ‘might is right’? Australia’s choice on Iran
The US and Israeli strikes on Iran have not been legally justified under international law. As the Trump administration pushes an increasingly unilateral approach to global power, Australia faces a choice – defend the UN Charter or remain silent.
5 March 2026
We have been here before – and we never learn
From Afghanistan to Iraq and Libya, repeated military interventions have weakened rather than strengthened US power. With new strikes on Iran launched without congressional authorisation, the pattern of executive overreach and strategic miscalculation deepens.
5 March 2026
Australia’s shameless support for the US attack on Iran makes us gullible, duplicitous, or both
For Anthony Albanese – as well as Mark Carney and Keir Starmer – to go along with Trump and Netanyahu’s cynical ploy negates any sense of moral authority we possess – a catastrophe for the rules-based order.
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