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United States
International
Putin’s westpolitik: back to the USSR
John Besemeres
17 December 2014
The Russian president wants to restore the old empire.
John Besemeres
looks at the former Soviet republics he is pressuring to see the world his way
International
In Washington, a tough two years ahead
Lesley Russell
7 November 2014
Low turnout means that the midterm elections offer no mandate to the Republicans, writes
Lesley Russell
. But there are clear messages for both parties in the results
Correspondents
The US midterms: a street-level view
Nathaniel Reader
7 November 2014
Nathaniel Reader
visited four polling booths in Los Angeles, and found business briskest at a private garage in the city’s northern suburbs
Books & arts
Buying and selling healthcare
Lesley Russell
6 November 2014
Adam Reich vividly describes the way different kinds of hospitals work in the United States, writes
Lesley Russell
. But what happened to the patients?
Books & arts
Secrets within secrets
Jack Waterford
31 October 2014
David Horner’s history of ASIO is a reminder of how “the Case” influenced ASIO for generations, writes
Jack Waterford
International
Mid-term blues
Lesley Russell
7 October 2014
The odds aren’t good for the Democrats in next month’s elections, but this referendum on Barack Obama’s presidency isn’t over yet,…
International
Will today’s allies become, yet again, tomorrow’s enemies?
John Quiggin
6 October 2014
When a militarily powerful country tries to govern the affairs of millions of people on the other side of the planet, we shouldn’t be surprised that chaos results, writes…
Books & arts
What are the sixties trying to tell us?
Jane Goodall
30 September 2014
With SBS viewers seeing 1960s America through the eyes of television and the ABC profiling four Australians who fled to London to join the decade’s ferment, the sixties…
National affairs
Climate change and the intellectual decline of the right
John Quiggin
18 August 2014
No arguments seem to sway right-wing politicians and commentators in the United States and Australia, says
John Quiggin
. Will we have to wait for demography to do its work?
International
Not over till they’re over: the countdown to the US midterm elections
Lesley Russell
11 August 2014
Although some commentators say the results are certain, writes
Lesley Russell
, the race that will shape Barack Obama’s final two years in the White House is far from over
Books & arts
China wakes, Asia quakes, Australia shivers
Graeme Dobell
25 July 2014
A contest is under way, writes
Graeme Dobell
, but it will be more like a nineteenth-century battle than a twentieth-century clash
International
China’s search for space
Kerry Brown
19 May 2014
China’s regional muscle-flexing reflects its feeling that it faces significant geographical and symbolic constraints, writes
Kerry Brown
International
Is it too early to talk about 2016?
Lesley Russell
31 March 2014
The next US presidential election is two-and-a-half years away, but some key decisions are likely much sooner, writes
Lesley Russell
Essays & reportage
“Every law not based on wisdom is a menace to the state”
Peter Mares
11 March 2014
The number of people imprisoned in the United States has fallen every year for the past three years, yet the land of the free still has a far higher incarceration rate than any…
International
Beyond the State of the Union
Lesley Russell
6 February 2014
Barack Obama has only limited time to cement his legacy before attention shifts to the next presidential election, writes
Lesley Russell
International
New York: where political finance never sleeps
Graeme Orr
4 February 2014
The United States isn’t the obvious place to look for ideas about how to clean up political funding. But
Graeme Orr
found a New York agency that can teach us a lot…
Books & arts
Grey zone
Gabrielle Appleby
17 January 2014
Whistleblowers fill a gap left by legislatures and the courts. How can they be protected without creating an accountability vacuum, asks
Gabrielle Appleby
Correspondents
Philip Morris, Australia and the fate of Europe’s trade talks
James Panichi
8 January 2014
Australia’s clash with Philip Morris over plain packaging has disrupted trade talks between the United States and Europe, reports
James Panichi
in Brussels
International
Obamacare’s testing year ahead
Lesley Russell
7 January 2014
Americans see Obamacare as either the president’s greatest achievement or his biggest failure, writes
Lesley Russell
. But the signs are growing that its success…
Correspondents
Will the DREAM of US immigration reform become reality in 2014?
Peter Mares
3 January 2014
Optimism is growing, reports
Peter Mares
in New York, but getting the legislation through Congress will only be the first of the challenges
Correspondents
A “true progressive” takes on New York’s inequality problem
Peter Mares
23 December 2013
After serving a maximum three terms as mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg will be replaced by Democrat Bill de Blasio on New Year’s Day. As
Peter Mares
reports…
International
Back from the fiscal cliff – but now what?
Lesley Russell
23 October 2013
Can Barack Obama turn the chaos in Republican ranks to the advantage of the Democrats, asks
Lesley Russell
Essays & reportage
My cold war: from Brunswick to Berlin (via the Labor split)
Geoffrey Barker
27 September 2013
Within months of the end of the second world war, an iron curtain had fallen across Europe. Its impact reached into the inner suburbs of Melbourne, writes
Geoffrey Barker
Books & arts
An American story told through Americans’ stories
Lesley Russell
11 September 2013
Lesley Russell
reviews a sweeping account of the United States in the twenty-first century by
New Yorker
writer George Packer
International
Big brother
Klaus Neumann
15 July 2013
Popular unease about US surveillance of German citizens could pose a problem for Angela Merkel as national elections loom, writes
Klaus Neumann
Books & arts
Military injustices
Fergal Davis
24 June 2013
Fergal Davis
reviews a vivid account of the human cost of the Guantanamo Bay trials
Books & arts
Simpler, and better
Richard Denniss
12 June 2013
A new book by Barack Obama’s former “regulatory czar” shows how government can harness the benefits of behavioural economics, writes
Richard Denniss
International
A “train wreck” that looks like staying on the rails
Lesley Russell
3 June 2013
Opponents of Obamacare will have to face the fact that the scheme is being implemented across the United States, even in some unlikely places, writes
Lesley Russell
International
The shadow on the congressional horizon
Lesley Russell
16 April 2013
The Republicans have a problem and the Democrats have an opportunity, writes
Lesley Russell
International
Imbalance of power
Andy Butfoy
5 April 2013
Despite the cuts, the United States will remain the world’s military giant for the foreseeable future, writes
Andy Butfoy
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