It isn’t always easy to keep up with what’s happening in the US. “Shorter America” is a series where Dr Emma Shortis loops you in on what’s going on in America and shares news and analysis that you can trust.
Fri 20 Feb 2026 01.00
The White House/Flickr
The President of “Peace” at it again. As US forces build up in the Middle East, a joint US-Israel attack on Iran once again seems likely. The Trump administration continues to export its violence and deliberately undermine global security. But there is light in the gloom – sometimes we just have to search really, really hard.
Yes, we’re back here again.
Remember how, after those US strikes on Iran last July, Trump said they had “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s uranium-enrichment facilities? Turns out, not so much.
A few weeks ago, as the world watched appalling news of violent repression of protestors trickle out of Iran, the Trump administration seemed on the verge of more strikes. Support for democratic protest was a useful pretext for a strain of US politics that has wanted to pursue regime change in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution
Well, they’re back at it. As Axios is reporting in its unnecessarily weird style, “senior” administration sources are suggesting war is likely.
The piece quotes a Trump adviser who apparently said “The boss is getting fed up. Some people around him warn him against going to war with Iran, but I think there is 90% chance we see kinetic action in the next few weeks”.
That is ostensibly because not enough progress is being made on negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program – the same one the US was supposed to have obliterated. And so the mad king in the White House is applying more pressure by amassing military might in the region in the name of getting a “deal”.
An American president’s approach to foreign policy is often described as their “doctrine” — so the Truman doctrine, the Reagan doctrine, etc. Sometimes that can be more illuminating than others, though academics enjoy squabbling over the definitions and details.
I’d be reluctant to try and outline a “Trump doctrine” because that implies a level of strategic thoughtfulness that doesn’t exist.
As we’ve said before, with Trump, there is no subtext. Our excellent colleague Nancy Okail outlines this really clearly in The Hill: put simply, Trump is engaged in “the monetization and privatization of foreign policy for personal enrichment.”
Alongside that, I also found this conversation between the Financial Times’ Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator Gideon Rachman and Harvard University Professor Stephen Walt on Trump’s “predatory” foreign policy illuminating. There were some particular lessons in there for Australia – namely, that when you’re dealing with a “predatory hegemon”, giving him what he wants doesn’t work for long. He’ll always come back for more.
Once again, there is no subtext. Project 2025 said very clearly that the next conservative President of the United States would unwind every piece of climate regulation and policy it could get its hands on, and that is exactly what the second Trump administration is doing.
Last week, the Trump administration dismantled the legal foundation for US climate regulations. The Conversation published a great explainer by Professor Robyn Eckersley. And for more context, I found this reflection on year one of Trump 2.0 by the Union of Concerned Scientists Policy Director Dr. Rachel Cleetus helpful (and, you know, horribly depressing).
Not succumbing to that depression is really, really hard. But it’s essential that we don’t. And good stuff is happening!
While I think we’re right to be a little skeptical of Canadian Prime Minister’s Mark Carney’s approach to the global “rupture” he identified (my colleagues and I had a chat about that a few weeks ago) – to his credit, he is actually following up. This Politico piece outlines how Carney is at the centre of some new alliance building designed to insulate against Trump. Where is the Australian Government in all this, you ask? Great question.
And on a more personal level – this piece, on what we can do in the face of all this depravity, is lovely. Go share some food with your friends x
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A leading US national security expert has warned “nuclear weapons are back with a vengeance”.
On Sunday 15 February, Prime Minister Albanese and Defence Industry Minister Conroy, with South Australian Premier Malinauskas in tow, launched the new AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine construction site at Osborne, to the west of Adelaide. Defence Minister Marles was conspicuously inconspicuous.
Here’s a question that everyone should be asking as global rupture (to use Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s word) spreads. What’s the best way to make the world more lawless, more chaotic and much more dangerous? The answer is stunningly simple. Defund the institutions responsible for managing the international rules-based order.
It isn’t always easy to keep up with what’s happening in the US. “Shorter America” is a series where Dr Emma Shortis loops you in on what’s going on in America and shares news and analysis that you can trust.
