Clearly, there is something in the international waters, when, within the space of a few months, both the leader of the free world, Barack Obama, and the Chairperson of beyondblue, Jeff Kennett, declare…
Barack Obama has sent a message to same-sex attracted people everywhere: "I'm in your corner".
ABC News
This morning my phone woke me earlier than usual with a text from one of my sons, who regularly taps into American politics in the middle of the night. “Obama has come out for gay marriage – how about…
President Obama addresses of the White House Forum on Women and the Economy on April 6 this year.
EPA/Pete Marovich
When former Senator Rick Santorum dropped out of the Republican nomination contest earlier this week, the race for the presidency took a sharp turn toward the general election.
For presumptive nominee…
Gillard maintained the status quo in Seoul.
AAP/Office of the Prime Minister
Prime minister, Julia Gillard joined 52 other world leaders at the second round of the Nuclear Security Summit in South Korea.
In her address to the summit, she joined other participating states in advocating…
Republicans today went to the polls on Super Tuesday, but no clear candidate for the presidential nomination emerged.
EPA/Ryan Stone
Voting in the Super Tuesday Republican primaries has ended in every participating state except Alaska.
The results have been shared: front runners Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have all…
Does the US suffer from its desire to go it alone in space?
NASA
In its newly released budget request to Congress, the Obama Administration is seeking to reduce NASA’s funding by US$59m to US$17.7 billion – a reduction of just 0.03%, not that you would know that from…
Rick Perry failed to distinguish himself among an uninspiring field of contenders.
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
I stated on The Conversation last August that Rick Perry would become the next President of the United States in 2013. Instead, the Texas governor dropped out of the race last week, unable to establish…
A proposed EU oil embargo may push Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad closer to China and Venezuela.
AAP
Last week the European Union indicated that it is likely to enact an oil embargo on Iran. The move is aimed at damaging Iran’s crucial oil export business enough so the country’s regime curtails its nuclear…
Suspect Bradley Manning is accused of "aiding the enemy" and faces court martial by a US military court.
EPA/BradleyManning.org/
The controversy over Wikileaks will today, at least temporarily, shift its focus from the website’s founder Julian Assange to suspected informant Private First Class Bradley Manning.
Today Manning will…
Strategic friendships: will Australia's decision to sign up to Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement impact on our relationship with China?
AAP
The task of simultaneously negotiating our traditional security and cultural ties with the US, and our burgeoning economic relationship with China, can justifiably be described as the “great foreign policy…
A warm welcome for the President from Julia Gillard and the Governor General, but Australia should take care not to give too much away to the Americans. AAP/Stuart McEvoy
It’s third time lucky for President Obama. He’s cancelled his trip to Australia twice before, but now he has finally made it to Canberra. Julia Gillard has struck up a friendship with the US President…
Julia Gillard has enjoyed mixing with Barack Obama on the foreign policy stage.
AAP/AusPic Howard Moffat
When President Obama begins his long-awaited visit to Australia today, he’ll have a keen tour guide in Julia Gillard. They’ve developed an apparently firm friendship in recent months. But should the Prime…
Nicholas Sarkozy is a master of the political insult.
EPA/Kerim Okten/Pool
So Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has been called a liar in a conversation that was released on the web.
I’m not talking about the chat between Nicholas Sarkozy and Barack Obama. Rather, I…
President Obama and French leader Nicolas Sarkozy were caught speaking of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in unflattering terms at the G20 summit.
AAP/Stefan Rousseau
The recent Cannes G20 meeting was ostensibly about saving Europe from falling into economic oblivion.
But a frank exchange between US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, caught…
The Palestinian delegation to UNESCO await the outcome of the vote on membership.
AAP
The United States announced last Monday that it would refuse to pay its 2011 funding commitment to the United Nations' lead cultural and educational body following that organisation’s decision to admit…
Barack Obama's life may be fascinating, but he isn't as powerful as we think.
AFP/Saul Loeb
Sarah Palin’s voice, both in sound and content, still has the power to stop me dead in my tracks with fear and bewilderment. Her game of will she/won’t she run for the US Presidency has ended, but not…
Barack Obama's handling of the economy will be closely scrutinised in the US presidential election campaign next year.
AFP/Mandel Ngan
President Barack Obama’s handling of the US economy has come under close scrutiny following the publication of Confidence Men by Ron Suskind – which charts his struggle to contain the Wall Street crash…
A Tea Party supporter takes part in a rally in Washington's Capitol Hill.
AAP
To outsiders looking in, the recent crisis in governance in the United States surrounding the debt ceiling might appear to be a farce, if the stakes were not actually so serious.
Until Tuesday (EST…
President Barack Obama: will his resolve stand as the debt clock ticks down?
As the political stand-off around the US debt crisis looks set to continue into the weekend, US President Barack Obama is being tested whether he has the courage to stand his ground.
Last week the President…
President Obama is spending his post-bin Laden political capital in the Middle East
AAP
President Barack Obama has made a number of speeches focusing on events in the Middle East in recent weeks.
Obama used a landmark speech regarding the uprisings in the Arab world to call on Israel to…
Obama has outlined American foreign policy in the Middle East
AAP
President Barack Obama’s speech on the Middle East and North Africa yesterday is being considered a landmark event in US foreign policy.
Made in the wake of the so-called Arab spring and the killing of…
Under the rule of law bin Laden should have been captured.
AFP/Jim Watson
In the extensive debate about the killing of Osama bin Laden there has been very little discussion of the legal (and possibly moral) aspects of the US operation. This is especially true in the United States…
President Obama announces the death of Osama bin Laden.
AAP
History will record that Osama bin Laden was killed by American forces during Barack Obama’s presidency only days after he was forced to release his birth certificate to prove his eligibility in office…
President Obama announcing bin Laden's death earlier today.
Osama bin Laden, the leader of global militant network al-Qaeda, has been killed in Pakistan by a small team of U.S. operatives, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday.
Experts comment on the significance…
