Australia's support for Trump 'dangerous', warns foreign policy expert
Expert and Greens warn Labor is undermining international law and Australia's interests by backing US strikes on Iran
Australia is heading down a "dangerous" path if it continues to offer unwavering commitment to the US alliance with Donald Trump at the helm, warn a foreign policy expert and a Greens senator.
Anthony Albanese's shock endorsement of the US strikes on Iran this week, which the government claims was to "prevent" Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, signals a pressing dilemma for decision-makers between Australia's loyalty to the US and its national interest in preserving international law.
"The Albanese government's support for the illegal bombing of Iran was a choice between US President Donald Trump and international law. They chose Trump, and shockingly did so for no other reason than the hope it would mean Aukus goes ahead," says David Shoebridge, Greens senator and spokesperson on defence and foreign affairs.
Emma Shortis, the director of the international and security affairs program at The Australia Institute, warned that it was "dangerous for Australia to tie our security to Trump's version of the United States".
"Australia has to adapt to the new reality and understand that not only can we no longer rely on the United States ... but that actually tying ourselves ever closer to the Trump administration makes us less safe," she told Deepcut, adding that "the Trump administration is an active threat to the security of the world and should be treated as such".
Australia's dilemma: the US alliance or international law?
The Iran strikes highlight the paradox of Australia being tied to a great power that is actively eroding international law – both through its support of Israel's genocide in Gaza, as determined by human rights organisations and UN experts, as well as the Iran strikes themselves.
"It is not in Australia's interests to handcuff ourselves to the US, and by doing so we degrade the international systems that keep countries like Australia safe," Shoebridge told Deepcut.
"We have just supported the precedent that a superpower can bomb another country without a legal justification. That will come back to hurt us," he added.
Shortis agrees, saying Australia has a core national interest in maintaining a rules-based order "because there are significant security consequences when those systems, as imperfect as they are, begin to collapse".
"The danger of that is the continued erosion of international law where you have ... [a] version of international relations where might is right and it's very difficult to see how Australia survives in a might is right world," she says.
The Israeli and US attacks on Iran "have no legitimate basis in international law", Shortis says, adding that it's incumbent on Australia to "state clearly that those kinds of actions are illegal and that you can't just go around dropping bombs on other countries when you feel like it".
The danger of endless wars
A clear risk for Australia is the potential of being dragged into another US military adventure in West Asia.
"It's incredibly dangerous for Australia because the logical point is that we follow the United States into any war that it wages, no matter where and when," Shortis says.
Shoebridge argues that "ingraining Australia in the US war machine" makes Australia "complicit" in US actions.
"There are Australian troops embedded in the US military, taking commands from US commanders. US bases in Australia, like Pine Gap, are feeding intelligence to the US and Israel," he says.
Australian foreign policy can no longer afford to be on autopilot mode with regards to the US and rely on an old assumption that supporting American wars unconditionally ensures US protection in the future.
"Our foreign policy is built around the assumption that the [1951] ANZUS treaty locks the United States into coming to Australia's rescue if we needed them. But it doesn't do any such thing. It offers a promise to act on behalf of the parties, but that could mean anything like ... a strongly worded letter to the [UN] Security Council," Shortis says.
"[Trump] has made it crystal clear that he does not care about the United States' traditional allies," she adds.
The Greens senator argues it's time to shake off the old theory that "if you suck up to the biggest bully in the room, you will be protected by them".
"We are now discovering that bullies behave violently and irrationally, and that behaviour makes everyone less safe," he adds.
'Fundamental insecurity at the heart of Australia's identity'
At the heart of the Australia's bipartisan dependence on the US alliance is the existential paranoia rooted in the nation's colonial heritage.
"There is a fundamental insecurity at the heart of Australia's identity as a nation. Throughout Australia's history, we've consistently sought a great powerful white protector. That's what Aukus is about. It's a foundational question of national identity," Shortis says.
"One of the things we share with the United States is that our nations were founded on dispossession and genocide. We have been unable to address those foundational questions much like the United States has been unable to address its own foundational questions. And part of the result of that is Donald Trump.
"Unless and until Australia can address those questions, building independence and confidence into our role in the world into Australian foreign policy is a very difficult proposition."
A consequence of a fear-driven foreign policy is a failure to realise one's own agency in the world, as reflected in the prime minister's repeated assertions that Australia's "not a big player in the Middle East". Shortis points to Australia boasting the 14th largest economy in the world as one reason to dispute that assertion.
"We can play a much more significant role in the world, but we have consistently not done that. We've not stepped into our power and our agency because of those foundational questions and because we've always turned to a great protector to ensure our security," she says.
Start with Aukus
Polling conducted by the Australia Institute during the federal election campaign "found that 54% of Australians want a more independent foreign policy over a closer alliance with the United States". That was a 10% jump on a poll sent out just three months earlier which showed 44% of Australians preferred a more independent foreign policy.
"That's a potentially seismic shift in the way Australians see our relationship with the United States," Shortis says. It also gives Albanese internal political capital to shift gears on the contentious Aukus alliance previously agreed to by the Morrison government and endorsed by Albanese shortly after his election in 2022.
"There is political space to stand up to the worst excesses of the Trump administration and to stand up for Australian interests," Shortis says.
"A straightforward place to start would be with the Aukus submarine deal. To put that deal, as the United States is doing, as the United Kingdom is doing, through a genuine independent review, put it to a parliamentary inquiry and have the democratic legitimacy for potentially, at least, winding back some aspects of the deal ... that most significantly impinge on Australia," she says.
"That doesn't mean abandoning the United States, but it does mean a potential re-balancing of the relationship."
Things that caught my eye globally:
Israel-Iran:
You would be forgiven for mistaking Donald Trump’s publicly lashing of Israel as a grab from a Real Housewives segment, such is the descent of global geopolitics at the moment. Trump was "exceptionally firm" with Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone after Israel announced it would strike Iran after the ceasefire was announced and in response to, according to Trump, "a rocket that didn't land". Israeli fighter jets were midair when Trump unloaded on Israel, prompting the jets to turn back.
So what precisely was achieved in the 12-day war on Iran initiated by Israel? Their original goal was the dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program with a teasing of regime change. Neither goal appears to have been achieved, despite US attacks on the deep underground nuclear facility of Fordow. US media, citing US intelligence, reports that "core components" of Iran's nuclear program were not destroyed, and centrifuges were relocated in anticipation of an attack on nuclear sites. The program itself was only set back by a few months. An Israeli source went even further, saying the outcome of the strikes on Fordow was “really not good”. The IAEA said it doesn't know "where nearly 900 pounds of potentially enriched uranium is located".
The war, however, saw Israel suffer damage on an unprecedented scale. Due to Israel's military censorship, which hinders media reporting on damage sustained in conflict, the total cost of Iran's daily missile attacks over the last fortnight remains unclear. But footage shared on social media throughout the war showed powerful strikes in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and, on Tuesday before the ceasefire went into effect, Beersheba (Bir al-Sabaa in indigenous Arabic). The attack on Beersheba killed four people, bringing the total Israeli tally to 28. Iran, for its part, reported 606 deaths.
Israeli and US strikes on Iran may in fact prove counterproductive and encourage Iran to develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent to future attacks. John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, told Breaking Points that "it's more likely than ever that Iran will get nuclear weapons". The strikes could also do irreparable harm to nuclear non-proliferation and encourage middle and small powers to develop their own nuclear programs to deter rogue states like Israel from carrying out unilateral attacks. Mearsheimer highlights the comparison with North Korea, where nuclear deterrence has prevented a potential US attack.
Syria:
Sectarian strife threatens to unravel Syria after a bomb attack at the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus killed at least 25 parishioners. It's the worst attack suffered by Damascene Christians since 1860, according to Patriarch John X Yazigi. The bombing follows a surge in sectarian violence targeting Syria's minorities since the new radical regime under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, which has its origins in al-Qaeda, took power last November. In March, forces affiliated with the new regime massacred thousands of Alawites on the Syrian coast, and have clashed with Druze communities in Jaramana and the south. Patriarch Yazigi condemned the extremist government for downplaying the massacre and said condolences are "not enough".
The Sharaa regime blamed ISIS for the attacks and said it has made arrests, but a separate group, Ansar al-Sunnah, claimed responsibility for the attack. The regime made similar claims of accountability after the Alawite massacres, but has refused to rein in the militias accused of carrying out the atrocities and which remain affiliated with the regime's security forces. Last month, the EU slapped sanctions on three such militias – the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade, the Hamza Division and the Sultan Murad Division. All three militias are affiliated with the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, which itself is a key component of the new regime's security forces. Instead of clearing out its ranks of radicals, earlier this month the Sharaa regime received a green light from the Trump administration to integrate 3,000 foreign extremists into its armed forces.
And while extremists target ancient minorities on the ground, the Sharaa regime continues to edge closer to Israel. The Sharaa regime remained silent as Israel used its airspace to attack Iran – in contrast with Iraq, which filed a complaint at the UN – and Israel's intelligence chief, Tzachi Hanegbi, revealed on Sunday that he was in direct talks with the regime for potential normalisation.
Gaza:
377,000 – that's the staggering new figure put forth by Harvard Dataverse of the number of people that have "disappeared" since Israel began its genocide in Gaza in October 2023. Separately, a new report by the Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) has revealed 33 cases of child starvation in Gaza, identified by DCIP field researchers, between October 7, 2023, and May 21, 2025. "In nine of these cases, the child died. These children, all of whom died of malnutrition, ranged between the ages of one week and 10 years old. Of the other 24 cases, documenting children still suffering from the effects of starvation, 14 are under one year of age, five are toddlers, and five are school age. Five of the children are suffering from chronic diseases," it read. DCIP said this was only “a fraction of the true toll, as every single child in Gaza is now facing starvation due to Israel's ongoing siege and genocide”.
For the third straight week, Israeli forces are continuing to massacre desperate Palestinians seeking aid at Israeli-backed distribution sites, which appear to be little more than death traps. At least 44 people were mowed down by Israeli forces on Tuesday.
UK:
The UK's Labour government will weaponise its counter-terror legislation to ban a prominent pro-Palestine group, Palestine Action, after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base last week to protest the UK government’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza. It's a dangerous precedent of CT laws being used to quash internal dissent, which observers in Australia will no doubt be watching closely. See this interview I conducted at the beginning of the month with a legal expert discussing this exact concern.
New York City:
Democratic Socialist candidate, Zohran Mamdani, has scored a stunning victory against in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, defeating establishment-backed Andrew Cuomo 43.5% to 36.4%. Drop Site News last month referred to the mayoral primary race as a "referendum on support for Israel", and it appears Israel lost given Mamdani is a strong supporter of Palestinian rights, including backing the BDS movement, compared to Cuomo who counted wealthy Zionists amongst his donors. Mamdani has also promised a rent freeze for stabilised tenants, fare-free bus, free childcare, city-owned grocery stores, a higher tax on the wealthy and big corporations and a new Department of Community Safety that will divest from policing.