The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,009 Australians about President Donald Trump, security and the US–Australian alliance.
The results show that:
• Three in 10 Australians (31%) think Donald Trump is the greatest threat to world peace, more than chose Vladimir Putin (27%) or Xi Jinping (27%).
• Most women (56%) feel less secure in Australia since the election of Donald Trump; only 13% of women feel more secure.
• More Australians prefer a more independent foreign policy than prefer a closer alliance with the United States (44% v 35%).
• Half of Australians (48%) are not at all confident that Donald Trump would defend Australia’s interests if Australia were threatened, compared to only 16% who are very confident that he would do so.
• Half of Australians (51%) think Donald Trump’s election is a bad thing for the world, twice as many as think it is a good thing (25%).
My impression is that Europe and Canada are mostly at the acceptance phase. But the thing about acceptance is that you still have to deal with the consequences of the event that is causing you grief. That isn't easy when it is the loss of a person/nation on whom/which you have long relied. And when the loss is desertion rather than death, anger is both inevitable and potentially useful.
In Australia, even more than in the US, it's denial all the way. Alliance is "rock solid", "never been stronger". Trump would certainly come to our defence etc. We have an election soon, so no one is going to be the first to point out imperial nudity,
Reading this around the same time I read that many Democratic politicians were still, even in this late hour, wary of risking a government shutdown to publicly resist Trump and DOGE really clicked. I am not sure what utility the feckless Democratic politicians currently sitting in congress see in appearing "reasonable" and negotiating at this point, when it's obvious to everyone else that there is none. It reminds me of when way back in 2020 the Squad wouldn't even risk an empty, symbolic opposition vote against Pelosi as house speaker over Medicare for All.
It was at least in the top three events that year when I knew the left was well and truly cooked, that all the time, energy, and money I'd put into Sanders and the DSA was for naught. Literal years of support an organizing and they couldn't even break ranks long enough to put on a dog and pony show of support. The system is broken, top to bottom. Don't misinterpret this, as bad and inept as the Democrats are Trump is orders of magnitude worse and given the choice between a hideously corrupt neoliberal status quo and nationalists who just want to burn everything to the ground I'd take the former ever time. Still, 2020 was the year I knew that the Democratic party couldn't be reformed and by proxy the entire political system was never under our control in a meaningful way.
This polling from yesterday...
The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,009 Australians about President Donald Trump, security and the US–Australian alliance.
The results show that:
• Three in 10 Australians (31%) think Donald Trump is the greatest threat to world peace, more than chose Vladimir Putin (27%) or Xi Jinping (27%).
• Most women (56%) feel less secure in Australia since the election of Donald Trump; only 13% of women feel more secure.
• More Australians prefer a more independent foreign policy than prefer a closer alliance with the United States (44% v 35%).
• Half of Australians (48%) are not at all confident that Donald Trump would defend Australia’s interests if Australia were threatened, compared to only 16% who are very confident that he would do so.
• Half of Australians (51%) think Donald Trump’s election is a bad thing for the world, twice as many as think it is a good thing (25%).
https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/polling-president-trump-security-and-the-us-australian-alliance/
Ah. Well! Hard to quibble. Thank you for sharing—useful for “real” work
I was surprised. Perhaps we are smarter than we look.
My impression is that Europe and Canada are mostly at the acceptance phase. But the thing about acceptance is that you still have to deal with the consequences of the event that is causing you grief. That isn't easy when it is the loss of a person/nation on whom/which you have long relied. And when the loss is desertion rather than death, anger is both inevitable and potentially useful.
In Australia, even more than in the US, it's denial all the way. Alliance is "rock solid", "never been stronger". Trump would certainly come to our defence etc. We have an election soon, so no one is going to be the first to point out imperial nudity,
agreed to all of this. but look what it took to get Merz (e.g.) to the acceptance phase!
Reading this around the same time I read that many Democratic politicians were still, even in this late hour, wary of risking a government shutdown to publicly resist Trump and DOGE really clicked. I am not sure what utility the feckless Democratic politicians currently sitting in congress see in appearing "reasonable" and negotiating at this point, when it's obvious to everyone else that there is none. It reminds me of when way back in 2020 the Squad wouldn't even risk an empty, symbolic opposition vote against Pelosi as house speaker over Medicare for All.
It was at least in the top three events that year when I knew the left was well and truly cooked, that all the time, energy, and money I'd put into Sanders and the DSA was for naught. Literal years of support an organizing and they couldn't even break ranks long enough to put on a dog and pony show of support. The system is broken, top to bottom. Don't misinterpret this, as bad and inept as the Democrats are Trump is orders of magnitude worse and given the choice between a hideously corrupt neoliberal status quo and nationalists who just want to burn everything to the ground I'd take the former ever time. Still, 2020 was the year I knew that the Democratic party couldn't be reformed and by proxy the entire political system was never under our control in a meaningful way.