Politics with Michelle Grattan Kevin Rudd on avoiding Donald Trump
Not for the Faint-hearted, the first volume of Kevin Rudd’s massive autobiography is out, and the former prime minister is on the promotion circuit. Rudd now spends much of his time in America, where he is president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, and keeps a close eye on the unfolding Trump presidency.
He argues Australia should minimise direct engagement with Donald Trump in favour of dealing with “sane people” in his administration. “Assume that this will be a passing phase in American politics, it may not be … sit and wait in terms of what happens in three years time.”
In the interim China is benefiting from the unorthodox presidency: “Take for example Trump’s appallingly irresponsible decision not to attend the East Asian summit in Manilla which is upcoming, instead conceding the ground totally to China.”
On matters closer to home, ‘Kevin from Queensland’ says the strength of One Nation in the Sunshine state is “formidable”, yet despite Pauline Hanson riding a populist wave she is “all criticism, all critique, with no solutions.
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The Making of an Autocrat
Search: "The Conversation Weekly" for our new series. Is America watching its democracy unravel in real time? In The Making of an Autocrat from The Conversation, six of the world’s pre-eminant scholars reveal the recipe for authoritarian rule. From capturing a party, to controlling the military, Donald Trump is borrowing from the playbook of strongmen thoughout history. This is the story of how democracies falter — and what might happen next.