Is America on the cusp of collapse under Trump? Natasha Mitchell and guests at Adelaide Writers Week

Donald Trump's return to The White House is up-ending the way America works — at home and on the global stage. Does it herald the potential social, political, and constitutional collapse of United States? The world has watched nations sleepwalk into ultranationalist fascism before, is this that moment? Or is American democracy more resilient than any one demagogue? Are we on the cusp of new world order, and how will Australia play its cards if the USA no longer has our back? This event was presented by Adelaide Writers Week and the Australia Institute. Speakers Dr Emma Shortis Author, Our Exceptional Friend: Australia's Fatal Alliance with the US Director of The Australia Institute's International & Security Affairs program Dr Nick Bryant Journalist, historian Author, The Forever War: America's Unending Conflict with Itself Former BBC correspondent Presenter of Saturday Extra on ABC Radio National Allan Behm Author, The Odd Couple: The Australia-America Relationship (2024) Special Advisor, International Political Affairs, The Australia Institute Dr Prudence Flowers Author, The Reagan Revolution (2025) President, Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association Senior lecturer in US history at Flinders University

Big Ideas · Australian Broadcasting Corporation