As the post-war global order unravels, Australia’s long-standing reliance on great and powerful friends is proving dangerously hollow – and the country is unprepared for what comes next.

With the collapse of the post-World War II global order, the idea that the lucky country’s security is guaranteed by ‘great and powerful friends’ is exposed for what it has always been – a hollow myth. The lucky country’s ’luck’ ran out long ago. There are no great and powerful friends waiting to spring into action to protect Australia.

Reliance on such a myth is not only foolish, but it is endangering the country’s security and its capacity to flourish.

In his headland speech at the Davos forum recently, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney courageously spelt out what the Australian government’s leaders are querulously afraid to admit – that the United States has become dangerously unreliable, and is even posing a threat to the security of its former allies. Meanwhile the Australian Prime Minister continues to pedal his fatuous mantra that the US remains our most important ally and that the AUKUS deal is at the centre of that alliance, even though most experts are painfully aware that it is an increasingly problematic alliance.

Albanese and his Defence Minister Richard Marles live in a world of make believe. They think that America is permanently on our side and will remain so if we avoid provoking the most egregious US President in history.

Albanese’s spineless response to Trump insulting allied troops (including Australians) who fought with the Americans in Afghanistan deserves widespread condemnation. Add........

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