18 June from 5.30pm | Welder’s Dog Brewery at 101 Beardy St.

Donald Trump has taken a wrecking ball to international alliances, institutions, laws, values, and funding for the UN.

But did the rot start with him or can blame be attributed more widely? And how can Australia respond? They are the intriguing questions for consideration at Armidale’s Skeptics In The Pub on June 18.

“It is wrong to assume that challenging world trends will simply vanish in four years at the end of Trump’s final term,” warns UNE’s international relations researcher, Dr Karin von Strokirch.

Her presentation is titled: Navigating international relations in the dystopian world of Trump.

She will take a hard-hitting look at the nature of threats to Australia by examining our foreign policy relating to defence, trade, climate change, and global security more broadly. For example, how vulnerable is Australia as a US ally? Does the ANZUS alliance add value? Should Australia persist with it? If so, on what terms? Can Australia mitigate the negative ramifications of Trump’s trade war on friend and foe alike? What is to be done about the White House’s denialist stance on climate change? America’s willingness to support international security is waning on all fronts. Can Australia work with others to compensate for this vacuum?

Dr von Strokirch is an adjunct senior lecturer in politics and international relations at UNE. For 35 years she has worked on Australian foreign policy and global security.Her CV includes research, at Melbourne University, on communism, and, at the ANU’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, on nuclear arms control.

“We should be skeptical of a view that Australia and like-minded countries are helpless to manage adverse global trends.” Dr von Strokirch said.

Skeptics In The Pub starts from 5.30pm at the Welder’s Dog Brewery at 101 Beardy St. Order and pay for a gourmet pizza and buy drinks from the well-stocked bar. The presentation begins at 7pm followed by a discussion session.

The event is free (gold coin donation appreciated) and is open to everyone. There is no need to book.

Skeptics In The Pub is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit, community-based event. It is affiliated with Australian Skeptics Inc which aims to promote critical thinking, reason, logic, ethics, and the scientific method.