treaties

Whether it was George Washington’s insistence that he was the one to formulate foreign policy when it came to diplomacy, treaties and more; Thomas Jefferson’s assertion of complete control over whether or not to attack the Barbary Pirates; James Polk’s decision to take actions which risked war with Mexico; or Abraham Lincoln’s “sweeping assertions of authority” in the Civil War era, executive claims to authority when it comes to matters of foreign relations and warfare have been a persistent feature of American history.

As president, Trump scoffed at U.S. defense treaties in Asia.

"Our common history also has dark parts. The time came for unequal treaties, when hubris and the mechanical force of European countries imposed themselves around the world, and when, even disguised as a protectorate, Morocco did not escape the ambitions and the violence of colonial history," he said.

As it stands, Australia is one of the only Commonwealth countries to have never signed a treaty, or treaties, with its first inhabitants, or to have recognised them in its founding document.

Sometimes treaties are signed and guns go quiet for a while, but too often the conflict doesn’t really end.