Who has the power and right to declare war in a democracy?

It may surprise you to know that the Australian parliament has no real say over whether the country goes to war. In the United States its effectively the same, with analysts saying the US Congress has now basically ceded its war powers to the president. A process, by the way, that began long before the arrival of Donald Trump. In this episode we look at how that happened and why calls for war powers reform have had so little success.

Guests:

Dr Russell Berman – Professor in the Humanities, Stanford University 

Dr Sarah Percy – Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Queensland

Dr Sarah Burns – Rochester Institute of Technology 

Dr Alison Broinowski - Australians for War Power Reform

Dr Nicole Townsend - lecturer in War Studies – University of New South Wales, Canberra