Sydney | It seems everyone in Canberra is an expert when it comes to American politics and how to deal with the administration of the day. When Malcolm Turnbull had his testy phone call with Donald Trump in January 2017, many pundits panicked that the Australia-US alliance was on the brink of collapse.

Now, of course, it’s all about the possibility of having to deal with a second administration of Donald Trump, a transactional yet unpredictable leader who torches the global diplomacy rule book.