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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 6 Jul 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • Ukraine

    Australia’s absent ambassador must return to Ukraine

    Dave Sharma
    If the PM won’t provide more than a few military off-casts in support, sending back the top envoy should be an easy step.
  • 21 Jun 2023
    • India
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    O'Farrell leaves India with ties to Australia at a high point

    Navdeep Suri
    The incoming High Commissioner has big shoes to fill after a remarkable time of rekindled relations.
  • 25 May 2023
    • Asia
    • Diplomacy
    • G20
    • Global Issues

    Economic diplomacy: Taking cover from the summit war of words

    Greg Earl
    Proliferating regional institutions risk becoming shooting stars, with a long trail of bureaucratic half-lives behind.
  • 25 May 2023
    • Asia
    • Diplomacy

    Decoding diplomatic dynamics in Asia: The numbers tell a captivating story

    Susannah Patton , Jack Sato
    China, Japan and Indonesia each lead the US with a higher tempo of top-level diplomatic activity in the region. But defence ties differ.
  • 17 May 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • Papua New Guinea
    • United States

    Biden’s trip cancellations reveal pitfalls of a crowded diplomatic calendar

    Daniel Flitton
    Bailing on Australia and PNG highlights the growing risk of disappointment when leaders are clambering to summits here, there, everywhere.
  • 16 May 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    Indigenous Voice: Getting ready to explain to the world if Australia votes “No”

    Hugh Piper
    The referendum is a pivotal moment for global perceptions of Australia. Diplomats must be ready whatever the outcome.
  • 9 May 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    DFAT: Show me the money

    Daniel Flitton
    Reports of a boost to spending to Australia’s diplomatic machinery need to be judged against what has been cut before.
  • 14 Apr 2023
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Diplomacy
    • Europe

    No Albo at NATO, no worries

    Patrick Triglavcanin
    Australia’s diplomatic effort has been in overdrive. That doesn’t change by not sending a minister to Vilnius.
  • 14 Apr 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • Climate change
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands

    A strategy for engaging for small developing states

    Hamish Fejo
    If Australia is serious about climate change, it needs better relationships with island nations – near and far.
  • 13 Apr 2023
    • Afghanistan
    • Diplomacy

    The urgent humanitarian need to get diplomats back to Afghanistan

    George Varughese , Daniel Madhani
    Aid workers are pressed enough to deliver much needed relief without a burden of also speaking for the global community.
  • 13 Mar 2023
    • Australia in the World
    • Australian Diplomacy
    • Diplomacy

    Taking Australian statecraft from good to great

    Hugh Piper , Susannah Patton
    To remain effective in Asia, Canberra must do more with less, multiplying the effects of its bureaucratic tools.
  • 9 Mar 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    A first for Australia, and First Nations Australians

    Hamish Fejo
    Now the hard work begins to ensure a First Nations Foreign Policy amounts to more than words.
  • 9 Feb 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    Richard Woolcott: Navigating great change

    William Fisher
    Contacts and controversy, remembering a peerless diplomat’s life in the thick of it.
  • 23 Jan 2023
    • Diplomacy

    With travel back, summit diplomacy is revamped

    Mercedes Page
    The foreign policy calendar for 2023 is stacked for a big year of geopolitics.
  • 20 Jan 2023
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy
    • Foreign Policy

    An enduring formula for Australian foreign policy

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    Relationships, forums and neighbours are still a winning combination for Canberra on the global stage.
  • 28 Nov 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Australian Diplomacy
    • Diplomacy
    • Foreign Policy

    Confident, competent, inconsistent: Australia’s strategic personality

    Ian Hall
    Canberra’s report card receives a solid “pleasing result” on Southeast Asia, but a “could do better” on the Pacific.
  • 25 Nov 2022
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • The Americas

    Fruits of labour: Guatemala’s 30 minutes with the PM

    Daniel Flitton
    With farmers in Australia crying out for more workers, some outside-the-box thinking could help.
  • 16 Nov 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    “Big differences to manage”: Albanese and Xi put a value on diplomacy

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    The government can say Australia didn’t have to give up interests or values to restart dialogue.
  • 8 Nov 2022
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • Global Issues
    • Multilateral Institutions

    COP out: Should Albanese be in Egypt? And what about APEC? G20? EAS?

    Daniel Flitton
    The demands on leaders in global diplomacy have only grown but that hasn’t made negotiations more meaningful.
  • 24 Oct 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy
    • Multilateral Institutions

    Australia’s road to Geneva

    James Cotton
    The League of Nations gave delegates from the antipodes a taste for progressive internationalism that remains today.
  • 4 Oct 2022
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    Diversity and inclusion: Australia’s global aim to walk the talk

    Danielle Ireland-Piper , Robin Perry
    It helps to ensure feelings of respect and value infuse diplomacy – and the management of foreign relations, too.
  • 3 Oct 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • Pacific Islands
    • United States

    “See it through my lens”: the optics of fashion diplomacy

    Kate Clayton , Henrietta McNeill
    Sunglasses are a staple in the US President’s diplomatic style but not every leader can share the benefit.
  • 13 Sep 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • Technology

    Computational diplomacy - the science of an art?

    Roland Bouffanais , Sun Sun Lim
    Vast troves of historical data exist on negotiations and responses and agreements. The trick is a means to read it.
  • 5 Sep 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy
    • The Americas

    If Brazil’s ambassador could seed a few ideas with the Prime Minister 

    Daniel Flitton
    Australia has a growing personal connection to the South American giant, with diplomatic ties yet to catch up.
  • 2 Sep 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy

    “Should democracies ever lie?” Sort of. Maybe. Not really

    Hugh Piper
    Bending the truth corrupts confidence in democratic institutions and risks a race to the bottom.
  • 25 Aug 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    Penny Wong on “30 minutes with the PM” and Australia’s global interest

    Daniel Flitton
    The Foreign Minister was asked about the new Interpreter series and her answer was an insight into balancing priorities.
  • 24 Aug 2022
    • Diplomacy

    Prime Minister, Uruguay’s ambassador is here for your meeting

    Daniel Flitton
    A sticky question about a prohibited import to Australia might give Anthony Albanese something to chew over.
  • 9 Aug 2022
    • Australia
    • Australian Diplomacy
    • Diplomacy

    There must be a better way: Australia’s diplomatic appointments

    Hugh Piper
    Transparency in deciding who gets to represent the country abroad can only be a benefit.
  • 8 Aug 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australian Diplomacy
    • Diplomacy

    The opportunities of cross-public service diplomacy

    Shaun Cameron
    Collaborations between Australia and its regional partners on skills, knowledge and capacity offer a win-win scenario.
  • 26 Jul 2022
    • Australian Diplomacy
    • Diplomacy
    • Sex and Gender

    The future is female, but women in diplomacy still under-represented

    Elise Stephenson
    It’s two steps forward, one step back for gender parity in Australian international relations.
  • 26 Jul 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • Pacific Islands

    Pacific Islands Forum meeting: the black cloud returns

    Jessica Collins
    A continued dispute over the Secretary General position has challenged unity of the Pacific family.
  • 2 Jun 2022
    • Asia
    • Global Issues
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • Human rights

    Knowledge is power: A small investment for a big return

    Mubashar Hasan
    Australia should see that training rights advocates across the region can be an effective means to bolster democracy.
  • 24 May 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    Rejuvenating DFAT: increasing diversity and becoming less insular

    Yun Jiang
    Harnessing the experience and skills of the entire Australian community is the foundation for strong diplomacy.
  • 20 May 2022
    • Defence & Security
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    A strategy for uncertain times

    Ben Scott
    Is a case-by-case approach good enough for Australia to respond to the great and developing regional challenges?
  • 19 May 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    Looking for a little sizzle from the 2022 election campaign

    Greg Earl
    As one of the world’s oldest stable democracies, Australia can do better in its election foreign policy discussion.
  • 19 May 2022
    • Asia
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    Getting the most from Australia’s regional engagements

    Hayley Channer
    As in-person meetings restart after Covid, it’s time to assess what resources support the many strategic groupings.
  • 13 May 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • China's Government
    • China

    China and the West: It’s about understanding each other 

    Aaron Mc Nicholas
    The former Australian prime minister offers indispensable insights into how to go back to relationship basics.  
  • 11 May 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    The case for rejuvenating DFAT

    Justin Brown
    Foreign ministries no longer monopolise a country’s global voice. But some practical fine tuning will enhance diplomacy.
  • 5 May 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    Scott Morrison wins. So where to next for Australia in the world?

    Hugh Piper
    A returned Coalition government faces immediate headaches (and opportunities) in its foreign policy.
  • 3 May 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    Imagining Labor’s first 100 days in foreign policy

    Hugh Piper
    It’s 22 May. And although Anthony Albanese is yet to get his feet under the desk, priorities are already piling up.
  • 31 Mar 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • China
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    War represents a failure of diplomacy. It pays to read past page one.

    Kerry Brown
    I hope Ukraine’s ambassador enjoyed reading my book in the Security Council. Here’s the message I wanted to send.
  • 30 Mar 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    A silver lining to DFAT’s budgetary woes

    Mercedes Page
    A funding boost to diplomacy won’t instantly lift Australia’s influence. Better to think hard on what the country needs.
  • 24 Mar 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • United States

    Madeleine Albright: “I have come a long way, so I must be frank”

    Daniel Flitton
    The first woman to serve as US Secretary of State also inspired the first woman to be Australia’s Foreign Minister.
  • 28 Feb 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • Myanmar
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Australia was quick to sanction Moscow. Why not Myanmar?

    Jessica Collins
    It was right to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But that’s different to military aggression much closer to home.
  • 25 Feb 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • United Nations
    • Russia
    • Africa
    • Ukraine

    Why was it left to Kenya to speak up for multilateralism?

    Mateo Szlapek-Sewillo
    Kenya’s UN envoy Martin Kimani was a sensation at an emergency Security Council session—with a message for all nations.
  • 17 Dec 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Review

    The multilateralism menu: The Interpreter’s 2021 favourites

    Teesta Prakash
    Want a slice of the regional pie? Or to understand the spaghetti strands of national ambition? We’ve just the dish.
  • 14 Dec 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Diplomacy
    • United States
    • Australia
    • United Kingdom

    Why isn’t Australia putting diplomacy first?

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    Canberra is out of step with its key allies with one of the most potent tools its international arsenal.
  • 9 Nov 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    Do Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships matter?

    Henry Storey
    Scott Morrison is an enthusiast. But Australia’s one with China proved little more than the proverbial “scrap of paper”.
  • 8 Nov 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • France

    Sinking trust

    Sian Troath
    Sparing between Scott Morrison and Emmanuel Macron is about more than a broken deal but the manner it was conveyed.
  • 13 Oct 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • United Nations
    • Coronavirus

    Zooming out of digital diplomacy

    Jeffrey Robertson
    It’s time to think beyond the videoconference to allow countries to trust again.
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