5 Jul 2021
Aiding the Pacific during Covid: An update
While the money is flowing, the outlook for the region has also darkened considerably.
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28 May 2021
Putting the pandemic in perspective
Fareed Zakaria’s new book tells of tiny moments that have led to massive change. -
27 May 2021
Thailand’s overcrowded prisons hit by Covid-19 surge
Amid one of the world’s highest incarceration rates, an outbreak was always a risk. But the government has struggled. -
27 May 2021
Fiji: Cannabis should be high on the government’s agenda
The tourists are gone, and Covid has crippled the economy. A well-regulated marijuana industry might not be a bad idea. -
19 May 2021
When border control goes over the line
It will take months to repatriate Australians from Covid-ravaged India. A policy reset is urgently needed. -
19 May 2021
Patent waiver for vaccines is a plus, but no panacea
Lifting IP rights won’t kill innovation. It also won’t automatically get more vaccine doses where they’re needed. -
18 May 2021
Australia and migration: Will the Covid pause become a full stop?
A bipartisan consensus about high immigration remains. But so does arrogance about Australia’s place in the region. -
12 May 2021
India’s Covid-19 wave is spreading south
Will South India’s health system hold up to its promise in the second wave of Covid? -
10 May 2021
Closed borders: The unequal waiting game
Old notions about international mobility will need to be revised, especially for students travelling abroad. -
7 May 2021
Post-Covid disaster governance in Southeast Asia
The pandemic revealed a narrow focus on natural hazards, lacking the systems needed for an increasingly complex world. -
6 May 2021
Philippines community pantries give help – and send a message
Filipinos are putting the Duterte administration on notice that its efforts to help during the pandemic fall short. -
5 May 2021
Authoritarians seek advantage in India’s Covid crisis
China and Russia are on a vaccine drive across South Asia to deliver on India’s fast-vanishing promises. -
4 May 2021
India’s power illusion
Ambition now looks like arrogance as New Delhi’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in disaster. -
3 May 2021
India: Smoke and mirrors
India’s terrible Covid tragedy, still on the rise, reveals who really keeps the country from falling apart. -
3 May 2021
State of mind: How Australians see the pandemic and efforts to help
New polling by the Lowy Institute looks at Australians’ attitudes to Covid-19 responses at home and abroad. -
26 Apr 2021
Bhutan: Happy days for the jab in between a strategic pinch
The rollout of Covid-19 vaccinations is a remarkable achievement for the kingdom. More tests lie ahead. -
14 Apr 2021
Serbia’s vaccine diplomacy: Balancing China and the West
The politics of Covid have tangled up countries across the world – but that’s not always a drawback. -
12 Apr 2021
Covid recovery, in Australia and the world
Drawing from his new Lowy Institute Paper, John Edwards looks at the fallout of the pandemic and where things are going. -
8 Apr 2021
The big bark but small bite of China’s trade coercion
Targeted sanctions on Australian exports have affected billions in trade, but the real damage has been limited. -
7 Apr 2021
In Singapore, Covid vs privacy is no contest
The pandemic has shown how easily most people accept surveillance, and the government’s enthusiasm for new forms of it. -
1 Apr 2021
Why not try? What a Papua New Guinean team could bring to the NRL
Covid-19 has sapped PNG of excitement. But in the years to come, people’s love of footy offers a common rally point. -
30 Mar 2021
Taking the measure of prejudice in a pandemic
Has Covid-19 heightened anti-Asian bias in Australia? A new survey shows some worrying signs. -
25 Mar 2021
Female genital mutilation is still a risk – especially in a pandemic
Could lockdowns and travel restrictions have led the practice of female genital mutilation to increase in Australia? -
22 Mar 2021
Lockdown déjà vu in the Philippines
With Covid cases rising, the Duterte administration keeps doing the same thing but somehow expects a different result. -
16 Mar 2021
The Quad gives a boost to India’s vaccine diplomacy
Countering China’s influence is one thing. But fostering regional cooperation plays to the strengths of the grouping. -
16 Mar 2021
Unpacking vaccine passports
Proof of Covid vaccination for travel is a reasonable expectation, but is tech the only answer? -
10 Mar 2021
Covid vaccines: Charity begins at home
Italy’s block on a vaccine shipment to Australia looks suspiciously like Europe’s version of the “America first” policy. -
8 Mar 2021
Food security and Covid-19: Recognising women’s leadership
Over half the world’s farmers and food producers are women. A study will look at their experiences in the covid crisis. -
5 Mar 2021
Vaccine hesitancy and the risks in rural Papua New Guinea
Another vaccine drive could cause resentment among those who feel they don’t need it because “they are not sick”. -
16 Feb 2021
India, Canada and the new vaccine politics
As a pharmaceutical powerhouse, India finds it now holds the cards over Canada and what it sees as its irksome PM. -
10 Feb 2021
Vaccine nationalism: Rich nations must also care for the poor
Short-sighted hoarding ignores the world’s interconnected economy, and threatens to prolong the Covid crisis. -
8 Feb 2021
Pacific development outlook for 2021
The economic toll of the pandemic will take years to recover from, but signs of progress are starting to appear. -
3 Feb 2021
A “beggar-thy-neighbour” approach keeps seafarers stranded
Some countries have banned crew rotations. Some have tight limits. A few are open. So a crisis continues. -
2 Feb 2021
Helping Indonesia’s children in a time of pandemic
The virus might strike adults more, but the effect of Covid-19 is costing kids. A universal child benefit would help. -
1 Feb 2021
Looking for the keys to Covid “success”
With more than 2 million deaths globally, it’s clear that most nations have outdone each other only in underperforming. -
29 Jan 2021
China and the Australian far right
The Covid pandemic and anti-CCP fervour have brought together some unlikely allies. -
29 Jan 2021
Can vaccines offer an exit plan from Covid-19?
Extraordinary global efforts are bearing fruit, but not all vaccines will be equal – in efficacy or to escape pandemic. -
27 Jan 2021
Using the Australian Open as a Tokyo test run
Two international sporting events thousands of kilometres apart are linked by a common opponent. -
27 Jan 2021
Re-evaluating the military’s role in disaster response
“Sustainable security” should be a mantra for a reformed military in a pandemic age. -
18 Jan 2021
Resisting uncertainty, Malaysia is finding itself
Covid-19 has turbocharged Malaysia’s already fractious politics – and that’s flowing into the country’s economy. -
14 Jan 2021
A very British crisis
The ineptitude of the UK’s Covid response is on full display the moment you arrive in the country. -
12 Jan 2021
What does the arrival of Covid vaccines mean for 2021?
The jab appeared in record time, but ending the pandemic will come down to politics as much as science. -
24 Dec 2020
Covering the Covid shock on The Interpreter in 2020
A year of new language – social distancing, lockdown, “iso” – and a compounding challenge for nearly every global issue. -
22 Dec 2020
The strange connections of isolation
Reflecting on a year when a virus closed borders and drove us all together. -
21 Dec 2020
How extremist messaging co-opts emergency events
The cynical saying “never waste a good crisis” is just as true for far-right and conspiracy theorists alike. -
18 Dec 2020
Learning from an island in a pandemic
For all the focus on New Zealand’s and Taiwan’s successes, another fascinating island nation has kept the virus at bay. -
16 Dec 2020
Avoiding a “lost decade” in the Pacific
Remoteness has helped the Pacific mitigate the worst health risks in the pandemic – but not the severe economic costs. -
11 Dec 2020
Favourites of 2020: A lockdown loaf
When it came to baking bread, we were breaking bread as a community. -
8 Dec 2020
Women, peace and security are not only wartime issues
The cost of domestic violence has only grown during Covid lockdowns – in rich and poor nations alike. -
27 Nov 2020
Prospects for a G20 “pandemic treaty”
Spared the “theatre of summitry”, the next leaders of the grouping now have a chance to get on with the job.