21 Sep 2021
Australia-India trade deal: An early harvest or cherry picking?
A pragmatic tone appears to distinguish the revived talks. Ambitious, not so much.
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21 Sep 2021
Myanmar’s extreme Buddhist nationalists
The release of hard-line Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu bodes ill for the rights of the country's religious minorities. -
20 Sep 2021
Trudeau’s test: Taking stock of a foreign policy legacy
The Canadian PM pivoted towards the Asia-Pacific, but has struggled to find tangible success. -
20 Sep 2021
When you’re in a hole, stop digging: Australia and the nuke sub deal
By the time Canberra’s subs roll off the dock, their capabilities will be obsolete, and there are bigger threats, too. -
20 Sep 2021
The law when putting autonomous military platforms on a shopping list
The fear of rogue killer robots looms large but legal questions go well beyond the pointy end. -
20 Sep 2021
Australia’s wartime seaborne trade: insights from before
The cargo, not the ships, should guide Australia’s responses to potential threats against seaborne trade and supply. -
17 Sep 2021
China – a lonely superpower
Despite many countries having issues with the West, China has few obvious alliance candidates. -
17 Sep 2021
Safeguarding Pacific Island seas starts with indigenous knowledge
A new declaration by Pacific leaders on maritime zone preservation helps, but must also allow for cultural dialogue. -
17 Sep 2021
Sunk! France cries outrage over snubbed subs
The French president is stung, the local media in uproar, and allies are caught in the storm. -
16 Sep 2021
North Korea’s calculated restraint
Pyongyang is giving Washington a taste of its own “strategic patience” medicine. -
16 Sep 2021
How nuclear subs could transform Australia, its alliance and Asia
First thoughts on the consequences of a truly momentous decision. -
16 Sep 2021
AUSMIN is a chance to refocus Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy
For all the talk, there is little evidence that Washington is treating the region as a decisive priority. -
15 Sep 2021
US engagement in Southeast Asia: How much will be enough?
Complaints about America’s attention to the region need to be put in proper context. -
15 Sep 2021
The future is female in PNG
In 46 years of independence, only seven women have been elected to Papua New Guinea’s parliament. Can the tide turn? -
15 Sep 2021
Semiconductors: the skills shortage
Even in a digital age, people – engineers – are essential to manufacturing. But demand is by far outstripping supply. -
14 Sep 2021
Tokyo2020+1 wraps up as Japan’s next race begins
With candidates jostling to take over from Yoshihide Suga, a late sprint from behind can’t be ruled out. -
14 Sep 2021
Diagnosing Indonesia’s health challenges
The sickness in the country’s health system was apparent long before the pandemic. Covid only makes reforms more urgent. -
14 Sep 2021
Fears China will play games with the 2022 Winter Olympics
Beijing’s practice of arbitrary arrest and “hostage diplomacy” is prompting a backlash that may lead to a boycott. -
13 Sep 2021
Iran’s energy diplomacy
Tehran knows its hand when it comes to playing the energy card across the region. -
13 Sep 2021
Small hints of a bigger opportunity in Australia-South Korea ties
Defence industry engagement can be the bridge to span different strategic visions of challenges to the region. -
13 Sep 2021
Risks versus opportunities in national security thinking
Conventional security logic is undergoing a revolution that includes renewable energy. Australia needs to get on board. -
10 Sep 2021
The right climate for Indonesia-United States cooperation
If Washington is to judge its trade partners on environmental measures, Jakarta actually has a good story to tell. -
10 Sep 2021
The many consequences of a clear blue day on 11 September, 2001
The butterfly effect of the global war on terror has had far-reaching impacts on the freedoms it was meant to defend. -
10 Sep 2021
Candour, at last, on China – but then what?
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has made explicit Australia’s challenge. The next step is ensuring business knows the plan. -
9 Sep 2021
Economic diplomacy: Australia Inc’s new world order
Is “China plus” the answer to fading US global hegemony? -
9 Sep 2021
An Afghan test leaves Australia’s principles wanting
A cricket match offered a field to engage on rights issues but instead the government further isolated the Taliban. -
9 Sep 2021
ANZUS and Trumpism
Australia needs to acknowledge its blind spots in its 70-year friendship with America. -
8 Sep 2021
9/11: A President reacts on a day of fear and anger
An absorbing new documentary captures the first response of the Bush administration to the horror inflicted on America. -
8 Sep 2021
Policing national security since 9/11
Terrorist threats set the Australian Federal Police a global challenge. But one to be balanced with priorities at home. -
8 Sep 2021
China’s digital currency takes shape
A new central bank system to control the flow and exchange of money dovetails into Beijing’s big tech crackdown. -
7 Sep 2021
A blockchain solution to Covid-19 vaccine scams
An international market for fake medicine threatens hard won gains in the global vaccination race. -
7 Sep 2021
The evolving Taliban-ISK rivalry
With the US withdrawal, the Taliban must decide if cooperating with an old enemy could risk losing to a new one. -
7 Sep 2021
Matching strategic and defence policy to the climate challenge
Australia is looking too much at symptoms rather than the causes – and missing the need to work cooperatively. -
6 Sep 2021
Trouble for Trudeau
An early election has left Canada’s PM in a pickle with a pandemic exhausted public also tired of personality politics. -
6 Sep 2021
Japan’s nuclear identity and the complicated endgame
The legacy of a complex nuclear history weighs heavily on a country torn between deterrence and disarmament. -
6 Sep 2021
Turbulence, the Taliban, and Turkey’s role in Afghanistan’s future
A role supporting operations at Kabul airport looks to offer Recep Tayyip Erdoğan more risks than rewards. -
3 Sep 2021
Rich, hot and popular: the taming of Chinese celebrities
Is the Party-state taking all the fun out of life? -
3 Sep 2021
Australia’s essential need: not seaborne trade but seaborne supply
“Sea control” is not about dominating waters but only to the extent necessary to ensure the movement needed. -
2 Sep 2021
Australia’s potential as a “green” hydrogen superpower
As the hydrocarbon era wanes a new energy source could be a potent geopolitical asset. -
2 Sep 2021
Europe and the South China Sea
More warships in disputed waters may cause instability. But the presence of navies from afar sends a clear message, too. -
1 Sep 2021
Alliance management – a history in pictures
In a game of diplomatic spot-the-difference, a sense of continuity is evident at recent AUSMIN meetings. -
1 Sep 2021
Will ANZUS make it to 80?
A war in Asia would be a true test of the “unbreakable” bonds said to define the US-Australia relationship. -
1 Sep 2021
Transnational authoritarianism: return of the strongmen
Coercion, kidnapping and deadly violence are the stock in trade of increasingly emboldened transnational repressors. -
31 Aug 2021
Deliberate ambiguity of China’s new “territorial waters” declaration
A hastily introduced regulation requiring vessels to register may be contrary to the rights of innocent passage. -
31 Aug 2021
Lukashenko running on empty
Belligerent and unpredictable, Belarus’ president is still an ongoing source of angst for Moscow and its neighbours. -
30 Aug 2021
Thai lives matter, too
Alleged police brutality captured in a widely shared video puts a spotlight on abuses and demands for reform. -
30 Aug 2021
Debating the alliance
An ambitious attempt to open new avenues to assess the US-Australia alliance misjudges the chance of independent action. -
30 Aug 2021
Sharpening deterrence
The language around the who, what and how of Australia’s defence strategy needs an overhaul. -
27 Aug 2021
Will Jokowi pull off a three-peat?
The Indonesian president is intent on leaving a legacy – another term in office might help him get there. -
27 Aug 2021
Australia and LGBTQI rights
Canberra needs a loud and proud foreign policy on the human rights of gender and sexual minorities.