7 May 2021
Royal rifts: Implications of Jordan’s family feud
A supposed coup, a would-be king and restless youth. Trouble is brewing in the Hashemite kingdom.
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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
Economic diplomacy: Patent politics and trade deal twists
President Biden moves to suspend vaccine patents, RCEP ramps up, IA-CEPA gets a lesson and US dollar reserves tank. -
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. -
6 May 2021
Biden’s North Korea plans come into view
Short on details, the US president’s policy positions still leave plenty of room for speculation. -
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. -
5 May 2021
Is North Korea expertise all talk?
The debate around understanding one of the world’s most reclusive nations centres on the question of language. -
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. -
4 May 2021
Pakistani Taliban turn on China
Any friend of the government in Islamabad appears to be an enemy of the terrorist group. -
4 May 2021
Australia keeps calm while China carries on
In the face of sustained coercion, Canberra has rejected the urge to seek economic revenge against Beijing. -
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. -
3 May 2021
The Davis aerodrome and Australia’s leadership in the Antarctic
How can Australia pretend to uphold the ATS while pursuing a project that risks unprecedented ecological impact? -
30 Apr 2021
China’s climate pivot could reshape the economic future
Many of the same arguments persist as international climate negotiations enter a fourth decade. But actions matter. -
30 Apr 2021
Telephone diplomacy: Joe Biden signals a new approach towards Turkey
In acknowledging the Armenian genocide, the US president has created waves with a long-standing ally. -
30 Apr 2021
Taiwan: Renewing a southbound vision
Increasing economic ties with Southeast Asia has been a success for Tsai Ing-wen. She should look beyond to India, too. -
29 Apr 2021
Some reflections on the “anonymous Xinjiang paper”
We should debate those we disagree with. But engagement must be based on a good faith assessment of evidence. -
29 Apr 2021
China’s leap into space
The newly launched space station has no crew as yet, but the invite list makes for plenty of speculation. -
29 Apr 2021
Response to Myanmar coup shows need for UN reform
Veto power on the Security Council too often obstructs action in the face of atrocities. Here are some ways around it. -
28 Apr 2021
Power politics lies behind how new countries are born – or not
History shows a resounding referendum – like recently in Bougainville – is not alone in deciding future independence. -
27 Apr 2021
Guiding Myanmar away from ruin
Many Southeast Asian nations have struggled with authoritarianism. Maybe the family can steer Myanmar straight. -
27 Apr 2021
High hopes and hot air on climate change
Good pledges, moral suasion and new impetus for accountability have yet to sway the recalcitrant. -
27 Apr 2021
Pakistan’s extremist dilemma
The government banned a right-wing religious group, then gave in to its demands. Which way does it go now? -
26 Apr 2021
Indonesia raises ASEAN’s bar on Myanmar
President Joko Widodo had nothing to gain domestically in calling a special summit. But in not failing, he succeeded. -
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. -
23 Apr 2021
Timor-Leste’s floods and Covid lockdown aggravate political rifts
Mounting crises raise questions about infrastructure spending, the uses of oil wealth and the need for elite consensus. -
23 Apr 2021
Malaysia’s political turmoil has an economic cost
With parliament suspended and a pandemic-induced shock, necessary and serious reform seems a long way off. -
22 Apr 2021
Economic diplomacy: Supply chains, ASEAN wanes, and Japan’s coal dump
Will government have to pick a winner for 6G networks to show the US and Japan as “global leaders in innovation”? -
22 Apr 2021
China drops the mask on its global ambition
Xi Jinping’s Boao Forum speech this week revealed a surprisingly status quo orientation to the international order. -
22 Apr 2021
Toxic reaction to Japan’s Fukushima water dump
Experts insist the release of treated radioactive water is not dangerous. Legal challenges might find otherwise. -
21 Apr 2021
China’s Twitter trolls make bid for vacant Trump property
“Own the libs” obnoxiousness failed, but China’s social media diplomats haven’t all got the memo. -
21 Apr 2021
Indonesia gambles on special ASEAN summit on Myanmar
Joko Widodo may have an eye to his legacy by inviting the junta to Jakarta, but it could also cost his prestige. -
21 Apr 2021
India’s failure to include enough women in politics
The world’s largest democracy has barely begun to draw on half its pool of candidates. -
20 Apr 2021
“America’s back” in the Paris Agreement. For how long?
Climate politics is enjoying an optimistic moment, but a Trumpist rerun would be ruinous for environmental diplomacy. -
20 Apr 2021
Roosevelt’s lessons for nations across generations
Over a century ago, Theodore Roosevelt declared “the quality of the leaders is all-important”. It’s as true now as then. -
20 Apr 2021
Accountability is the path to better governance in PNG
A more inclusive environment and more responsive public-service initiatives will lessen the citizen-state divide. -
19 Apr 2021
Sticks and carrots in Biden’s Russia strategy
Washington deserves two cheers for its early moves against Moscow. But the approach remains fundamentally reactive. -
19 Apr 2021
America and China: Imagining the worst
A little well-crafted speculation can shake off complacency and allow people to focus on the true challenge. -
19 Apr 2021
No surprise: Spying from space is a good thing
With countries all watching each other, there is less chance anyone is caught off guard – a deterrent to aggression. -
16 Apr 2021
Light at the beginning of the tunnel?
A look at the first months of the Biden administration gives cause for optimism – and caution. -
16 Apr 2021
South Korea on North Korea: Keep on keeping on
Moon Jae-in wants diplomacy to work with Kim Jong-un and is determined to push ahead. -
16 Apr 2021
Russia’s Asia diplomacy
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visits to Beijing, New Delhi and Islamabad showed Moscow still has clout in the region. -
15 Apr 2021
Will the Five Eyes stare down China’s economic coercion?
Trade figures suggest promises to “have Australia’s back” are yet to be matched by economic solidarity. -
15 Apr 2021
Has China given up on state-owned enterprise reform?
Rather than allowing the private sector more space, Beijing wants a tool for the implementation of government policy. -
15 Apr 2021
Thailand’s sweeping associations law courts disaster
Draft legislation to strictly control all kinds of groups could crush civil society and drive out foreign organisations. -
14 Apr 2021
The Quad’s uneasy place in Southeast Asia
The region will need assurance to overcome scepticism about the Quad and assuage a deep-seated fear of upsetting China. -
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. -
14 Apr 2021
With Olympic snub, North Korea returns to isolation
Pyongyang’s decision to skip the Tokyo games is part of a broader retreat back to the international wilderness. -
13 Apr 2021
Iran-US-Israel: Boxing out of the shadows
Gradual progress in talks to revive the nuclear deal may be dealt a blow by a series of “grey-zone” attacks. -
13 Apr 2021
A fast end to an era of political dominance in Samoa
The Human Rights Protection Party has been in power almost continuously for nearly 40 years. Perhaps no longer.