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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 18 Jan 2021
    • China

    Boys’ love brings edgy drama to China, and a backlash

    Graeme Smith
    As a genre, gay fiction has leapt from words to the screen with enormous popularity, but not beyond the censor’s reach.
  • 15 Jan 2021
    • Climate change
    • Review

    Book review: The Ministry for the Future

    Sam Roggeveen
    Putting the fate of the world in the hands of boring bureaucrats might not seem compelling – might just also be right.
  • 15 Jan 2021
    • India

    India launches its mammoth vaccine drive

    Aarti Betigeri
    Two Covid vaccines are rolling out across the  country – and offers to neighbours might boost India's reputation.
  • 15 Jan 2021
    • Indonesia

    The cleric shell game in Indonesia

    Johannes Nugroho
    Joko Widodo is sending mixed signals about whether he is truly combating religious radicalism.
  • 14 Jan 2021
    • United States
    • Asia Pacific Security
    • Southeast Asia

    America’s troubles ahead in the Asia-Pacific

    Hadrien T. Saperstein
    A US return to multilateralism can’t reverse a shifting strategic landscape and the fallout of domestic strife.
  • 14 Jan 2021
    • United Kingdom
    • Coronavirus

    A very British crisis

    Mark Beeson
    The ineptitude of the UK’s Covid response is on full display the moment you arrive in the country.
  • 13 Jan 2021
    • Sustainability
    • Indonesia
    • Energy
    • Southeast Asia

    Indonesia lags on renewable energy, and pays the price

    Diwangkara Bagus Nugraha , Filda Citra Yusgiantoro
    Global companies are looking for clean energy, but Indonesia is failing to keep up with neighbours in the region.
  • 13 Jan 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • United States
    • North Korea
    • South Korea

    Why North Korea wants an arms control deal with the United States

    Khang Vu
    Arms control might sound more appealing than tried-and-failed denuclearisation agreements – but it carries costs, too.
  • 12 Jan 2021
    • United States
    • The Trump Presidency
    • The 2020 US Presidential Election

    America’s fantasy hero

    Mubashar Hasan
    Donald Trump’s “reality” does not have to be real, it’s enough to persistently claim and act as though it is.
  • 12 Jan 2021
    • Coronavirus

    What does the arrival of Covid vaccines mean for 2021?

    Dominic Meagher
    The jab appeared in record time, but ending the pandemic will come down to politics as much as science.
  • 11 Jan 2021
    • Australia

    Securing the legal foundation for Australia’s intelligence agencies

    Miah Hammond-Errey
    The Richardson review reinforces principles of legality, propriety and accountability while keeping pace with change.
  • 30 Dec 2020
    • Climate change

    Climate change, a constant battle

    The Interpreter
    Before a pandemic struck, Australia’s bushfires set alarms bells ringing. They haven’t stopped.
  • 29 Dec 2020
    • China

    The China challenge: Highlights of The Interpreter in 2020

    The Interpreter
    From Covid cover-ups to high altitude stand-offs, Beijing was never far from the centre of controversy.
  • 28 Dec 2020
    • United States
    • The 2020 US Presidential Election

    Interpreting the 2020 US presidential election

    The Interpreter
    In a year of horrible uncertainty, the political future of a superpower was a big question mark.
  • 24 Dec 2020
    • Coronavirus

    Covering the Covid shock on The Interpreter in 2020

    The Interpreter
    A year of new language – social distancing, lockdown, “iso” – and a compounding challenge for nearly every global issue.
  • 23 Dec 2020
    • Global Issues

    Your most-read articles on The Interpreter in 2020

    The Interpreter
    It was about March we tried to ban the word “unprecedented” from articles. But a relentless year wasn’t letting go.
  • 23 Dec 2020
    • Australia
    • European Union
    • United Kingdom

    She won’t be right with “Australian-style” Brexit

    Stephen Minas
    If a no-deal option with the EU is so enviable, why is Australia cutting a deal right now?
  • 22 Dec 2020
    • Review

    Favourites of 2020: Women make excellent spies

    Daniel Flitton
    Chauvinist assumptions are a big part of the reason the West lost its nuclear edge.
  • 22 Dec 2020
    • Australia in the World
    • Coronavirus

    The strange connections of isolation

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    Reflecting on a year when a virus closed borders and drove us all together.
  • 22 Dec 2020
    • Pacific Islands
    • Technology

    The modern sharing of Pacific “public goods”

    Stuart Minchin
    A repository for regional data not only preserves the lessons of the past, but will shape a better future, too.
  • 21 Dec 2020
    • Technology
    • Coronavirus

    How extremist messaging co-opts emergency events

    Timothy Graham
    The cynical saying “never waste a good crisis” is just as true for far-right and conspiracy theorists alike.
  • 21 Dec 2020
    • North Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons

    A missile spotter’s guide to North Korea (and beyond)

    Victor Abramowicz
    Everything happens for a reason. And that reason is normally physics or finance.
  • 18 Dec 2020
    • India

    Can Modi calm the farm?

    Aarti Betigeri
    A “crash or crash through” approach has served India’s PM well, but India’s farmers are proving a bigger obstacle.
  • 18 Dec 2020
    • Review

    Favourites of 2020: Love on the Spectrum

    Erin Bassett
    The world is full of characters. A reality TV series offers a playful chance to get to know more of them.
  • 18 Dec 2020
    • Asia
    • United States
    • Asia and Pacific
    • Asean
    • China
    • The 2020 US Presidential Election

    Washington’s warped Asia policy debate

    Dhruva Jaishankar
    Whoever Joe Biden puts into key positions, best they make quick studies on regional dynamics.
  • 18 Dec 2020
    • Europe
    • Coronavirus

    Learning from an island in a pandemic

    Grant Wyeth
    For all the focus on New Zealand’s and Taiwan’s successes, another fascinating island nation has kept the virus at bay.
  • 17 Dec 2020
    • United States
    • Review

    Favourites of 2020: Evil Geniuses

    Sam Hendricks
    Creating an American dystopia took planners, architects and salesmen. How did they get away with it?
  • 17 Dec 2020
    • Iraq War
    • War Crimes
    • United Kingdom

    A missed opportunity for the International Criminal Court

    Shannon Maree Torrens
    In declining to investigate possible UK war crimes in Iraq, the ICC has dealt a blow to victims and its own reputation.
  • 17 Dec 2020
    • United States
    • Australia
    • China
    • North Korea
    • South Korea

    When China lashed out

    Frank Yuan
    Lessons of the past are too readily overlooked. But Australia has walked a tightrope between clashing giants before.
  • 16 Dec 2020
    • Papua New Guinea

    Frenemies forever? PNG’s prime minister sees off a challenge

    Jonathan Pryke , Shane McLeod
    It’ll be a merrier Christmas for James Marape, but a politically fractious new year looms.
  • 16 Dec 2020
    • Review

    Favourites of 2020: The moral ambiguity of spying

    Erin Hurley
    A Black female protagonist elevates the genre to show how intelligence professionals live with their choices.
  • 16 Dec 2020
    • Australia
    • Coronavirus
    • Pacific Islands

    Avoiding a “lost decade” in the Pacific

    Roland Rajah , Alexandre Dayant
    Remoteness has helped the Pacific mitigate the worst health risks in the pandemic – but not the severe economic costs.
  • 16 Dec 2020
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • China
    • Russia

    Russia and China team up on the Indian Ocean

    Oriana Skylar Mastro
    The US and its allies may have military dominance in the region, but it’s no guarantee of influence.
  • 15 Dec 2020
    • Review

    Favourites of 2020: Homeland Elegies

    Lydia Khalil
    A novel clears up what has been obscured by the reflexive belief in America’s founding myths.
  • 15 Dec 2020
    • Global Issues
    • Review

    The wrong side won: Remembering John le Carré

    Milton Cockburn
    The famed author roamed the grey of the international order and captured a world of “half-angels fighting half-devils”.
  • 15 Dec 2020
    • United Nations
    • Space exploration

    Bringing space law into the 21st century

    Donald R Rothwell
    The international agreements around outer space, which date to the Cold War, are being tested by new space activity.
  • 14 Dec 2020
    • Review

    Favourites of 2020: Capturing a precarious moment

    Aarti Betigeri
    Documentary photographers have the toughest of briefs – a still image of an ever changing world.
  • 14 Dec 2020
    • Diplomacy
    • Indonesia
    • Australia

    Australia-Indonesia relations need to talk the talk

    Melissa Crouch
    Indonesian language programs in Australian universities – a gateway to cultural connection – are disappearing.
  • 14 Dec 2020
    • Pakistan

    A dilemma for Pakistan as UAE cuts off work visas

    Adnan Aamir
    A vital source of employment and income has been severed after Pakistan ran afoul of its powerful benefactors.
  • 11 Dec 2020
    • Review
    • Coronavirus

    Favourites of 2020: A lockdown loaf

    Jennifer Hsu
    When it came to baking bread, we were breaking bread as a community.
  • 11 Dec 2020
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    Joe Biden’s Pentagon pick sends a message

    Erin Hurley
    The choice of Lloyd Austin as Defense Secretary singles out someone who could help end America’s “forever wars”.
  • 11 Dec 2020
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Human rights

    PNG and the politics of the death penalty

    Moses Sakai
    Why have a costly public consultation when it’s already abundantly clear capital punishment has little support?
  • 11 Dec 2020
    • Bangladesh

    Bangladesh: Sculptures, statues and hard-liners

    Syed Badrul Ahsan
    Outcry over how to commemorate the nation’s first president pits Islamists against secularists – again.
  • 10 Dec 2020
    • Pacific Islands
    • Sustainability

    Favourites of 2020: Casting a line in Pacific fisheries

    Jonathan Pryke
    The feel-good story of eight apparently vulnerable Pacific nations up against every major fishing economy in the world.
  • 10 Dec 2020
    • China
    • Indonesia

    Indonesia-China cooperation: Standby for take-off

    Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat , Habib Pashya
    For all the obstacles in the relationship, ties between Jakarta and Beijing look set to only continue to grow.
  • 10 Dec 2020
    • United States
    • Review

    Where America finds itself

    John Sexton
    With Trump on the way out, from the White House at least, there is perhaps a chance to get serious for a moment.
  • 9 Dec 2020
    • Malaysia
    • Review

    Favourites of 2020: Minister of Finance Incorporated

    Alyssa Leng
    To grasp Malaysia’s infamous 1MDB scandal means understanding the elaborate ecosystem of government-linked companies.
  • 9 Dec 2020
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia

    Do politicians really make “excellent envoys”?

    Jeffrey Robertson
    A politician turned plenipotentiary can make a powerful statement. Yet it can also undermine public service neutrality.
  • 9 Dec 2020
    • Defence & Security
    • Thailand

    A reckoning for Thailand’s indigenous defence industry

    Hadrien T. Saperstein
    The Covid pandemic forced into action long-held plans to remodel defence procurement, but it’s a big challenge.
  • 8 Dec 2020
    • United States
    • Review

    Favourites of 2020: The politics of Tiger King

    Bec Strating
    An absurd insight? Dishonesty, narcissism and the celebritisation of politics do sound awfully familiar.
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