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  • 27 Oct 2020
    • Pacific Islands
    • Australia
    • Climate change

    Preparing for when climate change drives people from their homes

    Jonathan Pryke , Jane McAdam
    Combating Covid in the Pacific is hard enough. Add cyclones, droughts and flooding to the mix, the time to act is now.
  • 26 Oct 2020
    • Europe
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    The Three Seas Initiative: A European answer to China’s Belt and Road?

    David Morris
    A quest to modernise dilapidated infrastructure in Central Europe has quickly transformed into a geopolitical contest.
  • 26 Oct 2020
    • Israel
    • Lebanon

    The other Arab diplomatic talks with Israel

    Rodger Shanahan
    Lebanon wants to settle its maritime borders to exploit rich oil and gas fields. Nothing more.
  • 26 Oct 2020
    • Trade
    • Australia's Trade
    • Energy
    • Coronavirus
    • Human rights

    Crew-change crisis risks supply chains – and lives

    Christiaan De Beukelaer
    Some 400,000 seafarers are currently stuck on ships, past the end of their contracts, unable to go home.
  • 26 Oct 2020
    • China
    • Coronavirus
    • Sex and Gender

    Can Covid-19 advance gender equality in China’s health policies?

    Sara E Davies , Huiyun Feng , Connie Cai Ru Gan
    The coronavirus pandemic revealed the disconnect between wishful official edicts and rigid social conventions.
  • 23 Oct 2020
    • United States
    • The 2020 US Presidential Election

    The tyranny of the present: American politics catches up with the past

    John Sexton
    Fusing politics with entertainment, conspiracy theories, hyper-partisanship. Sound familiar? We’ve been here before.
  • 23 Oct 2020
    • South China Sea
    • Philippines

    Reading between the lines: Duterte’s careful South China Sea speech

    Andrea Chloe Wong
    The President of the Philippines may stump up with more nationalist rhetoric, but his true message to Beijing is plain.
  • 22 Oct 2020
    • Global Economy
    • Australia
    • China
    • Japan

    Economic diplomacy: Japanese investment takes a Toll

    Greg Earl
    While a disastrous foray by Japan Post grabs headlines, China shrinks as a share of the global economy.
  • 22 Oct 2020
    • Global Economy
    • IMF

    The International Monetary Fund and capital flows

    Stephen Grenville
    Bridging free-market doctrine and the need for intervention in emerging economies is still a stretch at the IMF.
  • 22 Oct 2020
    • Australia
    • China

    Filling the gap: How Australia is creating its own “China problem”

    Angela Lehmann
    The current geopolitical to-ing and fro-ing must not obscure the need to understand Chinese language and culture.
  • 21 Oct 2020
    • United States
    • The 2020 US Presidential Election

    Donald Trump. Crisis? What Crisis?

    Timothy J. Lynch
    We should be careful of the pre-Trump “world order” nostalgia and not forget the disasters of his predecessors.
  • 21 Oct 2020
    • India

    A real-life Bollywood soap opera, with a political twist

    Aarti Betigeri
    A popular actor’s death has cast suspicion on India’s film industry, and conveniently helped leaders shift the plot.
  • 21 Oct 2020
    • Australia

    Loyalty tests make Australia weaker, not stronger

    Darren Lim , Natasha Kassam
    A parliamentary hearing on the challenges facing diaspora communities turned into a political stunt.
  • 21 Oct 2020
    • Diplomacy
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • United Nations
    • Coronavirus

    Diplomacy after Covid: No looking back

    Jeffrey Robertson
    This will not be the last year the world gathers in a virtual meeting – just think beyond Zoom as the platform.
  • 20 Oct 2020
    • Indonesia

    Prabowo redeemed in Washington’s eyes amid US-China rivalry

    Aristyo Rizka Darmawan
    Back on his feet, Indonesia’s Defence Minister is still performing a balancing act.
  • 20 Oct 2020
    • Sustainability
    • China
    • Climate change
    • Southeast Asia

    Duelling diplomacy over Southeast Asia’s most important river

    Andrea Haefner
    Despite climate change and the cost hydropower dams, Mekong nations will find it difficult to turn away from China.
  • 20 Oct 2020
    • Russia

    Russia’s troubled periphery

    Ian Hill
    The outwardly “sudden” upheaval in a host of former Soviet states is actually a case of unfinished business.
  • 20 Oct 2020
    • Afghanistan
    • China

    Can China be a peacemaker in Afghanistan?

    Naweed Jafari
    China has so far stayed on the sidelines of the intra-Afghan talks, but it could play a big role in ending the conflict.
  • 19 Oct 2020
    • Asia

    Power in Asia in five charts

    Alyssa Leng
    With so much focus on US-China competition, it’s crucial to remember there are 24 other players in the regional game.
  • 19 Oct 2020
    • New Zealand

    New Zealand’s landslide election and the challenges ahead

    Dick Grant
    A resounding endorsement for a popular prime minister’s virus response. Economic rebuilding stands as the next test.
  • 19 Oct 2020
    • India-Australia Relations
    • Australia
    • India

    India-Australia security relations: They’ve only just begun

    Dhruva Jaishankar
    It’s fashionable to be pessimistic about the India-Australia partnership, but in fact it is steadily improving.
  • 16 Oct 2020
    • Iran
    • Russia
    • Türkiye
    • Israel
    • Caucasus

    The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Increasingly deadly and destabilising  

    Marianne Hanson
    An eruption of bitter fighting in a seemingly intractable conflict is aggravating wider regional tensions.
  • 16 Oct 2020
    • Thailand

    Progressive politics in Thailand’s polarised polity

    David Hopkins
    A new “hyperleader” has capitalised on the mood of a younger generation fed up with being patronised.
  • 16 Oct 2020
    • Pacific Islands
    • Melanesia
    • Indonesia
    • Vanuatu

    Keeping West Papua on the agenda

    Dan McGarry
    During Covid, the independence campaign could have been forgotten. But a new generation of activists is forging ahead.
  • 15 Oct 2020
    • Central Asia
    • China
    • Russia

    Kyrgyzstan’s turmoil and the competition for Central Asia

    Nikola Mikovic
    Post-election upheaval has drawn new attention to internal power struggles and the region’s geostrategic importance.
  • 15 Oct 2020
    • Pakistan
    • Technology

    Pakistan gets on the TikTok ban wagon

    Syed Fazl-e-Haider
    For very different reasons, the South Asian country follows rival India in blocking the China-based app.
  • 15 Oct 2020
    • Philippines
    • Human rights

    If Duterte likes his human rights record, he can let others look

    Shannon Maree Torrens
    An international investigation is the best way to address concern about the “war on drugs” in the Philippines.
  • 14 Oct 2020
    • United States
    • The Trump Presidency
    • The 2020 US Presidential Election

    Reckoning with a post-Trump America

    Erin Hurley
    Donald Trump may soon be out of the White House, but it will take longer to understand what he was doing there.
  • 14 Oct 2020
    • Australia
    • China
    • New Zealand

    Kiwis and hawks: Is New Zealand edging closer to Australia on China?

    Anna Powles , Joanne Wallis
    Views on China appear to be hardening in Wellington, and the next government will be pressed to find a policy balance.
  • 14 Oct 2020
    • Sustainability
    • Afghanistan
    • Iran
    • Climate change

    Afghanistan and Iran: From water treaty to water dispute

    Said Hashmat Sadat , Nasrat Sayed
    A dam near completion on the Helmand River in Afghanistan is at the centre of a disagreement over water rights.
  • 13 Oct 2020
    • Defence & Security
    • India

    A third aircraft carrier for India: Budget versus necessity

    M Matheswaran
    Concerns about cost overruns should be kept in perspective. The need for naval power projection is only growing.
  • 13 Oct 2020
    • Global Economy
    • China
    • Technology

    The many trails of Ant Group

    Fraser Howie
    Plans to list the company at the centre of China’s financial and payments network could spark a geopolitical firestorm.
  • 13 Oct 2020
    • Australian Public Opinion
    • Climate change

    Changing the narrative of climate change

    Bec Colvin
    Social identity, not scientific evidence, drives many people’s attitudes on climate change.
  • 12 Oct 2020
    • Myanmar
    • Human rights

    Why Myanmar’s elections won’t be free, fair or safe

    Melissa Crouch
    The polls should be delayed. The danger of spreading the virus is one reason. Ongoing disenfranchisement is another.
  • 12 Oct 2020
    • North Korea

    North Korea’s new missile

    Sam Roggeveen
    If – big if – this missile is real, America cannot guarantee its homeland security in a war with North Korea.
  • 12 Oct 2020
    • Middle East
    • United States
    • Review

    The false promise of regime change

    Bob Bowker
    A new book from an Obama insider considers the repeated failures of outside overthrow in the Middle East.
  • 9 Oct 2020
    • Bangladesh
    • China
    • India

    Bangladesh’s balancing act between great powers

    Mubashar Hasan , Arild Engelsen Ruud
    For all the talk of a China-India contest, Bangladesh offers very little from a strategic point of view.
  • 9 Oct 2020
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • United Nations
    • China
    • Climate change

    China’s vision of sovereignty for the next world order

    Bill Hayton
    Beijing’s attitude is clearly one that says big countries matter more than small or middle-size ones.
  • 8 Oct 2020
    • Pacific Islands

    Health spending and foreign aid in the Pacific

    Jonathan Pryke , Alexandre Dayant , Tahi Izumi
    The newest Pacific Aid Map, with nearly a decade of project-level data for the region, helps shine a light on health.
  • 8 Oct 2020
    • Global Economy
    • Australia's Economy

    Economic diplomacy: Federal budget hits and misses

    Greg Earl
    A slight but surprising rise in aid spending and a rosy take on China are inside the covers of the 2020–21 budget.
  • 8 Oct 2020
    • Middle East
    • Iran

    Iran’s declining regional influence

    Shahram Akbarzadeh , Zahid Shahab Ahmed , William Gourlay
    Tehran capitalised on US mistakes in the Middle East, but its proxy wars and consistently aggressive façade have a cost.
  • 7 Oct 2020
    • Australian Foreign Aid
    • Australian Diplomacy

    A budget of skewed priorities

    Alex Oliver
    As Australia faces one of the most challenging international environments in a century, it still skimps on diplomacy.
  • 7 Oct 2020
    • Technology

    The unique power of TikTok’s algorithm

    Xueyin Zha
    Even if the question of control is resolved, this game-changing app may still pose a challenge to democratic norms.
  • 7 Oct 2020
    • Global Economy
    • Trade
    • WTO
    • Coronavirus

    Global trade policy at a lull, but for how long?

    Dick Grant
    With economies and trade meetings cut down by Covid‑19, and political uncertainty in the air, we’re at a standstill.
  • 6 Oct 2020
    • Asia
    • Defence & Security
    • Australia

    Stepping past the fatalism trap

    Catriona Corby
    If Australia wants to shape rather than be shaped by a fast-changing world, creative diplomacy is essential.
  • 6 Oct 2020
    • Papua New Guinea

    PNG electrification: Spend on solar to help meet targets

    Shane McLeod
    Big power projects need to be pursued, but money for household solar would help PNG meet its 2030 goal more quickly.
  • 6 Oct 2020
    • France
    • New Caledonia

    New Caledonia: A vote lost, yet independence advocates claim a win

    Alexandre Dayant
    A closer result in the second of three possible referendums shows the territory’s future is not yet settled.
  • 5 Oct 2020
    • United States
    • The 2020 US Presidential Election

    Trump gets sick and the media dives into the deep end

    Daniel Flitton
    The reporting of Trump’s health has quickly fallen into the same polarised pattern of so much of his presidency.
  • 5 Oct 2020
    • United States
    • Australia
    • India
    • Japan

    A Quad of consequence: Balancing values and strategy

    Titli Basu
    The four-way gathering in Tokyo offers a chance to set out a vision for regional stability in the post-Covid order.
  • 5 Oct 2020
    • Diplomacy
    • China
    • Climate change

    A dose of climate realism about China’s carbon pledge

    Anthony Burke
    Beijing’s target falls well short of the dramatic and globally organised action needed to stop dangerous climate change.
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