3 Oct 2020
Protecting political leaders from Covid-19
Power and rank offer no immunity to the coronavirus. What is a leader supposed to do?
-
-
2 Oct 2020
US presidential debate: Prologue to chaos
The bizarre shout fest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was ugly. It’s going to get worse. -
2 Oct 2020
Timor-Leste’s youth leave or get left behind
Young people make up most of the country’s unemployed, sending many overseas, while needed skills go unmet at home. -
1 Oct 2020
Smart China choices
Australia’s relationship with China is unavoidably asymmetric. That shouldn’t stop Australia finding a competitive edge. -
1 Oct 2020
In Bangladesh, Covid adds to a list of maladies
A stalling economy, climate challenges, a refugee crisis, and now a spat with Saudi Arabia make for troubling times. -
30 Sep 2020
The unfinished Chinese civil war
Many frame China’s options against Taiwan as peace or invasion. This is a dangerous oversimplification. -
30 Sep 2020
Duterte’s vaccine promise is a political placebo
The Philippine president has pinned hopes on a miracle solution to the Covid crisis while gutting effective responses. -
29 Sep 2020
Evaluating aid in the Pacific
A common rating system could make aid evaluation less opaque. Better yet, it could deliver more bang for precious bucks. -
29 Sep 2020
China-India: Talk is cheap, but never free
Temper the negotiation hopes. States often worry a willingness to talk will communicate weakness to an adversary. -
28 Sep 2020
A reality show for the US presidential race
This first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden promises a collision of two Americas, but little is likely to move. -
28 Sep 2020
Working together on relief can stop a China‑India border disaster
Cooperation on humanitarian assistance is an alternative channel for the two sides to build trust and generate goodwill. -
25 Sep 2020
Colonialism and cultural erasure in Xinjiang
The ideology behind the CCP’s “re-education” of the Uighur shares in the history of subjugating indigenous populations. -
25 Sep 2020
Intra-Afghan talks and future of Pakistan-Taliban relations
Long regarded as the not-so-invisible hand behind the Taliban, Pakistan has steadily lost its influence over the group. -
25 Sep 2020
Office of Development Effectiveness: Praised, then abolished
Two well-regarded evaluation bodies have been quietly scrapped. Why? -
24 Sep 2020
Economic diplomacy: A snapshot of overseas investment trends
New data sheds light on how Australian businesses have (and haven’t) shifted their foreign engagements. -
24 Sep 2020
Bougainville: A new captain at the helm
Ex-combatant Ishmael Toroama hopes to reward people’s patience and finally steer the island to independence. -
24 Sep 2020
Francis Fukuyama in Minsk
The outcry for liberal freedoms on display in Belarus suggests “The end of history” wasn’t all wrong. -
23 Sep 2020
A reckless president emboldened
What would four more years of Donald Trump’s leadership look like? Bob Woodward’s new book gives some clues. -
23 Sep 2020
How much did the spies really know about the virus?
What was said (and, just as importantly, not said) in Australia hints at early intelligence assessments of Covid-19. -
22 Sep 2020
Building a Covid vaccine strategy for Australia
Tempering expectations is a start. The next test will be to ensure the most vulnerable are not left behind. -
22 Sep 2020
The South China Sea map that wasn’t
A mistake? Maybe. But a US map of Vietnam including the Paracel and Spratly islands raises big questions. -
21 Sep 2020
Ginsburg’s pendulum
Ruth Bader Ginsburg had a deep faith in America’s capacity for self-correction. Her absence puts it to the test. -
20 Sep 2020
America’s breaking point?
The fear is that Trump appoints a judge to decide his electoral fate and then calls on the military to enforce it. -
18 Sep 2020
India puts relations with Japan back on the rails
A project to build bullet train lines across India is part of a burgeoning trans-Asian partnership. -
18 Sep 2020
Book Review: Where borders aren’t always badlands
People-to-people connections that stretch across tens of thousands of years don’t stop when lines are drawn on a map. -
17 Sep 2020
Suga steps in, at least for now
Japan’s new prime minister has kept the Abe cabinet largely intact, but he’ll need to prove he’s a different leader. -
17 Sep 2020
Covid-19 and Indonesian monetary policy
Funding the deficit is a necessary short-term measure, but “free money” can lead down a dangerous path. -
16 Sep 2020
Where the US went wrong in the pandemic
Public health in America is inherently a political issue. It didn’t need to be a partisan one. -
16 Sep 2020
Trump’s gambit in the Balkans
Drawing down troops from Germany one day, inserting the US into the Serbia-Kosovo dispute the next. What’s at play? -
16 Sep 2020
Bangladesh: Fight the power or shut up?
In a climate of fear and repression, Bangladeshi hip-hop artists are caught between self-expression and survival. -
15 Sep 2020
Protests and power struggles in Russia’s Far East
Moscow may hope to simply wait out the protesters. But the region has a history of unrest. -
15 Sep 2020
The making of Prime Minister Suga
Abe Shinzo’s “Mr Fix-It” has the top job. Will he make his own mark in a country famed for its revolving door of PMs? -
15 Sep 2020
The “Australian solution” won’t fix Johnson’s Europe problem
Geography, reality and personality collide to undercut the British Prime Minister’s fantasy. -
14 Sep 2020
Cut! How Hollywood self-censors on China
The Disney remake of Mulan has put Hollywood in an uncomfortable spotlight of its own. -
14 Sep 2020
No breakthrough in sight for EU-China leaders’ meeting
Europe seeks to keep bilateral ties from deteriorating as seen with the US and China, yet a rebalance is underway. -
14 Sep 2020
Tackling environmental security threats in the Indian Ocean
A “Quad-Plus” could bring together regional expertise and resources to address issues of collective interest. -
-
11 Sep 2020
For real peace, Afghanistan needs a Plan B
A US exit opens the way to complete takeover by the Taliban, precisely what they – and Pakistan – have long wished for. -
11 Sep 2020
Indonesia – a country of disappointments
Ben Bland shows even pessimists can be gulled by Joko Widodo’s charms. -
10 Sep 2020
Economic diplomacy: Borders, barriers and obstacles
Reshoring incentives gather steam, India’s RCEP regrets sink in, and Indonesia’s stimulus spending gets stuck. -
10 Sep 2020
Working one for the planet
After a lifetime employed, what if people spend one last year in the job and donate their salary to charity? I’m game. -
10 Sep 2020
Rising protests and a sinking economy spell trouble in Thailand
A wave of dissatisfaction with the ruling elite and a Covid-induced recession have shaken the country’s foundations. -
9 Sep 2020
America: Demographic shift to democratic redemption
Larger forces at play in the US make this an election more akin to the experience in 2012 than that of 2016. -
9 Sep 2020
Colourless green content: AI, disinformation and geopolitical risk
How will you know when a machine has written what you’re reading? -
9 Sep 2020
Debunking the myth of China’s “debt-trap diplomacy”
Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence. -
8 Sep 2020
No news is not good news
The hasty exit from China of two Australian journalists underscores how much the relationship has soured. -
8 Sep 2020
Islamic State’s new battleground – the courts
Two crucial cases at opposite ends of the earth will determine a government’s right to revoke citizenship of terrorists. -
8 Sep 2020
Australia, all is not lost despite China’s trade tantrums
Stopping trade means China loses too, and Beijing must know the world is watching. -
7 Sep 2020
Pandemic democracy
Voting is based on trust between citizens and their government. In an age of social distancing, such faith is tested. -
7 Sep 2020
How Russia benefited from Belarus’s turmoil
The “last European dictator” has turned back to the Kremlin after the West imposed sanctions for recent crackdowns.