Articles | Lowy Institute

24 Apr 2020
Asylum seekers and refugees

Coronavirus
The danger of disease in the world’s largest refugee camp

Katrina Lee-Koo , Eleanor Gordon

Cox’s Bazar camps are in lockdown. No Covid-19 cases are yet reported, but infectious illness is already sadly common.
23 Apr 2020
Australia in the World
Was 2020 Australia’s peak?

Melissa Conley Tyler , Tiffany Liu

The idea was to chart future goals. Looking back, has the global ambition from the “Australia 2020 Summit” stacked up?
23 Apr 2020
Asia

Global Economy

Energy
Negative oil prices: Why Asian nations may struggle to take advantage

Rachel Ziemba

Demand has collapsed, storages are filling – yet Asia’s energy markets might not offer producers a financial lifeline.
23 Apr 2020
Australia in the World

Pacific Islands

United States

Trade

China

Japan
Statesman Turnbull steps up: Secret letters, taming Trump, due credit

Greg Earl

Business with Donald, shared history with Xi and a Pacific ploy are revealing of the former PM’s foreign ambition.
23 Apr 2020
China

European Union

Coronavirus
Europe hasn’t fallen for China – if anything, it’s the opposite

Daniel Woker

Beijing’s charm offensive in response to coronavirus hasn’t moved the key capitals on the continent.
22 Apr 2020
Global Economy

G20

Coronavirus
Missing in action: The G20 in the Covid crisis

Tom Chodor

The supposed “premier forum” has by and large failed to rise to hopes of a broader mandate.
22 Apr 2020
Multilateral Institutions

Coronavirus
The case for the World Health Organisation

Charlotte Owens

Governments actually have more say in how the WHO functions than the loudest critics are letting on.
22 Apr 2020
United Kingdom
Scotland: False note to cry freedom

John Lloyd

Lockdown may have put independence talk into hibernation, yet not forever. Destroying Britain would be great for no one.
22 Apr 2020
India: The strange sight of clear skies amid a corona gloom

Aarti Betigeri

A nationwide shutdown turns murky smog closer to clear air – enough to see the economic misery unfold.
21 Apr 2020
Europe

Europe's Economy

Coronavirus
Hit hard, could Covid lead Europe to rethink economic policy?

Lisa Louis

Airlines could be nationalised, global supply chains severed. Will a once familiar market-led dogma survive the crisis?
21 Apr 2020
Global Economy

Energy

Coronavirus
The complex consequences of a plunging oil price

Christian Downie

The cost of planes on runways and cars in garages looks very different with an economics, security, or governance lens.
21 Apr 2020
Defence & Security

Coronavirus
If this is war, that Zoom call is part of the battle

Jason Israel

If this is war, military planning says we’re all combatants, our mission is broad, and the battle is just beginning.
21 Apr 2020
Papua New Guinea

Coronavirus
The phony war ends: PNG’s coronavirus challenge takes shape

Shane McLeod

After questions, the past few days have begun to reveal how pandemic has been silently spreading throughout the country.
21 Apr 2020
Global Economy

Trade

Coronavirus
The facts about global trade in face masks, ventilators and test kits

John Edwards

Policies that injure global trade in medical products would hurt the US and Western democratic allies more than most.
21 Apr 2020
China

Hong Kong
New crackdown will deepen dividing lines in Hong Kong

Ben Bland

Both the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong democracy movement are settling in for a long and painful struggle.
20 Apr 2020
Defence & Security

Coronavirus
Safety of life at sea: Covid‑19 and naval operations

Sam Bateman

Naval exercises are heavily affected by the pandemic, with crews even more vulnerable than people on a cruise liner.
20 Apr 2020
South Korea

Technology
The Nth Room case and modern slavery in the digital space

Nicole de Souza

South Korea is again confronted by an example of women being exploited – and the global challenge of misused technology.
20 Apr 2020
Pacific Islands

Australia

Coronavirus
Australia needs a comprehensive plan for Covid-19 in the Pacific

Pat Conroy

A region of great power rivalry and critical to Australia’s physical security – that gave help when we needed it, too.
20 Apr 2020
The Trump Presidency

Coronavirus
The vanishing hegemon

Marcus Colla

Trump’s America has a weakening hold on the global imagination. That doesn’t mean an end to the hyper-connected world.
17 Apr 2020
Global Economy

Coronavirus
Flattening the economy costs lives, livelihoods and freedoms, too

Ramesh Thakur

Before the “Great Lockdown” we should have heeded the lessons of past catastrophic warnings that never came to be.
17 Apr 2020
India
Aryabhata: Remembering India’s first satellite

Martand Jha

History has shown time and again that success is built on persistence and a willingness to risk failure.
17 Apr 2020
Global Economy

Coronavirus
COVIDcast Episode 7: The cost to the international economy

Alex Oliver , Roland Rajah

The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region, and the world.
17 Apr 2020
New Zealand

Coronavirus
New Zealand: Life under lockdown and the view of outside

Dick Grant

Morale remains good, but the bigger challenge is beyond the borders, seeking a glimpse of international cooperation.
17 Apr 2020
Diplomacy

Australia

Coronavirus
International Covid cooperation: Lessons from HIV/AIDS

Annmaree O’Keeffe

Australia’s responded to the viral killer in the 1980s not only with health measures but a crucial diplomatic campaign.
16 Apr 2020
Pacific Islands

Coronavirus
How much is too much? Covid loans for the Pacific

Alexandre Dayant , Roland Rajah

Not all regional nations are overloaded by debt. There is some scope to lend sustainably.
16 Apr 2020
Myanmar

Coronavirus
A decisive month for Covid-19 in Myanmar – and region beyond

Elliot Brennan

Nestled between giants comprising half the global population, control or contagion in Myanmar has huge ramifications.
16 Apr 2020
Technology

Coronavirus
What price privacy? Contact tracing apps to combat Covid

Xueyin Zha

Smartphone technology hold the greatest promises in outpacing the virus, but surrendering to surveillance has a price.
16 Apr 2020
United States

Coronavirus
In the US, a campaign with no trail

Erin Hurley

Trump is agitating like the virus is a made for TV drama, while the real job of responding falls to state governors.
15 Apr 2020
Multilateral Institutions

Coronavirus
Covid-19: Why did global health governance fail?

Shahar Hameiri

Despite the existence of a “World Health Organization”, very limited collective capacity had developed previously.
15 Apr 2020
Indonesia's Economy

Australia

Indonesia

Coronavirus
Australia should offer Indonesia crisis insurance – quickly

Roland Rajah

With little to no cost at home, a multi-billion “standby” loan will help restore economic confidence in a big neighbour.
15 Apr 2020
Pacific Islands

Coronavirus
Covid-19 and Pacific labour

Murray Ackman , Tautalaaso Taulealo

Visa extensions keep an essential financial lifeline open – but the challenge to help seasonal workers has only begun.
15 Apr 2020
China

Africa

Coronavirus
As Africa prepares to fight Covid-19, China steps up

Cornelia Tremann

In a fast and very visible way, China has sought to assume a role as a global humanitarian leader – and is succeeding.
14 Apr 2020
Free Trade

Coronavirus
Trading our way out of the Covid-19 lockdown

June Ma , Rohan Pitchford , Rabee Tourky

Protectionism, either within or between countries, is a sure way of achieving a prolonged recession.
14 Apr 2020
Defence & Security

Thailand

Coronavirus
Covid-19 ceasefire unlikely to hasten peace in Thailand’s south

Craig Keating

The tempo of violence in the long-running insurgency has slowed for years, yet the virus may not stop it altogether.
14 Apr 2020
South Korea
Why Covid-19 only accelerates South Korea’s AI ambitions

Jacob Choi

Moon Jae-in wants his country to be a technology powerhouse – yet for social reasons as much as military or economic.
14 Apr 2020
Coronavirus
Why 15 countries still haven’t reported any cases of Covid-19

Ben Eliasaf , Daweena Tia Motwany

Pacific Islands nations are isolated, so that helps. But Tajikistan and Turkmenistan? North Korea? Lesotho? Really?
13 Apr 2020
South Korea

Coronavirus
Coronavirus will not dominate elections in South Korea this week

Robert E Kelly

If only the US could also control its outbreak, the virus need not take over the agenda or make the vote treacherous.
13 Apr 2020
Asia

Review
Book review: The Indo-Pacific contest

John West

A meditation on the region – the arena of Australia’s greatest strategic focus – puts China’s rise in historic context.
10 Apr 2020
North Korea

Vietnam

Coronavirus
Vietnam, North Korea, politics and Covid-19: The numbers tell a story

Khang Vu

The two Communist nations boast low or even zero cases of the virus. What message does this send?
10 Apr 2020
Administration
The Interpreter is slowing down for Easter

The Interpreter

Even in self-isolation, a change is as good as a holiday. Well, sorta. Publishing will be light until Tuesday.
10 Apr 2020
India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Coronavirus
Why South Asia may come out of Covid-19 crisis better than many expect

David Brewster

A younger demographic and less social reliance on the state could see local nations seeking advantage amid the changes.
9 Apr 2020
Coronavirus
Covid-19: A war of words

Sam Hendricks

In the battle against the coronavirus, the first casualty is untruth.
9 Apr 2020
Coronavirus
COVIDcast Episode 6: Geopolitics and the pandemic

Hervé Lemahieu , Ben Bland

The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region, and the world.
9 Apr 2020
Global Economy

Foreign Investment in Australia

Australia

Coronavirus
Economic diplomacy: foreign investment under Covid, supply chain kinks

Greg Earl

Australia might worry about opportunistic takeover bids at home, but investment restrictions will hit the region more.
9 Apr 2020
Coronavirus
Cry the beloved world

Stephen Howes

As the next wave of Covid-19 bears down on developing nations, is there a chance they can avoid the worst?
9 Apr 2020
United Nations

China

Taiwan

Coronavirus
WHO and China: Compounding politics and policy

Rowan Callick

The World Health Organization has been heavily criticised for appeasing China instead of leading the Covid-19 fight.
9 Apr 2020
Global Economy

Coronavirus
We’re all socialists now

Mark Beeson

With a spectre haunting the world, governments unite, with unimaginably radical solutions to save capitalism.
8 Apr 2020
Asia

Coronavirus
Asia after the pandemic

Nick Bisley

The stabilising force of shared economic interests could be lost after the crisis, leaving the region more dangerous.
8 Apr 2020
Asia

Middle East

United Nations

Africa

Coronavirus
Coronavirus in conflict: The fight has hardly begun

Eleanor Gordon , Florence Carrot

Covid-19 has brought wealthy nations to their knees. What will happen when the virus breaks out in a war zone?
8 Apr 2020
Asia

Defence & Security

United States

Coronavirus
Fighting corona will strain US military capacity in the Indo-Pacific

Ashley Townshend , Jim Golby

With outbreaks in the ranks and resources directed home, America’s commitments abroad will be challenged.