Asia and Pacific
Class, economy, monarchy: Thailand's multidimensional malaise
The attempt on Monday 13 January to shut down Bangkok, orchestrated by the People's Democratic Reform Committee led by Suthep Thaugsuban, a former Deputy Prime Minister and…
A regional uranium enrichment centre in Australia?
It may seem anomalous that Australia, with a third of the world's uranium reserves, does not have a uranium enrichment industry to value-add on uranium exports. This was…
What the Khobragade row means for US-India relations
It's been 17 years since the US and India last engaged in tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions. That was in 1997, when Delhi kicked out two US intelligence officials (one,…
No circuit breaker in sight in East China Sea
In my concluding thoughts on a report compiling four workshop papers about tensions in the East China Sea, published by the Lowy Institute on 7 January, I note that it is…
Different visions of the Indo-Pacific: China, India, the US and Australia
Each country has a different vision of the so-called 'Indo-Pacific' and its role in it. The views of India, China and the US are of particular interest to Australia given its…
New weapons reveal China's technological ambitions and limits
The Christmas/New Year period has been busy for those who watch Chinese military developments. For pure symbolic power, it was impossible to beat the first publicity photos of a…
Five things you shouldn't worry about (or look forward to) in 2014
As you have already seen courtesy of a piece by new contributor Robert Kelly on three things that won't happen in Northeast Asia this year, we've decided to invert the January…
Phnom Penh violence: A turning point for Cambodia?
It's too early to say whether the violence resulting in at least four deaths that occurred in Phnom Penh on 3 January, as police and military dispersed protesters in the city's …
Spying on Kristiani Herawati: A loss of judgement
The Weekend Australian carried a ‘well-sourced’ article defending our listening in on Kristiani Herawati, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's wife. Quoting the usual …
The purge: What happened in North Korea?
This isn't the first time I've highlighted the views of North Korea analyst BR Myers. I haven't read his book, The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why It…