Asia and Pacific
Thursday links: Middle East outbreaks, China myths, robots, Shakespeare in China and more
'The whole of the Middle East and North Africa (is) at risk of outbreaks of diseases once thought safely on the run.'
When do states stick with the international institutions…
Why is Indonesia making such a fuss about spying? Six theories
Last week I admitted to being a bit baffled by the Indonesian Government's decision to make such a big deal about a minor Australian news story on electronic eavesdropping from…
How far East Asia has come, in one graph
Marty Harris is an assistant digital editor at the Lowy Institute.
The following graph is from the UN's 2013 Millennium Development Goals Report:
Little comment is needed on…
Third plenary: Xi Jinping's big moment
Dirk van der Kley is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute's East Asia Program.
This weekend the Communist Party of China (CPC) will begin the third plenary session of its…
How high are Xi Jinping's pants today?
That's the name of my new favourite Tumblr. So just how high are they? 'Higher than China's Q3 GDP estimates', is the caption to this photo:
And this one is captioned simply …
Reader riposte: Indonesia 2014 and spy claims
Ian Brownlie writes:
A couple of comments on Stephen Grenville's post this morning on Jokowi and Indonesia's 2014 elections:
Jokowi is not formally a member of Megawati's PDI-P…
Indo-Pacific security links: Taiwan and the pivot, Pakistan-China, containment and more
Brendan Thomas-Noone is an intern in the Lowy Institute's International Security program.
US think tank the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment argues that the are…
Indonesia 2014: Jokowi or bust
You can't read a paper or watch TV in Indonesia without coming to the conclusion that Joko Widodo ('Jokowi'), the mayor of Jakarta, is a shoe-in for the 2014 Indonesian…
Are China's leaders still capable of big reforms?
This is the second part of my interview with Damien Ma and William Adams, co-authors of In Line Behind a Billion People: How Scarcity will Define China's Ascent in the Next Decade…
Asian crisis and GFC compared: All the wrong lessons
Do we learn from economic crises? The 2008-10 crises in America and Europe and the Asian crisis a decade earlier present a rich source of contrasting experience to examine.
What…