Asia
Missed opportunities in the internationalised university
With government investment in higher education continuing to decrease, Australian universities are becoming more and more financially reliant on international student fees. …
China opens its financial institutions to the world – sort of
If you believe the headlines, a new era of financial openness has started in China. Certainly, the number of recent announcements is unprecedented in terms of scope.
This month…
Helping the UN help Myanmar
Last month, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener as his Special Envoy on Myanmar, marking the…
Indonesia: a concrete block and a hard case
It was an astonishing sight. Nine women dressed in batik sarongs and wearing the traditional, conical hats of Indonesian farmers sat on the edge of the road in front of the…
Philippines: justice removed, justice denied
On 11 May the Philippine Supreme Court removed its own Chief Justice, Maria Lourdes Sereno, from office. Sereno, the first woman to hold that position, was dismissed on a vote of…
Timor-Leste election: the generation gap
After ten months of political gridlock and one dissolved parliament, Saturday’s decisive parliamentary election result represents one kind of victory for Timor-Leste’s fledgling…
The misunderstood AIIB
China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has been viewed through the wider debate over whether a rising China will overturn or uphold the US-led “rules-based liberal…
Bolton’s bargain: a Libya deal for North Korea?
Over the past year, the US has been engaged in what it calls a maximum pressure campaign to push North Korea to take concrete steps towards denuclearisation. President Donald…
All’s not fair in US–China trade stoush
As tense trade talks between the US and China continue, a growing chorus of US commentators seem to have concluded that, whatever their misgivings about President Donald Trump, he…
Talking North Korea in Australia
This month, I was in Australia for events hosted by the Lowy Institute and Sydney Writers’ Festival respectively. The questions were excellent, and I would…