Asia
Afghanistan: Big power disagreements add to instability
Afghanistan has long suffered from interference by neighbouring and regional states. Despite the presence of international military forces, the donation of billions of dollars in…
Explaining China’s involvement in the South Sudan peace process
Most analyses of China’s relations with South Sudan begin and end with oil.
Oil was the most important reason for China’s heavy investment in, and intensification of, relations…
Northeast Asia: Five big security shifts in 2016
As the year winds down, it's time to look back on the biggest stories in the always-tense northeast Asian region. End-of-year lists are a useful, if soft, methodological tool in…
The future according to Vlad and Shinzo
Vladimir Putin’s visit to Japan later this week is not interesting in itself. Rather, it is the strategic environment in which it is happening that holds our attention. Through…
What to make of Abe's Pearl Harbor visit
In May this year, US President Barack Obama visited Hiroshima, the first serving president to do so. At the end of this month, on 26 and 27 December, Japan’s Prime Minister Abe…
Laos: Playing to win in Mekong hydropower game
At a time of deep concern about the ecological future of the Mekong River (declining fish stocks, reduced water and sedimentation flows, and destructive saltwater incursion into…
Dealing with xenophobic nationalism: Lessons from Singapore
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s speech to a conference of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) on 4 December highlighted his government’s acute recognition of the…
Overdone reaction to Trump-Tsai call reflects two exceptionalisms
The brief congratulatory phone call between President-elect Donald Trump and President Tsai Ing-wen, two democratically elected leaders, has triggered a veritable tsunami of…
Taiwan, not the US, will likely pay the price for the Trump-Tsai call
The recent 10-minute telephone conversation between US President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has sparked much speculation about a possible shift…
Commentary
Jakarta steers its own course
Aaron L. Connelly writes in The Australian Financial Review on Indonesia's tough stance on its territorial waters. Aaron L Connelly