Asia
Archipelago angst: How Indonesia and the US differ on air routes over sea lanes
A few weeks ago, Indonesia’s armed forces chief Admiral Yudo Margono revealed interesting data about the countries said to have violated Indonesian airspace. The highest number of…
Economic diplomacy: Hard labour managing geo-economic fragmentation
Catching a wave
The Biden administration’s loosely named Inflation Reduction Act has flowed through the global economy like a tsunami engulfing everything from the reshoring…
De-dollarisation: shifting power between the US and BRICS
There has been increasing talk of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) developing a new currency that will rival the US dollar as the global reserve…
In a meaningless gesture, Myanmar’s junta cuts Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence
Myanmar’s generals have long demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to remember everything, and to learn nothing. Sometimes this serves them well. Much of the world, when it…
China’s big gamble in Pakistan: A 10-year scorecard for CPEC
A flagship for China’s much-vaunted Belt and Road Initiative, the $62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been underway for a decade. Signed by Pakistan’s…
Something fishy about China’s anger over the Quad’s open ocean plans
Some international issues should be non-sensitive and uncontroversial. One of these is the regulation of fishing fleets to prevent overfishing and ensure the sustainable use of…
“Solidarity with Russia”: North Korea cements an anti-US bloc
For the first time since the start of the pandemic, North Korea last week welcomed foreign visitors to Pyongyang, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice…
Berlin’s economic “de-risking” model could be Europe's answer to the Taiwan question
On 13 July, Germany released its China strategy white paper. The 64-page document highlighted the European power’s acceptance of a “systemic rivalry” with the People’s Republic of…
Far from the limelight, forgotten Afghans continue the fight
Book review: August in Kabul: America’s last days in Afghanistan, by Andrew Quilty (Melbourne University Press, 2022)
Six months after the Taliban toppled the Ghani-led Afghan…
Is Hun Sen really stepping down?
He has been around for so long that he seems to have been the classic example of the legendary Banyan tree, a politician who was so powerful that no one else would emerge from his…