Asia
Australia, China, AUKUS and the squandered advantage
Australia suffers from a deficit of expertise on China’s military capabilities, and it is distorting the national debate about the threat China poses to Australia.
Under the…
Indonesia’s nickel superhighway
Indonesia currently has the most significant nickel deposit in the world, putting it in a prime position to build advanced industries such as renewable energy, in which rare…
Is a stable Afghanistan where China, Russia and the US cooperate?
There is little that the United States can concur with China and Russia at a time regularly described as a “Second (or New) Cold War”. Yet amid all the ideological differences,…
Economic diplomacy: unlocked Laos looks for new links
All aboard
Next year will be the 30th anniversary of one of Australia’s signature contributions to economic development in Southeast Asia – the Friendship Bridge spanning the…
Japan and South Korea: a logical but uneasy alignment
This month, Japan and South Korea struck a deal on the compensation of Korean labour imposed by the Japanese empire during Tokyo’s 1910–45 rule over the Korean Peninsula. The…
Will China really funnel weapons to Russia through Belarus?
Just prior to his three-day trip to Beijing on 28 February, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko issued a warning. “We have absolutely no intentions to attack Ukraine…
The Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier dilemma
The late General Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, took a dim view of aircraft carriers. He considered them expensive and unnecessary. In his telling, including…
Finding the right approach to India as a “Civilisational State”
Over the last few weeks Australia’s newly intimate diplomatic relationship with India has been on full display. The “Raisina at Sydney” component of the 2023 Raisina dialogues was…
Indonesia: the buck stops with Sri Mulyani
Last month, a young man jumped into his Jeep Rubicon, picked up a friend and drove out to South Jakarta where he allegedly beat another young man so badly he was hospitalised in a…
Beijing and the birth rate: a question of human rights for women
As China grapples with population decline, the pressure on women in China is only increasing. Under paramount leader Xi Jinping, women’s rights continue to deteriorate as the…