Asia
Koreas: A tale of two Olympics
The presidency of South Korea’s Moon Jae-in will be bookended by Winter Olympics – one defined by hope, the other despair. North Korea has confirmed it will not participate in the…
Commentary
Can China win back global opinion before the Winter Olympics? Does it even want to?
Originally published in The Conversation.
Commentary
Don’t let the China hawks frighten you
China will become more powerful -- but any hostile reach towards Australia will always be limited by technology and regional politics. Originally published in the Australian…
Commentary
Australia can learn from Tokyo's smarter approach to China
Japan has played its Beijing cards more intelligently than Canberra. Originally published in Nikkei Asia.
Indian Ocean step-up
Like Australia in the Pacific, India has been pursuing its own Indian Ocean island step-up, largely driven by concerns about China’s growing influence in the region. This has…
Taliban takeover – Best of The Interpreter 2021
US forces and their allies debated the same question with varying intensity for 20 years after the 9/11 attacks. Afghanistan: To leave or not to leave? Syed Fazl-e-Haider:
The…
The junta takes back Myanmar – Best of The Interpreter 2021
Shared power grated with the generals. A little over a decade ago, Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, introduced a quasi-democratic constitution, which eventually saw the…
China’s economic punishment – Best of The Interpreter 2021
The promise was pain. Anger China, so warned Beijing’s “wolf warrior” diplomats, and Australia’s economy would suffer. But for all the threats, tariffs and embargoes, Roland Rajah…
Filipino journalists can only take risks equal to their protections
Thirty-six hours before Filipino journalist Maria Ressa was presented with her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway, another journalist in the Philippines was murdered. On 8 December,…
Myths that stir trouble in the South China Sea
US officials regularly present China as an aggressive and expansionist military power while Chinese state sources criticise the United States in similar terms. The verbal sparring…