Australia in the World
From global to regional: Australia’s focus narrows
Writing in The Interpreter last week, Andrew Carr suggested that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade should reorganise itself around the principle of solutions to problems…
Deterring China’s military violence against Australians
Repeating an aggressive action four times shows intent. In February 2022, a Chinese warship directed a dangerous laser at an Australian Defence Force aircraft. In June 2022, a…
Rare earths vs rarer resources: Global ripples from Australia’s divestment decision
The Australian government has issued a directive for five foreign companies with links to China to divest their stakes in Northern Minerals Limited within two months. The mining…
Commentary
Australians are wary of the US, but we increasingly fear China
Originally published on The Australian
Malcolm Turnbull makes a call to global leaders with advice on Trump
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has told his side of that phone call with Donald Trump before. Don’t give in to a bully is Turnbull’s line. His 2020 memoir goes into some…
Modi 3.0: What India's election means for Australia and the world
This year is monumental for democratic elections around the world. But India’s election is what middle and global powers have been fixated on. The largest ever democratic exercise…
Free DFAT from “national interests” so that it can solve problems
With the 2023 Defence Strategic Review and 2024 National Defence Strategy, Australian defence policy has begun moving away from thinking about the ADF as a means to achieve …
The China alibi
The 2024 Lowy Institute Poll makes fascinating reading, not least for the paradigm shift that it shows in attitudes to China. As recently as 2020, the majority of Australians (55%…
The brakes on Australia’s ambition with India
India dropped six points this year when the Lowy Institute Poll asked, who is “Australia’s best friend in Asia?” With a 10% vote, that places India fifth on a list of six…
Not in the same boat? Perceptions of the Australia-Philippines security partnership
The 2024 Lowy Institute Poll suggests for most Australians, the Philippines does not figure highly as a potential security partner. Only 2% of the respondents chose the…