Australia in the World

A special Interpreter series ahead of the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, 4-6 March. Read more articles in this thread. Southeast Asia is in the…

Policy Briefs

Geopolitics in the Pacific Islands: Playing for advantage

Competition among development partners in the region needs to be harnessed to lift standards and development outcomes.

Why big projects fail: Climate change and AUKUS submarines

Book review: How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner (Penguin Random House, 2023) We don’t need to look at detailed statistics to know that large-scale…

We need to talk about “strategic competition”

“Strategic competition” has become the leitmotif of contemporary Australian national security policy and discourse. It has been regularly invoked by politicians, bureaucrats and…

Australia and Brazil must seize the chance for closer green cooperation

Brazil has long held a special place in the Australian imagination. Its world-famous beaches, wilderness and wildlife – and equally famous nightlife – have long attracted…

An Australian strategy for improved aid to Ukraine

The recent debate about the future of the Australian Army’s decommissioned Taipan helicopters has highlighted a lack of coordination and transparency in Australia’s approach to…

Diplomacy: How to pick those who represent us

Every three years, we elect a prime minister to represent us at home and abroad. In the meantime, every now and again the government takes it upon itself to decide who should…

Beyond the try line: What PNG’s NRL team means for development

Excitement is building around Papua New Guinea’s bid to have its own team in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL). Australia is providing big bucks – $600 million over 10…

Space surveillance and AUKUS: The power of awareness

Following the December meeting of AUKUS Defence Ministers, advanced space radar capabilities have emerged as a key feature of AUKUS Pillar II (pillar I relates to nuclear…

Economic diplomacy: To market, to market, with China

Trading up Australia’s international economic engagement kicked off in 2003 with then foreign minister Alexander Downer telling his Cabinet colleagues that he was set to claim…