Australia
Our public holidays should reflect Australia’s multicultural make-up
Australia is without a doubt an increasingly diverse and pluralistic country. The recent 2021 Census found that a majority of the population are now migrants or the children of…
How to Interpret 2022: Australians change government
In May this year, the Anthony Albanese-led Labor opposition cruised into power, albeit with the outboard motor working overtime, after a tight election campaign that saw one in…
How to Interpret 2022: Solomon Islands strikes a deal
Rarely have the affections of a sparsely populated archipelagic state been so wooed as those of Solomon Islands – the string of southwest Pacific isles sitting 2,000 kilometres…
Seeking independence: three books to read this summer
In her book, Becoming, Michelle Obama revealed that her husband, former United States President Barack Obama, has about eight books on the go to read at any time. I’ve lived a…
A focused direction for the Quad
The Quad, a “minilateral” grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States has made a recent resurgence. First initiated in 2007, the Quad was abandoned until 2017 when…
Beyond binary choices in Australia China relations
Book Review: Australia’s China odyssey: from euphoria to fear, by James Curran (UNSW Press, 2022)
December 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Australia-China diplomatic…
Economic diplomacy: From pollie crises to polycrisis
Words of the year are already flowing freely with teal taking the prize at the Macquarie Dictionary to reflect the challenge being posed to Australia’s major political parties by…
It’s complicated: psychology and national security decisions
The claim that Australia’s current national security environment has few precedents has almost become a cliché. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil most recently asserted that …
US-Australia alliance: beyond sentiment
As this week’s annual AUSMIN summit has confirmed, deeper strategic cooperation between Australia and the United States is accelerating. Yet, in the wake of the meeting and…
AUSMIN: the submarine conundrum
Despite the customary expressions of friendship, warmth, and praise for an unbreakable alliance at the 2022 Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) in Washington this week…