Australia
China: Explaining that tweet
No doubt you have seen the offending tweet already. If you’re in the mood to be outraged, it is still pinned to the top of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian’s Twitter…
The UK’s unwelcome foreign aid cut
The recent move to cut billions of pounds from the United Kingdom’s foreign aid budget was long feared by advocates. As result, one minister has flagged her resignation, and…
Fareed Zakaria on Australia’s “opportunity” between the US and China
Australia could model itself in part on Singapore to ensure it could still thrive in an Asian region increasingly dominated by China, according to Fareed Zakaria, the author and…
Port Adelaide to Shanghai: Sports diplomacy and the long road ahead
Trust between Australia and China is at a nadir. Little more than a year ago, the prospects for positive long-term engagement remained strong – not just for business ties, but…
Who was Hugo Grotius and what is a “Grotian world”?
On Monday, the UK-based think tank Policy Exchange awarded Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison the inaugural Grotius Prize “in recognition of his work in support of…
Australia’s PM: “How good is international relations theory!”
It was only last year Scott Morrison marched with a baseball cap and Daggy Dad political persona to a triumphant victory in a seemingly unwinnable election. “How good is Australia…
The submarine capability gap
The 2020 Defence Strategic Update released by the Morrison government on 1 July concluded that Australia’s strategic environment is deteriorating – and deteriorating faster than…
Australia’s mission in Afghanistan – what was it again?
Back in 2012, Afghanistan mostly only featured in Australian news bulletins at those moments an Australian soldier was killed. The war was otherwise a story in the background, a…
Economic diplomacy: Navigating Asia’s trade tangle and a NSW “step-up”
Finding RCEP
India might have spurned the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, but its parable of the blind men and the elephant still provides the best way of…
Beijing’s bad books: Australia can learn from Norway and South Korea
The latest complaints from China against Australia, neatly bundled into a series of 14 perceived disputes, makes painfully clear how ties between the two countries…