Australian Diplomacy
UN Security Council bid: How Australia should sell itself
It's leaders' week at the UN. The 70th Session of the General Assembly is open for business under the Presidency of Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark. General-Secretary Ban Ki-Moon is…
Australia makes another tilt at the UN Security Council
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has just announced that Australia will bid for a seat on the UN Security Council in 2029-30.
That's 15 years from the end of our last Security…
Turnbull's new cabinet is great news for the Pacific
On Monday, Prime Minister Turnbull unveiled a new cabinet with sweeping changes to the front bench. The most important point for the Pacific is that Julie Bishop retains her…
Australia-South Korea 2+2 delivers ambitious agenda
One week ago – a long time in politics – the South Korean and Australian foreign and defence ministers held a '2-2' meeting in Sydney. This high-level biennial conclave for the…
Australia's prime ministerial shuffle is hurting its diplomacy
When the rest of the world dealt with Australia in the past, it was familiar figures that emerged from the VIP planes and who stretched out their experienced hands. For over a…
The silence of Australia's Imams on the Gulf States and refugees
As I wrote the other week, the Arab world, and the Gulf States in particular, have been happy to bat away any criticism of their complete refusal to resettle any refugees from…
Reader riposte: Australia-India nuclear deal
By Ron Walker, currently a visiting fellow at the Asia Pacific College of Diplomacy at ANU. Ron is a former DFAT officer who worked for 20 years in Australia's nuclear diplomacy…
Australia's foreign policy and refugee resettlement
Following a community outcry over the plight of asylum seekers in Europe, the Australian Government has announced that it will resettle 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees. This will…
Australia-India nuclear deal: Parliamentary treaties committee recommends tough conditions
Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) presented its report on the Australia India nuclear cooperation Agreement on 8 September after ten of months deliberation…
Meet Julie Bishop's 'text buddy', Retno Marsudi
The relationship between Australia and Indonesia's Foreign Ministers has progressed to 'text buddies', according to Julie Bishop's assessment of the thawing relations between the…