Australian Perspective
ISIS is the least of Afghanistan's problems
The growing geographic spread of ISIS has lately been part of the news chatter in tabloids and respected papers alike.
We know ISIS has tried to spread its propaganda to Pakistan…
The 'beggar-thy-neighbour' currency wars
Leon Berkelmans is in good company in defending the policy actions which have come to be described as 'currency wars'.
Ben Bernanke gave the same defence of the US Fed's actions…
Jokowi makes a political spectacle of executions
It's hard to believe that just four months after President Jokowi swept to power on a wave of disillusionment with Indonesia's politics, his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono…
Does it matter if Australia is no longer among the top 20 largest economies?
A recent report by PwC, The World in 2050, suggests that Australia could slip from 19th largest economy in the world in 2014 to 28th in 2050.
The report comes from the UK and…
A currency war would be no bad thing
The European Central Bank has finally begun to engage in quantitative easing. The euro depreciated on the news, which is good for the Europeans but bad for the rest of the world,…
How Greece and Europe can both win
The press is making much of the academic qualifications of Greece's new finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis. His specialisation is economic game theory, which in this case might be…
Obama's India visit reveals weakness of US position in Asia
Shashank Joshi makes a good case for the importance of Obama's visit to India last month, and against my view that there is much less to the US-India alignment than meets the eye…
New Lowy Institute poll: 62% Australians oppose execution of Chan and Sukumaran
In a new poll conducted by the Lowy Institute on the weekend, 62% of the Australian adult population say that the executions of the two Australian citizens, Andrew Chan and Myuran…
Timor-Leste: New prime minister, new approach
It has finally happened. After months of 'will he, won't he' melodrama, Xanana Gusmão, Timor-Leste's resistance leader and long-serving prime minister, has stepped down.
His…
SA's Royal Commission into nuclear energy: Let's talk about waste
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has announced the establishment of a Royal Commission to consider Australia's, and specifically South Australia's, possible future role in…