Diplomacy
China’s climate pivot could reshape the economic future
Diplomacy is not always diplomatic. This fact of international life was on full display during the recent meeting of top US and Chinese diplomats in Alaska. It has also frequently…
Indonesia raises ASEAN’s bar on Myanmar
For much of his presidency, Indonesia’s Joko Widodo has taken a mercantilist view of foreign policy, pushing the country’s diplomats to promote trade and investment while keeping…
China’s Twitter trolls make bid for vacant Trump property
Just months into US President Joe Biden’s term in office, his predecessor seems to be quite distant in the American public’s rear-view mirror. Banned from most major social media…
“America’s back” in the Paris Agreement. For how long?
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order for the US to rejoin the Paris Agreement. A new US Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), containing…
With Olympic snub, North Korea returns to isolation
North Korean sports officials announced last week that the country would not be sending athletes to the Tokyo Olympics due to Covid-19 concerns. The brief statement, buried at the…
Policy Briefs
Chinese-Australians in the Australian Public Service
Underutilised in the Australian Public Service, Chinese-Australians are central to our China literacy and future engagement with the rising global superpower.
Why not try? What a Papua New Guinean team could bring to the NRL
At present, Port Moresby’s sports fields are silent. The Covid-19 pandemic has temporarily halted what would ordinarily be a gathering in the Papua New Guinea capital of deafening…
Australia must walk the talk on women’s rights – globally and at home
Last week, the United Nations held the 65th Commission on the Status of Women in New York, and virtually, with the theme “women’s full and effective participation and decision…
When a middle power is not caught in the middle
South Korea is set on a policy course that seeks to balance its economic relations with China and its security relations with the United States. Aiming for such a balance is…
North Korea and Malaysia’s predictable diplomatic divorce
Last Friday, North Korea severed diplomatic relations with Malaysia. In turn Malaysia gave the North Koreans 48 hours to leave the country. By Sunday, the North Korean embassy was…