Diplomacy
Iran nuclear deal opens door for Syria diplomacy
The US and Russia are reportedly promoting a concert-of-powers approach to new negotiations over Syria.
Although any movement toward a political solution will be limited by the…
Digital Diplomacy links: Modi on Weibo, cartoon diplomacy, Canadian lobsters & more
On the first Friday of each month the Interpreter will publish Digital Diplomacy links instead of the weekly Digital Asia links. As Australian digital diplomacy strives to catch…
This week in Jakarta: Diplomacy, deals and the death penalty
Indonesia's President Jokowi will welcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Jakarta today, making it his third meeting with an international leader this week. Jokowi…
Indonesia: engagement through communication and culture has barely begun
In a new Lowy Institute Paper, former ONA analyst Ken Ward makes the case for 'more realistic' expectations for the Australia-Indonesia relationship.
He writes that despite years…
Indonesia: We don't have to be condemned to crisis
Ken Ward is to be congratulated for a straight forward and sober analysis of the Australia-Indonesia relationship. In his own matter of fact style, Ken takes us through a complex…
Indonesia: Too many 'unforced errors'
Maybe it's just the title – Condemned to Crisis? – that gives Ken Ward's book such a downbeat despairing tone, as if the accident of geography has locked us in an unhappy marriage…
Digital Asia links (China special!): WeChat, intelligence wars, Taylor Swift, Spartan models and more
The Asia Pacific is the most dynamic digital landscape in the world, home to the fastest adopters of new technologies and the largest concentration of mobile and social media…
Australia's PNG solution: The seeds of sectarianism?
As part of the 'Sectarianism and Religiously Motivated Violence' Masters course run by the Lowy Institute's Rodger Shanahan at ANU's National Security College, students are asked…
A frank and refreshing assessment of Australia-Indonesia relations
The great strength of Ken Ward's Condemned to Crisis? is that it confronts head-on some of the false constructs surrounding Australia-Indonesia relations. Although many of the…
Syria: World dithers as new refugee crisis looms
It remains too early to predict the collapse of the Assad regime, or the way in which it might end, although the possibility of 'catastrophic success' on the part of the jihadist…