Diplomacy
Last call for the Australia Network?
And now the news: the Australia Network (described in The Australian's story as the 'Asian broadcasting service') is ‘likely to be scrapped in the May budget’.
No surprise,…
What Peter Cosgrove thinks about Indonesia
Australia's incoming Governor-General has put many of his thoughts to paper in various publications and talks in recent years. No doubt they will be subject to close examination…
Australia-Indonesia relations: Getting ahead of the curve
Gary Hogan brings a light touch to explaining the otherwise depressing oscillations of the Australian-Indonesian relationship, but his sine-wave theory conveys the wrong policy…
What the Khobragade row means for US-India relations
It's been 17 years since the US and India last engaged in tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions. That was in 1997, when Delhi kicked out two US intelligence officials (one,…
Commentary
Tony Abbott's diplomatic wobbles reveal challenges of new world order
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Anthony Bubalo and Michael Fullilove review why the Australian goverment seems to be staggering from crisis to crisis, arguing it has…
Global governance falling apart, and that could be a good thing
A thoughtful, wide-ranging essay here from Stewart Patrick on 'good enough' global governance, from which I'll pluck just one extract, because it goes to the pessimism I…
Five things you shouldn't worry about (or look forward to) in 2014
As you have already seen courtesy of a piece by new contributor Robert Kelly on three things that won't happen in Northeast Asia this year, we've decided to invert the January…
Burma puts its stamp on the world: Philately and foreign policy
When subjects like soft power and public diplomacy are discussed in forums like this, few people have postage stamps in mind, but there has long been a close connection between…
Julie Bishop's Pacific Islands trip: A good precedent
Reviving a mid-December tradition established by former foreign minister Alexander Downer, Julie Bishop has just completed a three-day whirlwind trip to Solomon Islands, Vanuatu…
Snowden leaks now hurting US exports, so is spying worth it?
Yesterday Peter McCawley noted that revelations of Australian spying on Indonesia are threatening to damage bilateral trade talks.
Today, more evidence that the Snowden leaks are…