Foreign Policy
Assessing Australia's UN performance
Prime Minister Tony Abbott visited New York this week and, as leaders have to do when in the Big Apple, got together with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the state of…
The demise of the Australia Network
May should have been a milestone month for Australian international broadcasting, and arguably the most celebratory in the 13-year history of the Australia Network. ABC…
Why Bob Carr's book matters
It was all a trick. A simple scam played on a clueless tabloid media to sell more books. And didn't they oblige! As soon as Bob Carr's Diary of a Foreign Minister hit the shelves…
Julie Bishop's first six months (and first 43 speeches)
Last week marked Julie Bishop's first six months as foreign minister.
When she was sworn in as Australia's 38th minister for foreign affairs on 18 September 2013, she could have…
Abbott sees a more liberal China ahead
Well, all glory is indeed fleeting.
Having just given The Interpreter a pat on the back for our Asia coverage, I'm embarrassed to admit that we are late to Prime Minister Abbott…
Spying row: Why Indonesia is tougher on Canberra than on Washington
Australia has copped the ire and sarcasm of Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa over fresh spying allegations reported in the New York Times last weekend. Meanwhile, the…
Lessons for Australia from the Swiss referendum on immigration quotas
On Sunday, a referendum proposal to re-introduce strict quotas for immigration from European Union countries was passed in Switzerland by a tiny majority of 50.3% of voters. The…
International events in 2014 will test Australian Government's climate credibility
After its first few months, the Abbott Government's domestic and international climate credibility is threadbare, as is its commitment to commercialising clean energy alternatives…
East China Sea: Is Australia hitting the 'pause' button on the Japan relationship?
Maybe Robert E Kelly is right that there has been too much gnashing of teeth and tearing of clothes over the very short change given to Asia in Barack Obama’s 2014 State of the…
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,…