Global Economy
What RCEP can tell us about geopolitics in Asia
Much of the economic gains from the newly signed mega trade deal known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will come from mitigating what is called the Asian …
Prospects for a G20 “pandemic treaty”
Summit season has flashed before our eyes in 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic means we have largely been spared of the “theatre of summitry”, with less headline-grabbing drama than in…
Economic diplomacy: Navigating Asia’s trade tangle and a NSW “step-up”
Finding RCEP
India might have spurned the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, but its parable of the blind men and the elephant still provides the best way of…
RCEP revives the art of the deal
News that 15 governments had signed the text of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement did not force either Covid-19 or the presidential transition in…
The G20’s existential crisis
2020 could be defined as a year of global crises – health, political, environmental and economic. The G20 is caught among all four, and how the forum responds raises questions…
Biden’s clean energy plan versus China’s green tech dominance
A man who has earned a reputation for compromise and dealmaking over his half-century in Washington, Joe Biden has also won the presidency by presenting himself as a national…
Economic diplomacy: A headless WTO, selling the Asian farm
New world order
The leadership of the World Trade Organisation may be the first test of whether the world can move on with normal life amid the divisions and recriminations as…
Crew-change crisis risks supply chains – and lives
Twenty-four crew members of the Al Messilah, a livestock carrier under Kuwaiti flag, tested positive last week for Covid-19 at Fremantle Port in Western Australia. They are among…
Analyses
2020 Asia Power Index Key Findings Report
The annual Asia Power Index — launched by the Lowy Institute in 2018 — measures resources and influence to rank the relative power of states in Asia. The project maps out the…
Economic diplomacy: Japanese investment takes a Toll
Will the bell Toll?
The quiet flood of Japanese investment into Australia over the past few years amid at times mounting alarm about much lower levels of Chinese investment has…