Global Issues
Vietnam’s challenge to wean off coal
During a summer break, The Interpreter will feature selected articles each day from throughout the past year. Normal publishing will resume 15 January, 2024. This article first…
Lithium, lightest metal on earth, carries heavy geopolitical weight
During a summer break, The Interpreter will feature selected articles each day from throughout the past year. Normal publishing will resume 15 January, 2024. This article first…
Manila’s killing fields: Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on the poor
Book review: Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder In My Country by Patricia Evangelista (Penguin Random House, 2023)
“When I become president, when I take my oath of…
Australia must work with Bangladesh to stop the Rohingya boats
Foreign Minister Penny Wong pledged additional assistance to Rohingya refugees this week, an important step in alleviating some push factors that are driving many people out…
The great offshore decommissioning
Battered by sea and wind, and eventually destroyed by economics, much of Australia’s offshore oil and gas structures are coming down. The latest estimates from the Centre of…
Star power: An astrologer’s take on global leadership
Righto, the silly season is here. The end of year in Australia presages bubbly work parties and a long summer break. So, for some downtime, what do we Lowy Institute data…
Germany’s digital dilemma
In a world increasingly defined by digital transformation, Germany stands as anomaly, resisting the tide of digitisation in the face of global trends.
When I recently stepped…
Crunch time on Rohingya refugees
The Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have long been seen as a major potential source of maritime arrivals for Australia. In recent weeks, there has been an uptick in departures as…
Down or out: The future of fossil fuels at COP28
Asking the CEO of one of the world’s largest oil companies to broker a global agreement to phase out fossil fuels was always going to be a long shot, but as the scheduled final…
Half time at COP28: Reflections from Dubai
The daily commute on Dubai’s metro during this year’s UN climate summit (COP28) offers a strange juxtaposition. There is the expected picture for a climate conference: e-car ads,…