Global Issues
The tiny African country making a big case against Myanmar
Last month, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague announced a decision ordering that Myanmar’s Rohingya people be protected from further atrocities. Myanmar…
Next steps in Australia’s coronavirus strategy
Australia is one of 72 countries that have so far imposed coronavirus travel restrictions. This has slowed the virus and bought us time, but at a price: people’s lives have been…
Five urgent issues for Indonesia’s president
On 10 February, Indonesian President Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”) will address Australia’s parliament. Indonesia is often referred to as the democratic success story of Southeast Asia…
Chart of the week: Trust in China
Almost 30,000 cases of coronavirus have been officially confirmed, amid reports of Chinese authorities increasingly cracking down on information at the epicentre of the crisis…
Commentary
How the coronavirus crisis has brewed a ‘revolt of the professionals’ in China
Doctors, scientists, lawyers and journalists are pushing back against Communist Party structures in a rare backlash against suppression of information.
If Beijing can learn to…
Solastalgia: A malady for our age?
Some words capture the zeitgeist, or the spirit of the times. We’ve been talking about “globalisation” for decades now, until it’s become a comfortable part of our intellectual…
Commentary
How Beijing's silence helped spread the virus
Beijing's blaming of local officials and signs on a clampdown on information about the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak has tragic echoes of the mishandling of the SARs virus more than…
As Hong Kong wards off coronavirus, authorities struggle to win trust
Fresh vegetables were gone. Instant noodles, bread, and crackers were nowhere to be seen. Sanitising products like bleach, Dettol hand soap and Clorox wipes were sold out, and…
Coronavirus: One step forward, one step back for the global economy
For a second there the global economy was off to a slightly better start for 2020. The US and China finally inked an initial “phase one” trade deal that at least promised to pause…
For Rohingya, the long distance between law and justice
One would think that, after 100 years, the International Court of Justice would know about administering international justice. To the extent that the “world court” does or doesn…