Global Issues
The (other) continent we can’t defend
For all the back-and-forth Hugh White has generated with his latest book, How to Defend Australia, in a national preoccupation with the China question, little serious discussion…
70 years of the Geneva Conventions and why we need them more than ever
Seventy years ago today, following the devastation of the Second World War, the diplomatic conference of the International Committee of the Red Cross adopted the Geneva…
Climate change is a national security issue
If only a minister of the Morrison government would be as forthright in identifying climate change as a massive destabilising force in Australia’s region as the Chief of the…
The importance of trust in preserving Antarctica’s future
For international governance of the near-pristine expanse of the Antarctic, consensus decision making is powerful indeed. This model, is the modus operandi of Antarctic law, and…
Congo’s Ebola outbreak: sounding a global alarm
As the one year anniversary of the ongoing Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province draws near, the World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom…
Does a US flag on the Moon amount to a claim of sovereignty under law?
This past week has seen worldwide celebrations over the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing. Many iconic images from that time have been revisited, including…
Cyber threats go beyond hackers and scams but to democracy itself
The 2019 Lowy Poll found that 62% of Australians rank cyberattacks as a threat to Australia’s vital interests. This leaves cyberattacks second only to climate change as the threat…
Australia, New Zealand and the “corrosive” character test
In the first parliamentary sitting week following Australia’s recent election, a bill to amend the Migration Act was introduced and tabled in the House of Representatives. This…
Harnessing demographic destiny
Once confident predictions that the world’s population will reach 11 billion by the end of this century are beginning to be debunked. It is now appears more likely that the global…
India’s latest crisis: 600 million people struggle with drought
The agonising and often exhausting wait for the monsoon has long inspired India’s writers and poets. But it’s the country’s farmers who know all too well the impact a delayed or…