Global Issues
Australia's next climate push must come from the right
Interpreter alumnus Andrew Carr is hardly the first to point this out, but on the day the carbon tax is repealed in the Australian parliament, it is worth repeating this sentiment…
Australia's carbon price repeal: The global context
With the repeal today of Australia's two-year-old carbon pricing scheme, the Abbott Government has formalised Australia's transition from climate laggard to climate wrecker. But…
Middle powers in Asia: The limits of realism
In the world of international relations theory, the realist paradigm reigns supreme. In large part, this is because it has core features that exert strong appeal beyond the…
Australians shifting on climate change
A month ago my colleague John Connor wrote an op-ed for the Sydney Morning Herald welcoming the fact that for the first time in years, climate change was a major story coming out…
Linking corruption, social unrest and international security
We're a little late on this one, but a recent Carnegie Endowment paper on the links between corruption, social unrest and international instability is worth highlighting:
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The economic impact of environmental crime
A new report from the UN Environment Programme claims that the monetary value of 'environmental crime' — logging, poaching, animal trafficking, illegal fishing, illegal mining,…
Asia's coal demand: You ain't seen nothing yet
Sam Roggeveen yesterday showed us how much demand for coal has risen in Asia during this century. Now consider what the future will hold.
A recent joint publication from the…
Climate change: Asia leads, but not in a good way
Vox has some remarkable — and depressing — charts on why the world is failing on climate change, all derived from BP's latest Statistical Review of World Energy. Half of the world…
Climate change: Australia takes it seriously, and so should Abbott
Australian public opinion on global warming since 2006. (Screen capture from the Lowy Institute poll interactive.)
One of the most striking findings from the 2014 Lowy Institute…
Human rights in North Korea: Ten lessons from my UN inquiry
Michael Kirby spoke about his experiences as chair of the UN commission of inquiry into human rights in North Korea at the Lowy Institute on 28 May.
[vimeo:97909896]
The UN Human…