Global Issues
The case against Assange and Snowden
Get comfortable before you tackle this epic portrait of Julian Assange by his ghost-writer, Andrew O'Hagan.
The author writes more in sadness than in anger because he is clearly…
Global renewable-energy investment: Glass half empty, glass half full
With the Australian Government last week announcing a review of the Renewable Energy Target (RET), it's a good time to look back on how the sector has developed internationally…
Adam Minter on the Junkyard Planet (part 4)
Here's part 1 of my interview with author Adam Minter (on the globalisation of the scrap and recycling industry), part 2 on China's role in this industry, and part 3 on India. In…
Review: Paul Collier's 'Exodus'
Oxford economist Paul Collier has spent much of his career studying the lives of the poorest people on earth. His popular The Bottom Billion considered the causes and possible…
Speeches
2014 Australia-India Roundtable: Outcomes Statement
Relations between India and Australia have reached a new maturity, based on deepening connections between their societies, economies, education sectors and policy establishments…
Books
Global cooperation among G20 countries: responding to the crisis and restoring growth
At the outbreak of the global financial crisis, 2008, the G20 was widely acknowledged as helping prevent an even more serious decline in the global economy. It helped to calm the…
Interview: Adam Minter on the Junkyard Planet
Journalist Adam Minter has written a fascinating account of the global rubbish and recycling industry. I recommended his book, Junkyard Planet, as one of my top 'development books…
China making a mockery of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and no one seems to care
China is pushing forward with plans to finance and construct new nuclear power plants in Pakistan, in direct violation of its obligations to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)…
International events in 2014 will test Australian Government's climate credibility
After its first few months, the Abbott Government's domestic and international climate credibility is threadbare, as is its commitment to commercialising clean energy alternatives…
Syria and the Geneva conference
The so-called Geneva II conference ended last Friday. The key to any negotiation regarding Syria is to aim low and keep one's expectations realistic. It is fair to say that UN…