Global Issues
Economic diplomacy: Time for transparency on aid reform
Coming to the aid
Foreign Minister Penny Wong appears to have raised the stakes in the debate over a development finance institution (DFI) which has featured here on The…
Islamic State: women, justice, and a complex impasse
Reporting that the government will repatriate Australian women and children from Kurdish-run detention camps in Syria is recognition that the current state of affairs could not…
Building a better development finance institution: Australia’s opportunity
Last week, Roland Rajah and Jenny Gordon wrote illuminating pieces on the pros and cons of Australia setting up its own development finance institution, or DFI. The debate comes…
Ending capital punishment for good in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea abolished the death penalty in January 2022. As a matter of fact, this was the second abolition of the death penalty in the country.
Capital punishment was…
Water scarcity challenges China’s development model
Southern China’s longest drought on record is the latest manifestation of a slow-burning but increasingly severe water crisis. Left unchecked, it has the potential to act as a…
A neck-and-neck election for the future of the internet
The campaign to elect the next Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union has entered the final stretch, with UN member states assembling in Bucharest, Romania…
Six reasons to be cautious about Australia establishing a DFI
In The Interpreter this week, Roland Rajah presented five reasons for establishing a Development Finance Institution (DFI). While he makes a good case, like any major policy…
Making sense of Indonesia’s fuel riots
With less than two months until the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia has gone into public security mode. The government is facing a major public backlash after President Joko Widodo…
Guterres whistles in the wind
Spare a thought for António Guterres. Public platforms don’t get much bigger than that enjoyed by the Secretary General of the United Nations, but no one seems to be taking much…
The Rohingya issue requires a regional solution
The Myanmar–Bangladesh border is again the scene of trouble. The Bangladesh Army is on high alert after several cross-border incursions by the Myanmar military and is considering…