Global Issues

Aiding the Pacific during Covid: An update
Aiding the Pacific during Covid: An update
More than a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, how much outside financial support is the Pacific receiving and how far does this go in helping the region weather the crisis? This…
Rules-based order: What’s in a name?
Rules-based order: What’s in a name?
The rules-based order (RBO) concept is a bit like the Australian property market – just when it seems to have peaked, it surges again. The RBO has endured despite its extremely…
Hsinchu: Taiwan’s city at the centre of China’s conundrum
Hsinchu: Taiwan’s city at the centre of China’s conundrum
Centres of power such as Beijing, Washington and Taipei have generated most of the headlines as the Taiwan challenge gets ever hotter. But, while these cities clearly have plenty…
A Cold War deal on ice: The Antarctic Treaty at 60
A Cold War deal on ice: The Antarctic Treaty at 60
The Antarctic Treaty is celebrating an important anniversary. Negotiated in 1959, the treaty entered into force on 23 June 1961. The first meeting of the treaty parties was held…
Economic diplomacy: Trade deals for a fast-growing family
Economic diplomacy: Trade deals for a fast-growing family
Worker vs worker vs student Almost five million Kiwis have always been at least cousins. And Scott Morrison’s distinctive contribution to regional security has been his embrace…
Coal’s decline is underway, no matter what Australia’s politicians say
Coal’s decline is underway, no matter what Australia’s politicians say
It would have been so easy. In response to the G7 resolution “to achieve an overwhelmingly decarbonised power system in the 2030s” with focus on stopping investment in traditional…
New push for WTO trade reform
New push for WTO trade reform
With the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Round of negotiations stalled nearly 20 years after its launch, it takes an optimist to see the prospect of the multilateral rules…
Lowy Institute Conversations: Lord Adair Turner on climate change diplomacy
Podcasts
Lowy Institute Conversations: Lord Adair Turner on climate change diplomacy
In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, director of the Lowy Institute's Power and Diplomacy Program Hervé Lemahieu talks with Lord Adair Turner, chair of the Energy…
Beijing could easily encourage people to have more children, but won’t
Beijing could easily encourage people to have more children, but won’t
On 1 June, I woke up to the news that the Chinese government had announced that it will allow all couples in the country to have three children, an increase from two. I joked to…
The authoritarian threat of Indonesia’s latest internet bill
The authoritarian threat of Indonesia’s latest internet bill
For years, Indonesia has been plagued by so-called “elastic laws” – a set of bills that can see a person indicted for violating poorly defined provisions, such as defaming an…