Global Issues
Cambodia: Caught in the middle
Even as it grapples with the economic fallout of Covid-19, Cambodia has a China problem. The perception of Prime Minister Hun Sen as a stooge for Beijing became entrenched long…
It’s not OK: White supremacy and Australia’s security services
At the Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney last Friday night, a NSW police officer was caught on camera flashing the “OK” hand gesture as he passed by a group. This act has…
The geopolitical consequences of a pandemic
The global system is in a state of flux. China’s renewed territorial assertions and growing military power continue to pose challenges to regional peace and stability. US-Russia…
Seizing the chance to chart “The India Way”
A Chinese proverb holds that “the beginning of wisdom is calling things by the right name”. For those of us in New Delhi, it is refreshing to see India actively pitch its…
COVIDcast: Xi Jinping and Covid-19
In this episode of COVIDcast, Richard McGregor, Lowy Institute Senior Fellow, sat down with Chris Buckley of the New York Times to discuss Xi Jinping’s China. Buckley is widely…
Thailand: Another dissenter disappears
On 4 June, Wanchalearm Satsaksit – a self-exiled Thai political activist living in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh – vanished. He was almost certainly abducted. CCTV footage shows…
With Syrian prosecutions, a rare case of universal jurisdiction
With so much else going awry in the world, it’s perhaps easy to forget that the Syrian civil war is rolling on into its tenth year. Scholars and policymakers have long been…
China toys with a new propaganda technique: Irony
As the world struggles with the Covid-19 crisis, the US and China have been locked in a heated propaganda warfare over the handling of the virus. Hitting back at President Donald…
In Yemen, a deadly concoction of arms sales, conflict and Covid-19
In April, the UN Security Council issued a statement endorsing the UN Secretary-General’s call for a ceasefire in Yemen to better enable a response to Covid-19. The Council…
Climate change makes Covid-19 politics look easy
Covid-19 has been an extremely difficult challenge for national policymakers. If policy and politics are about managing competing interests and prioritising different…