Global Issues
Policy Briefs
Overcoming digital threats to democracy
Using deliberative democracy to enhance trust and legitimacy in digital spaces.
Go big or go home: Australia should invest at scale in Southeast Asia’s energy transition
Australia is looking to lift its engagement with Southeast Asia. Australia’s Special Envoy to ASEAN, Nicholas Moore, last year set out a new economic strategy to deliver on that…
Russia’s shadow tanker fleet runs into trouble
Barring new evasive techniques by Kremlin technocrats, the rapid rise in Russia’s shadow tanker fleet since the Ukraine war may be reversing as pressure is brought to bear on…
Australia’s nuclear energy debate doesn’t have to be partisan
Australia is investing billions of dollars as part of its AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines program. It will take years to be delivered. The enormous cost of this program contrasts…
Non-state actors and the phantom of asymmetry
The sunny days of free-riding are receding. In some form or another, most countries have leeched off American power for the last three decades. The preponderance of US military…
TikTok’s unwanted viral moment shows Singapore-China confusion hasn’t changed
TikTok has shot to prominence for its short – regularly viral – videos. So there was no little irony when the platform also helped to catapult views of a heated exchange last week…
One year into the Indonesia and Vietnam’s Just Energy Transition Partnerships
A year after announcing Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs), Indonesia and Vietnam were back at COP28 climate negotiations in Dubai, with investment plans to bring the…
Pacific Islands: Spillover threats from transnational organised crime
Is the Pacific prepared for a potential spillover of transnational organised crime from Southeast Asia? This question has become more pressing in recent days following two massive…
Golden passports and visas: Two sides of the coin
Last week, Australia quietly axed a business visa scheme, which included a controversial Significant Investor category – colloquially known as a “golden visa” that targeted…
Visa-free travel: A chance to reignite the Pacific voyage
Voyaging is a fundamental part of the Pacific. It ties Pasifika peoples, cultures and economies together across thousands of years of history. The tradition of voyaging remains…