Japan
Japan’s new golden age in Southeast Asia
During his keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last year, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a momentous shift in his country’s post-war foreign…
How can Australia get its commitments to reduce carbon emissions back on track?
Difficult choices
As the Albanese government is gearing up to explain to the world the likely rejection of an indigenous Voice to Parliament at the referendum vote this weekend…
Japan risks its reputation in Oceania with Fukushima discharge
Japan’s decision last month to begin discharging treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean from its destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is fairly unpopular…
The Camp David Agreement’s shallow foundations
On 18 August at Camp David, Japan, the United States and South Korea optimistically hailed “a new era of trilateral partnership”. Korean domestic politics and the vexed history of…
Australia and the UN: A new agenda for peace
Last month, a New Agenda for Peace (NA4P) policy brief was released by the United Nations, outlining a vision for tackling today’s major challenges to peace and security. Among…
Stepping on the gas: Boosting Australia’s climate diplomacy in the region
The Australia’s women’s soccer team the Matildas may have gone down in the World Cup semi-final this week, but they certainly won over the fans – perhaps none more surprising,…
Bridging the divide: the significance of the US-South Korea-Japan trilateral
The Philippines may be the oldest US treaty ally in Asia, but South Korea and Japan are arguably the closest. The US-South Korea mutual defence treaty will turn 70 years…
For America’s atomic bomb legacy, the past is present
Over the past few weeks, Oppenheimer, the Hollywood biopic about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “Father of the Atomic Bomb”, has earned more than US$425 million at the box…
Something fishy about China’s anger over the Quad’s open ocean plans
Some international issues should be non-sensitive and uncontroversial. One of these is the regulation of fishing fleets to prevent overfishing and ensure the sustainable use of…
Economic diplomacy: Japan’s message in a gas bottle
New emissions
When Japan’s ambassador Shingo Yamagami left Australia earlier than scheduled in April, the Albanese government probably hoped it would get a break from his…