United States
Joe Biden’s new Indo-Pacific Strategy: A view from Southeast Asia
The United States has just released an Indo-Pacific Strategy document, reiterating the importance of the region under President Joe Biden. Even though the document states the…
Kick-starting America’s Pacific diplomacy
Antony Blinken’s visit to Fiji on Saturday will be the first by a US Secretary of State to the island nation in 37 years. The timing of this trip is not the most convenient for…
Delivering promises will show steel in Quad
The German naval chief, Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach, lost his job during a visit to Delhi last month. During an interaction where he went woefully off-script, he urged the…
Defining Biden
US President Joe Biden’s regrettable and somewhat rambling comments on the tense situation in Ukraine during a 19 January press conference understandably drew the attention of…
How China views “strategic competition” with the United States
While “strategic competition” between China and the United States is now regularly presented as a given, what is missing from much of this discussion is a focus on Chinese…
An AUKUS surprise – Best of The Interpreter 2021
The buzz about an impending big announcement started the night before. But when the leaders from Australia, the United Kingdom and United States stood in a virtual press…
Myths that stir trouble in the South China Sea
US officials regularly present China as an aggressive and expansionist military power while Chinese state sources criticise the United States in similar terms. The verbal sparring…
India remains divided about AUKUS
The jury in New Delhi is still out on AUKUS, the new trilateral security agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Three months after its announcement…
European security: Putin ups the ante with NATO
Not content with sabre-rattling amid a menacing large troop build-up around Ukraine’s borders, Russia last week issued sweeping demands for legally binding new security…
Crisis stability as a priority in US-China relations
Prospects for US-China arms control run hot and cold.
China continues to vociferously oppose the recent Australia-UK-US agreement to cooperate on Australia’s acquisition of…