Programs & Projects
The West Asia Program
The West Asia program provides original research on developments in the Middle East and Central and Southwest Asia, including as they impact on Australia. Central research issues include relations between West Asia and East Asia, the Arab uprisings and geo-political change in the Middle East and Australia’s relations with the Gulf.
Experts
Latest publications
News and media
Commentary
Iran has more at stake in Syria than America and its allies
Iran has more at stake in Syria than America and its alliesRodger ShanahanThe Australian4 January 2016 Click here for the online text.Rodger Shanahan
The media battle for Syria heats up as Assad government counterattacks
The social media campaign run by ISIS and various other Islamists has been both voluminous and highly sophisticated. Part of its strength lies in its depiction of victorious…
Turkey has got Syria wrong  again
The shooting down of the Russian aircraft by the Turks and the subsequent death of two Russian servicemen briefly got the tabloids talking about World War III but in reality this…
Commentary
Decision to keep Syria running was a masterstroke
Decision to keep Syria running was a masterstrokeRodger ShanahanThe Australian20 November 2015 Rodger Shanahan
Syria: The ugly truth behind those calls for 'pragmatism'
In Manila this week Prime Minister Turnbull, echoing the language of other Western leaders of late, spoke of the need for pragmatism when it comes to Syria:
...what we need…
How Iran became the first beneficiary of Russia's Syria Intervention
The first tactical victory emerging from Russia’s intervention in Syria came not on the al-Ghab plain in Syria’s Hama province or around Syria’s divided…
Analyses
Looking for leadership in the Arab Middle East
In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Research Fellow Associate Professor Rodger Shanahan examines how Arab Gulf States, led by Saudi Arabia, are responding to the Obama administration…
Commentary
Radicalisation woes still here
Radicalisation woes still hereRodger ShanahanThe Canberra Times27 October 2015Rodger Shanahan
Commentary
In the PR war, don’t mention the R-word
In the PR war, don’t mention the R-wordRodger ShanahanThe Australian10 October 2015Rodger Shanahan
Obama's Syria critics ignore inconvenient facts
It is fashionable to criticise Washington's approach to the Syrian civil war. In his memoir, former US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta described President Obama's approach to…