9 Oct 2020
Bangladesh’s balancing act between great powers
For all the talk of a China-India contest, Bangladesh offers very little from a strategic point of view.
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9 Oct 2020
China’s vision of sovereignty for the next world order
Beijing’s attitude is clearly one that says big countries matter more than small or middle-size ones. -
8 Oct 2020
Health spending and foreign aid in the Pacific
The newest Pacific Aid Map, with nearly a decade of project-level data for the region, helps shine a light on health. -
8 Oct 2020
Economic diplomacy: Federal budget hits and misses
A slight but surprising rise in aid spending and a rosy take on China are inside the covers of the 2020–21 budget. -
8 Oct 2020
Iran’s declining regional influence
Tehran capitalised on US mistakes in the Middle East, but its proxy wars and consistently aggressive façade have a cost. -
7 Oct 2020
A budget of skewed priorities
As Australia faces one of the most challenging international environments in a century, it still skimps on diplomacy. -
7 Oct 2020
The unique power of TikTok’s algorithm
Even if the question of control is resolved, this game-changing app may still pose a challenge to democratic norms. -
7 Oct 2020
Global trade policy at a lull, but for how long?
With economies and trade meetings cut down by Covid‑19, and political uncertainty in the air, we’re at a standstill. -
6 Oct 2020
Stepping past the fatalism trap
If Australia wants to shape rather than be shaped by a fast-changing world, creative diplomacy is essential. -
6 Oct 2020
PNG electrification: Spend on solar to help meet targets
Big power projects need to be pursued, but money for household solar would help PNG meet its 2030 goal more quickly. -
6 Oct 2020
New Caledonia: A vote lost, yet independence advocates claim a win
A closer result in the second of three possible referendums shows the territory’s future is not yet settled. -
5 Oct 2020
Trump gets sick and the media dives into the deep end
The reporting of Trump’s health has quickly fallen into the same polarised pattern of so much of his presidency. -
5 Oct 2020
A Quad of consequence: Balancing values and strategy
The four-way gathering in Tokyo offers a chance to set out a vision for regional stability in the post-Covid order. -
5 Oct 2020
A dose of climate realism about China’s carbon pledge
Beijing’s target falls well short of the dramatic and globally organised action needed to stop dangerous climate change. -
3 Oct 2020
Protecting political leaders from Covid-19
Power and rank offer no immunity to the coronavirus. What is a leader supposed to do? -
2 Oct 2020
US presidential debate: Prologue to chaos
The bizarre shout fest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was ugly. It’s going to get worse. -
2 Oct 2020
Timor-Leste’s youth leave or get left behind
Young people make up most of the country’s unemployed, sending many overseas, while needed skills go unmet at home. -
1 Oct 2020
Smart China choices
Australia’s relationship with China is unavoidably asymmetric. That shouldn’t stop Australia finding a competitive edge. -
1 Oct 2020
In Bangladesh, Covid adds to a list of maladies
A stalling economy, climate challenges, a refugee crisis, and now a spat with Saudi Arabia make for troubling times. -
30 Sep 2020
The unfinished Chinese civil war
Many frame China’s options against Taiwan as peace or invasion. This is a dangerous oversimplification. -
30 Sep 2020
Duterte’s vaccine promise is a political placebo
The Philippine president has pinned hopes on a miracle solution to the Covid crisis while gutting effective responses. -
29 Sep 2020
Evaluating aid in the Pacific
A common rating system could make aid evaluation less opaque. Better yet, it could deliver more bang for precious bucks. -
29 Sep 2020
China-India: Talk is cheap, but never free
Temper the negotiation hopes. States often worry a willingness to talk will communicate weakness to an adversary. -
28 Sep 2020
A reality show for the US presidential race
This first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden promises a collision of two Americas, but little is likely to move. -
28 Sep 2020
Working together on relief can stop a China‑India border disaster
Cooperation on humanitarian assistance is an alternative channel for the two sides to build trust and generate goodwill. -
25 Sep 2020
Colonialism and cultural erasure in Xinjiang
The ideology behind the CCP’s “re-education” of the Uighur shares in the history of subjugating indigenous populations. -
25 Sep 2020
Intra-Afghan talks and future of Pakistan-Taliban relations
Long regarded as the not-so-invisible hand behind the Taliban, Pakistan has steadily lost its influence over the group. -
25 Sep 2020
Office of Development Effectiveness: Praised, then abolished
Two well-regarded evaluation bodies have been quietly scrapped. Why? -
24 Sep 2020
Economic diplomacy: A snapshot of overseas investment trends
New data sheds light on how Australian businesses have (and haven’t) shifted their foreign engagements. -
24 Sep 2020
Bougainville: A new captain at the helm
Ex-combatant Ishmael Toroama hopes to reward people’s patience and finally steer the island to independence. -
24 Sep 2020
Francis Fukuyama in Minsk
The outcry for liberal freedoms on display in Belarus suggests “The end of history” wasn’t all wrong. -
23 Sep 2020
A reckless president emboldened
What would four more years of Donald Trump’s leadership look like? Bob Woodward’s new book gives some clues. -
23 Sep 2020
How much did the spies really know about the virus?
What was said (and, just as importantly, not said) in Australia hints at early intelligence assessments of Covid-19. -
22 Sep 2020
Building a Covid vaccine strategy for Australia
Tempering expectations is a start. The next test will be to ensure the most vulnerable are not left behind. -
22 Sep 2020
The South China Sea map that wasn’t
A mistake? Maybe. But a US map of Vietnam including the Paracel and Spratly islands raises big questions. -
21 Sep 2020
Ginsburg’s pendulum
Ruth Bader Ginsburg had a deep faith in America’s capacity for self-correction. Her absence puts it to the test. -
20 Sep 2020
America’s breaking point?
The fear is that Trump appoints a judge to decide his electoral fate and then calls on the military to enforce it. -
18 Sep 2020
India puts relations with Japan back on the rails
A project to build bullet train lines across India is part of a burgeoning trans-Asian partnership. -
18 Sep 2020
Book Review: Where borders aren’t always badlands
People-to-people connections that stretch across tens of thousands of years don’t stop when lines are drawn on a map. -
17 Sep 2020
Suga steps in, at least for now
Japan’s new prime minister has kept the Abe cabinet largely intact, but he’ll need to prove he’s a different leader. -
17 Sep 2020
Covid-19 and Indonesian monetary policy
Funding the deficit is a necessary short-term measure, but “free money” can lead down a dangerous path. -
16 Sep 2020
Where the US went wrong in the pandemic
Public health in America is inherently a political issue. It didn’t need to be a partisan one. -
16 Sep 2020
Trump’s gambit in the Balkans
Drawing down troops from Germany one day, inserting the US into the Serbia-Kosovo dispute the next. What’s at play? -
16 Sep 2020
Bangladesh: Fight the power or shut up?
In a climate of fear and repression, Bangladeshi hip-hop artists are caught between self-expression and survival. -
15 Sep 2020
Protests and power struggles in Russia’s Far East
Moscow may hope to simply wait out the protesters. But the region has a history of unrest. -
15 Sep 2020
The making of Prime Minister Suga
Abe Shinzo’s “Mr Fix-It” has the top job. Will he make his own mark in a country famed for its revolving door of PMs? -
15 Sep 2020
The “Australian solution” won’t fix Johnson’s Europe problem
Geography, reality and personality collide to undercut the British Prime Minister’s fantasy. -
14 Sep 2020
Cut! How Hollywood self-censors on China
The Disney remake of Mulan has put Hollywood in an uncomfortable spotlight of its own. -
14 Sep 2020
No breakthrough in sight for EU-China leaders’ meeting
Europe seeks to keep bilateral ties from deteriorating as seen with the US and China, yet a rebalance is underway. -
14 Sep 2020
Tackling environmental security threats in the Indian Ocean
A “Quad-Plus” could bring together regional expertise and resources to address issues of collective interest.