Articles | Lowy Institute

16 Mar 2023
China

Chinese Trade

Laos
Economic diplomacy: unlocked Laos looks for new links

Greg Earl

The once isolated and landlocked nation has become an unlikely partner in Australia’s latest push into the region.
16 Mar 2023
Iraq War

Iraq

United States
What went right in Iraq

Paul Bremer

Twenty years on, the former Coalition Provisional Authority head reflects on his year in charge of the country.
15 Mar 2023
Multilateral Development Banks
Greening the World Bank

Roland Rajah

Reform must deliver for both climate and development.
14 Mar 2023
Defence & Security
AUKUS: Many questions, revealing answers

Daniel Flitton

What Lowy Institute’s analysts have so far made of the nuclear-powered submarine announcement.
14 Mar 2023
Japan

North Korea

South Korea

United States
Japan and South Korea: a logical but uneasy alignment

Robert E Kelly

Is a compensation deal to right colonial-era wrongs part of a strategic shift towards rapprochement?
14 Mar 2023
China

Russia

Ukraine
Will China really funnel weapons to Russia through Belarus?

Nikola Mikovic

With war on his doorstep, the Belarusian president is juggling Beijing and Moscow to reap the benefits of geography.
13 Mar 2023
India

India's Navy

Defence & Security
The Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier dilemma

Abhijit Singh

Seen as a vital asset to maritime strategy, large “supercarriers” are nonetheless very expensive.
13 Mar 2023
Australia in the World

Australian Diplomacy

Diplomacy
Taking Australian statecraft from good to great

Hugh Piper , Susannah Patton

To remain effective in Asia, Canberra must do more with less, multiplying the effects of its bureaucratic tools.
10 Mar 2023
Australia

Australian Navy

Defence & Security

United Kingdom

United States
AUKUS: Asking a veteran submariner what to think

Justin Burke

What are the big issues still lurking beneath the surface of the AUKUS debate?
10 Mar 2023
Iran
A tenuous tourniquet: Iran’s nuclear program

Ali Vaez , Naysan Rafati

Monitoring alone cannot overcome the reality that Iran’s capability remains potent, and a headache for the West.
9 Mar 2023
India

Australia
Finding the right approach to India as a “Civilisational State”

Benedict Coleridge

Australian diplomacy must be careful about the domestic political messages that accompany any complex relationship.
9 Mar 2023
Australia

Diplomacy
A first for Australia, and First Nations Australians

Hamish Fejo

Now the hard work begins to ensure a First Nations Foreign Policy amounts to more than words.
9 Mar 2023
Indonesia
Indonesia: the buck stops with Sri Mulyani

Erin Cook

Indonesia’s finance minister has built a brand for cracking down on corruption. Could she campaign all the way to the top?
9 Mar 2023
Australia

Emerging Threats

Terrorism
A strategy for securing Australian democracy

Levi West

Rising right-wing extremism threatens the liberties we take for granted, which means Canberra needs a new plan.
8 Mar 2023
China

China's Government

Human rights

Sex and Gender
Beijing and the birth rate: a question of human rights for women

Yun Jiang

Despite the government's gender positive rhetoric, Chinese women are still viewed as resources of the party state.
8 Mar 2023
Asia

Pacific Islands

Sex and Gender
“Amplify their voice”: Promoting gender equity in Asia and the Pacific

Daniel Flitton

The regional head of UN Women has a simple but crucial message on this International Women’s Day.
8 Mar 2023
Sex and Gender
Women and politics: a new world order

Clare Caldwell

With geopolitical oxygen so often depleted by autocratic strongmen, how might a globe dominated by female leaders look?
7 Mar 2023
India

Australia
Getting India right

Ian Hall

Shared concern over China is one thing but Anthony Albanese must also overcome misapprehensions about India’s rise.
7 Mar 2023
Australia and the Pacific

China and the Pacific

Papua New Guinea
PNG voices: regional partnerships must be based on respect

Andrea Connor , Maholopa Laveil , Leonie Baptiste , Londari Yamarak , Hannah Sarvasy

Righting perceptions of an asymmetric relationship between PNG and Australia comes down to listening.
6 Mar 2023
Laos
Mekong River: Work has begun on the Luang Prabang Dam site

Milton Osborne

Environmental and heritage reviews are unlikely to stop the Lao government forging ahead with its hydroelectric plans.
6 Mar 2023
Space exploration
The sky is no longer the limit: Australia and East Asia in Space

Jiye Kim , Arpit Raswant , Tim Mahlberg

Canberra needs to strengthen its engagement with the region to grow a sustainable Space economy for the benefit of all.
3 Mar 2023
Fiji

Sex and Gender
A new era of democracy for Fiji – but where are the women?

Romitesh Kant , Kerryn Baker

A steep decrease in the number of women representatives after the election suggests growing disengagement.
3 Mar 2023
Russia

Ukraine
Why does Putin persist?

Ian Hill

For all his mistakes, the Russian leader knows the objectives of Ukraine and its Western backers don’t exactly coincide.
2 Mar 2023
Global Economy

Australian trade, investment & economy

IMF

Trade

WTO
Economic diplomacy: Arming up for war and trade

Greg Earl

Sovereign capability is the government’s answer to an old political trade-off in the face of geoeconomic fragmentation.
2 Mar 2023
North Korea
North Korea remains a hermit even as food runs short

Gabriela Bernal

With a population cut off behind a border, Kim Jong-un sees ideology as the answer to warnings about empty plates.
2 Mar 2023
Australia's Defence Challenges

Australia-United States Relations

Australian Defence Force

Australian Navy

Defence & Security

United Kingdom

United States
AUKUS and intellectual property

Naoise McDonagh , Sascha-Dominik Dov Bachmann

In an era of economic entanglement, IP theft has the potential to threaten democracy. Governments need to be vigilant.
1 Mar 2023
Australia

Papua New Guinea
Reflections on the 29th Australia-Papua New Guinea Ministerial Forum

Natasha Turia

More action led outputs needed.
1 Mar 2023
Indonesia

Indonesian Elections
How will voters swing in Indonesia’s 2024 general elections?

Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas

Gen Zs, Millennials, TikTok and climate change: it’s going to be a numbers game for next year’s presidential candidates.
28 Feb 2023
Malaysia
Malaysia’s Anwar steps out abroad to bolster his standing at home

Valerie Rozman , Drake Tien

The new PM has thrown himself into travel to raise Malaysia’s profile on regional challenges after years of turmoil.
27 Feb 2023
Australia and the Pacific

Pacific Islands

Papua New Guinea
Answers needed on the Pacific Engagement Visa

Akka Rimon , Michael Kabuni , Jope Tarai , Natasha Turia

Beyond practicalities, it’s unclear whether this is a genuine “Pacific family” partnership or geopolitical convenience?
27 Feb 2023
Vietnam
What recent changes at the top mean for Vietnam

Le Hong Hiep

Don’t expect major shifts in economic or foreign policy. The key challenge is a nest of structural obstacles at home.
24 Feb 2023
Australia

Australia and the Pacific

Australia's Defence Challenges

Australia-United States Relations

Australian Defence Force

Australian Navy

Australia–New Zealand

China-Australia Relations

New Zealand
The Australia-New Zealand alliance in a war with China

Robert Ayson

The potential for conflict in the region should have Canberra and Wellington thinking about shared strategic risks.
24 Feb 2023
Russia

Ukraine
Russia has already lost. The next year will decide if Ukraine can win

Bermet Talant

A revitalised NATO and unflagging Western support will help, but it is still up to Ukraine to defeat the Russian army.
23 Feb 2023
Timor-Leste
Gusmão, Alkatiri and Greater Sunrise: Timor-Leste calls parliamentary election

Parker Novak

Australia’s northern neighbour approaches a political inflection point.
23 Feb 2023
China
Chinese interference is dangerous – but also often ineffective and counterproductive

Joshua Kurlantzick

Understanding Beijing’s failures now is crucial ahead of a time when efforts to shape opinion are more sophisticated.
22 Feb 2023
China

Europe

Russia

Ukraine
Wang Yi’s fruitless diplomacy in Europe

Michael Clarke

Beijing misunderstands that Russia’s war in Ukraine – and China’s failure to condemn it – has vastly changed views.
22 Feb 2023
Russia

Ukraine

War Crimes
Russia in Ukraine: accountability and global order on the precipice

Melinda Rankin

Not since the Second World War has international security been so inseparably tied to the prosecution of atrocity crimes.
21 Feb 2023
India

G20
Will India’s G20 deliver more than hot air?

Aarti Betigeri

Big goals are on the table. But matching aims with outcomes is a challenge for any host.
21 Feb 2023
Sri Lanka
Confronting the mounting human costs of Sri Lanka’s debt spiral

Mariza Cooray , Roland Rajah

More than just urgent debt relief, the country also needs help addressing a humanitarian crisis.
20 Feb 2023
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Reining in MP slush funds

Michael Kabuni

Allowing individual MPs to decide where money should be spent – and who should be rewarded – comes at too high a price.
20 Feb 2023
Indonesia

Indonesia's Economy

Trade

WTO
Indonesia’s uncertain climb up the nickel value chain

Kyunghoon Kim

Demand for EVs is driving domestic and foreign direct investment in the country’s minerals sector. But caution is needed.
17 Feb 2023
Indonesia

South Korea

Defence & Security
Indonesia’s own subs conundrum

Alexander M. Hynd , Max Broad

A stalled deal with South Korea means both countries must overcome defence cooperation challenges to look to the future.
17 Feb 2023
India

India's Military

India's Navy
India’s defence-diplomacy bet

Ammar Nainar

Drawing from a deep pool of military expertise, New Delhi is expanding its foreign affairs capacity.
16 Feb 2023
Asia

Australia

Global Economy
Economic diplomacy: Banking on Asia is hard to escape

Greg Earl

Australian banks are stepping back from Asia just as the government pushes for business to diversify away from China.
16 Feb 2023
Afghanistan

Sex and Gender
Is the tide turning on classroom bans for Afghan girls?

Adam H. Dehsabzi

In Afghanistan, there is increasing dissatisfaction with the suspension of female higher education, even within the Taliban.
15 Feb 2023
China

United States
Balloon goes up for Washington’s “decisive decade”

Elizabeth Buchanan

Matching it with Beijing will take far more attention than the United States has so far devoted.
15 Feb 2023
China – Belt and Road Initiative

China

Philippines

Defence & Security

United States
Reset in US–Philippines relations tells of yet another China fumble

Makoi Popioco

The 180-degree reversal in Manila’s foreign policy was a consequent evolution of the previous regime’ approach.
14 Feb 2023
North Korea

South Korea

Russia

Ukraine
Why North Korea is denying its involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine

Khang Vu

Pyongyang appears to be a reluctant participant in Putin’s brutal offensive in Eastern Europe.
14 Feb 2023
Fiji

Fiji Elections
Fiji: A chance to stop political history repeating

Mere Nailatikau

A successful transition of power holds opportunity but only if politics can move beyond a cycle of winners and losers.
13 Feb 2023
Australia

Defence & Security

Russia

Ukraine
Ukraine needs tanks – Australia should send some

Dave Sharma

The war is entering a new phase and our support needs to keep pace with developments on the ground.