29 Apr 2020
Beyond the buzz: A primer on swarms
Militarised and ready for battle, artificial intelligence could bring new numbers of drones to the fight – eventually.
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29 Apr 2020
Back to the future: Keeping Australian air lines of communication open
Not for the first time Australia is cut off from the world. Government has an essential role in preserving a connection. -
28 Apr 2020
New Zealand: Running the marathon
Having started well, there’s a lot to happen yet. And so far this race is not a team event, internationally. -
28 Apr 2020
A mining boom to a dining boom and more economic consequences of Covid
All at once, everything economic seemed to stop, and the aftermath will transform our experience of globalisation. -
28 Apr 2020
A Covid-19 wake-up call to reshape Timor-Leste’s economy
A dual shock has demonstrated that dependence on oil revenue is unsustainable. -
28 Apr 2020
Is this the Kindleberger moment?
Covid-19 exposes a power vacuum where exceptionalism and tinfoil hat conspiracy theories go hand in hand. -
27 Apr 2020
The Taliban makes the most of Covid-19 crisis in Afghanistan
Whether for propaganda or political clout, the group has adopted an unexpected response to the outbreak. -
27 Apr 2020
Troubled waters: China’s sovereign ambition in the shadows of Covid-19
While the US is busy containing the coronavirus, Beijing stakes its claims in the South China Sea. -
27 Apr 2020
Kim is dead? Hang on, many South Koreans don’t trust their own press
A legacy of beat-ups and cover-ups, plus lingering authoritarian vestiges, make for little faith in local reporters. -
27 Apr 2020
Islands of ire: The South Korea–Japan dispute
The Dokdo/Takeshima islands are a flashpoint for memories of exploitation – a hostility that won’t soon be resolved. -
24 Apr 2020
ISIS looks to prosper in a world distracted by the virus
Europe could quickly be confronted by another security crisis if the terrorists growing resurgence is left unchecked. -
24 Apr 2020
COVIDcast Episode 8: Covid-19 and the World Health Organisation
The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region, and the world. -
24 Apr 2020
Strength in numbers: The benefit from global efforts to halt the virus
Scientists racing to solve Covid-19 are proving that international solidarity is no empty platitude. -
24 Apr 2020
105 years on, a digital commemoration marks a very different Anzac Day
Covid-19 might make traditional gatherings impractical, but individual commemoration was already gaining traction. -
24 Apr 2020
The danger of disease in the world’s largest refugee camp
Cox’s Bazar camps are in lockdown. No Covid-19 cases are yet reported, but infectious illness is already sadly common. -
23 Apr 2020
Was 2020 Australia’s peak?
The idea was to chart future goals. Looking back, has the global ambition from the “Australia 2020 Summit” stacked up? -
23 Apr 2020
Negative oil prices: Why Asian nations may struggle to take advantage
Demand has collapsed, storages are filling – yet Asia’s energy markets might not offer producers a financial lifeline. -
23 Apr 2020
Statesman Turnbull steps up: Secret letters, taming Trump, due credit
Business with Donald, shared history with Xi and a Pacific ploy are revealing of the former PM’s foreign ambition. -
23 Apr 2020
Europe hasn’t fallen for China – if anything, it’s the opposite
Beijing’s charm offensive in response to coronavirus hasn’t moved the key capitals on the continent. -
22 Apr 2020
Missing in action: The G20 in the Covid crisis
The supposed “premier forum” has by and large failed to rise to hopes of a broader mandate. -
22 Apr 2020
The case for the World Health Organisation
Governments actually have more say in how the WHO functions than the loudest critics are letting on. -
22 Apr 2020
Scotland: False note to cry freedom
Lockdown may have put independence talk into hibernation, yet not forever. Destroying Britain would be great for no one. -
22 Apr 2020
India: The strange sight of clear skies amid a corona gloom
A nationwide shutdown turns murky smog closer to clear air – enough to see the economic misery unfold. -
21 Apr 2020
Hit hard, could Covid lead Europe to rethink economic policy?
Airlines could be nationalised, global supply chains severed. Will a once familiar market-led dogma survive the crisis? -
21 Apr 2020
The complex consequences of a plunging oil price
The cost of planes on runways and cars in garages looks very different with an economics, security, or governance lens. -
21 Apr 2020
If this is war, that Zoom call is part of the battle
If this is war, military planning says we’re all combatants, our mission is broad, and the battle is just beginning. -
21 Apr 2020
The phony war ends: PNG’s coronavirus challenge takes shape
After questions, the past few days have begun to reveal how pandemic has been silently spreading throughout the country. -
21 Apr 2020
The facts about global trade in face masks, ventilators and test kits
Policies that injure global trade in medical products would hurt the US and Western democratic allies more than most. -
21 Apr 2020
New crackdown will deepen dividing lines in Hong Kong
Both the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong democracy movement are settling in for a long and painful struggle. -
20 Apr 2020
Safety of life at sea: Covid‑19 and naval operations
Naval exercises are heavily affected by the pandemic, with crews even more vulnerable than people on a cruise liner. -
20 Apr 2020
The Nth Room case and modern slavery in the digital space
South Korea is again confronted by an example of women being exploited – and the global challenge of misused technology. -
20 Apr 2020
Australia needs a comprehensive plan for Covid-19 in the Pacific
A region of great power rivalry and critical to Australia’s physical security – that gave help when we needed it, too. -
20 Apr 2020
The vanishing hegemon
Trump’s America has a weakening hold on the global imagination. That doesn’t mean an end to the hyper-connected world. -
17 Apr 2020
Flattening the economy costs lives, livelihoods and freedoms, too
Before the “Great Lockdown” we should have heeded the lessons of past catastrophic warnings that never came to be. -
17 Apr 2020
Aryabhata: Remembering India’s first satellite
History has shown time and again that success is built on persistence and a willingness to risk failure. -
17 Apr 2020
COVIDcast Episode 7: The cost to the international economy
The latest episode in a podcast to discuss the implications of coronavirus for Australia, the region, and the world. -
17 Apr 2020
New Zealand: Life under lockdown and the view of outside
Morale remains good, but the bigger challenge is beyond the borders, seeking a glimpse of international cooperation. -
17 Apr 2020
International Covid cooperation: Lessons from HIV/AIDS
Australia’s responded to the viral killer in the 1980s not only with health measures but a crucial diplomatic campaign. -
16 Apr 2020
How much is too much? Covid loans for the Pacific
Not all regional nations are overloaded by debt. There is some scope to lend sustainably. -
16 Apr 2020
A decisive month for Covid-19 in Myanmar – and region beyond
Nestled between giants comprising half the global population, control or contagion in Myanmar has huge ramifications. -
16 Apr 2020
What price privacy? Contact tracing apps to combat Covid
Smartphone technology hold the greatest promises in outpacing the virus, but surrendering to surveillance has a price. -
16 Apr 2020
In the US, a campaign with no trail
Trump is agitating like the virus is a made for TV drama, while the real job of responding falls to state governors. -
15 Apr 2020
Covid-19: Why did global health governance fail?
Despite the existence of a “World Health Organization”, very limited collective capacity had developed previously. -
15 Apr 2020
Australia should offer Indonesia crisis insurance – quickly
With little to no cost at home, a multi-billion “standby” loan will help restore economic confidence in a big neighbour. -
15 Apr 2020
Covid-19 and Pacific labour
Visa extensions keep an essential financial lifeline open – but the challenge to help seasonal workers has only begun. -
15 Apr 2020
As Africa prepares to fight Covid-19, China steps up
In a fast and very visible way, China has sought to assume a role as a global humanitarian leader – and is succeeding. -
14 Apr 2020
Trading our way out of the Covid-19 lockdown
Protectionism, either within or between countries, is a sure way of achieving a prolonged recession. -
14 Apr 2020
Covid-19 ceasefire unlikely to hasten peace in Thailand’s south
The tempo of violence in the long-running insurgency has slowed for years, yet the virus may not stop it altogether. -
14 Apr 2020
Why Covid-19 only accelerates South Korea’s AI ambitions
Moon Jae-in wants his country to be a technology powerhouse – yet for social reasons as much as military or economic. -
14 Apr 2020
Why 15 countries still haven’t reported any cases of Covid-19
Pacific Islands nations are isolated, so that helps. But Tajikistan and Turkmenistan? North Korea? Lesotho? Really?