Articles | Lowy Institute

23 May 2019
Global Issues
Tackling the global danger of drug-resistance: how far have we come?

Jesse Schnall , Alan Lopez , Ben Howden , Kirsty Buising

Without careful action, the financial cost alone from “superbugs” could eventually eclipse the global economic crisis.
23 May 2019
Papua New Guinea
PNG: the Peter O’Neill legacy

Watna Mori

He speaks of the nation, but by his actions, Peter O’Neill’s effort to impose a sense of greatness is all about himself.
22 May 2019
India
As India tallies votes, Modi might win government but not the country

Grant Wyeth

Indian democracy is a messy and highly complex affair, and serves as a bulwark against revolutionary changes.
22 May 2019
Pacific Islands
Pacific links: surely not another MPs citizenship saga ..., more

Alexandre Dayant

Solomon Islands demands to Taiwan, trouble in Tuvalu, the journey to be a seasonal worker and more regional stories.
22 May 2019
Pacific Islands

United States
Sign of respect: the Freely Associated States come to Washington

Genevieve Neilson

Wooed by China and Taiwan, the presidents of Palau, Micronesia and Marshall Islands now sit down with Donald Trump.
22 May 2019
China

The Trump Presidency
What’s behind the popularity of President Trump in China?

Elliott Zaagman

Even the trade war hasn’t dented Trump’s popularity in the feelings of the Chinese people.
21 May 2019
United States

Iran's Nuclear Program

Iran
The clock is ticking on tensions with Iran

Rodger Shanahan

The US hasn’t got much to show a year after pulling out of the nuclear deal, but Iran’s patience is also running out.
21 May 2019
United Nations

China

Technology
China’s Digital Silk Road and stopping divergent technology standards

Chan Jia Hao

Existing international organisations cannot afford to diminish their multilateral role of connecting nations digitally.
21 May 2019
US-China

Whats on at Lowy

Rules Based Audio
Rules Based Audio: The new Lowy Institute podcast

Kelsey Munro

The Lowy Institute’s new fortnightly podcast explores the fault lines in the global order.
21 May 2019
Philippines
Duterte’s opposition in disarray following Philippines mid-terms

Margaret Simons

Renowned for once toppling a dictator, the opposition is struggling to break Duterte’s hold on the popular imagination.
20 May 2019
Australia

Australia’s election 2019
Australia’s presidential politics

Daniel Flitton

By focusing on himself, Scott Morrison also made the election a leadership choice, putting Bill Shorten in a spotlight.
20 May 2019
Australia

Australia’s election 2019
Australia’s election: what the hell just happened?

Sam Roggeveen

Don’t assume the last decade of political chaos is over as the major parties remain drained of authority and purpose.
20 May 2019
Sustainability

Philippines
Trash talk in the Philippines reveals waste trails in Southeast Asia

Alexander M. Hynd , Alexine Sanchez

Rich countries dumping plastic waste and garbage on poorer parts of the region has raised a stink in Manila.
17 May 2019
Defence & Security

United States

Australia
What a Shorten government will mean for the US-Australia alliance

Nick Bisley

Revolution? No, but Bill Shorten might find it tricky to grin and bear it in dealings with Donald Trump’s White House.
17 May 2019
New Caledonia
A hardened atmosphere after New Caledonia’s provincial elections

Denise Fisher

Loyalist parties in the French territory were seriously divided, and it showed.
16 May 2019
Australia in the World
Bob Hawke and Australian foreign policy

Allan Gyngell

Remaking the Australia-US alliance, tears over Tiananmen Square, challenging apartheid all marked a legacy of substance.
16 May 2019
United States

Australia

China
Peeling back the label in Australia’s America and China relationships

Katherine Mansted

Whether “friends”, “customers” or more, a definitive policy stamp is not needed to navigate security and economic ties.
16 May 2019
Australia

India
Young, energised, ready to vote, and maybe decide two elections

Aarti Betigeri

In both India and Australia, two very different campaigns are united in an effort to woo the growing youth vote.
16 May 2019
Australia and the Pacific

Australia’s election 2019
What’s on offer? Pacific policy and Australia’s election

Euan Moyle

Far more than previous years, the region is in vogue for both parties with a choice greater than might be assumed.
15 May 2019
Philippines
In dull midterm elections, Manila is a thriller

Erin Cook

Another former actor-turned-politician has stolen the show and injected the spark of change into Philippines politics.
15 May 2019
Aid links: fixing the climate to reduce poverty, more

Alexandre Dayant

A collection of links and stories from the aid and development sector.
15 May 2019
China

Russia
The Sino-Russian relationship is being misunderstood

Andrey Panevin

An outdated view of tension between Beijing and Moscow is blinding many Western analysts to the shared Eurasian ties.
15 May 2019
Australia

Australia and Asia

Indonesia

Australia’s election 2019
Time to reverse the Indonesian language disaster on our shores

Melissa Crouch

It is crucial the next government invest in languages, that of Australia’s largest neighbour the most obvious example.
14 May 2019
Defence & Security

Myanmar

Bangladesh
The Rohingyas: the security dimension of a deep humanitarian crisis

David Brewster

A permanently dispossessed people has the potential to impact regional security in ways we have not yet imagined.
14 May 2019
Cambodia

China
Hun Sen’s natural bilateral “bestie”

Lucy West , Sovinda Po

Cambodia’s tilt to China is abundantly clear after a slew of new deals and rumours of a potential Chinese military base.
14 May 2019
Maritime Security

China-Australia Relations
Australia struggles for clarity on the South China Sea

Iain Henry

Voters should know if their next government will conduct freedom of navigation operations in contested waters.
13 May 2019
United States

Iran's Nuclear Program

Iran

The Trump Presidency
The looming international law paradox between the US and Iran

Melinda Rankin

Donald Trump is undermining much more than just the nuclear deal with Iran, but faith in international law, too.
13 May 2019
Global Economy

United States

China
Trump’s tariff tussle

Stephen Grenville

Given America’s cherished belief in free enterprise, Washington should be delighted its rival is handicapping itself.
13 May 2019
Australia

Australia’s election 2019
Charting 50 years of turning tides in Australian politics

Greg Earl

A long view of the political cycle points not only to a Labor victory but shows a record number of independents already.
10 May 2019
Global Issues
Measles outbreaks are rising across the world: what can Australia do?

Jesse Schnall , Patrick Maclean , Jim Buttery

The virus is making a slow comeback in countries once hoped to be free of the disease, making quick action essential.
10 May 2019
India
The growing influence of celebrity politics in India

Erin Watson-Lynn , Shaun Star

From Bollywood to cricket heroes, stars can do much more than simply encourage people to vote.
10 May 2019
Europe

Australia

Migration
My mother’s life: faraway dreams, new growth and seeking acceptance

Scott Winter

Born to a world in flames, set back by illness, an adventure to Australia would strengthen the threads of a nation.
9 May 2019
India
India’s democracy draws strength from difference

Greg Earl

In a kaleidoscope country, India boasts its democratic culture is holding up well compared with London and Washington.
9 May 2019
Taiwan
Taiwan’s tense politics on the international fault line

Mark Harrison

Beijing hovers with building pressure as the jostling ahead of Taiwan’s next presidential election ramps up.
9 May 2019
Myanmar
Hope, despair and the new normal in Myanmar

Melissa Crouch

The Reuters case is about more than press freedom but also relations between Myanmar and the international community.
8 May 2019
India
India: encouraging the rainbow vote

Kaveri Devi Mishra

Despite efforts to ensure truly representative elections, India’s sexual minority groups still feel marginalised.
8 May 2019
New Caledonia
Self-determination in New Caledonia: uncharted waters ahead

Denise Fisher

Peace plans struck over the past 30 years are coming to an end, marking these elections as a crucial stage.
8 May 2019
Pacific Islands
Pacific links: UN chief inbound, don’t forget slip slop slap, more

Alexandre Dayant

Tuvalu has no sunscreen, kickboxing titles in PNG, the ADB in Fiji, plus links from the Pacific islands region.
8 May 2019
Australia

Australia’s election 2019
What the world thinks is at stake in Australia’s election campaign

Daniel Flitton

Four overseas views from near neighbours to distant friends on whether Australia’s contest much matters.
7 May 2019
Defence & Security

Myanmar
Myanmar: pariah status no bar to defence modernisation

Andrew Selth

Despite criticisms, sanctions and embargoes, Myanmar is strengthening military ties with neighbours and friends.
7 May 2019
Public Opinion

Diplomacy

China-Australia Relations

Australia’s election 2019
After the Australian election: the China test

Natasha Kassam

New Lowy poll figures suggest voters prefer Labor over the Coalition for managing relations with Beijing – just.
7 May 2019
Asia

Middle East

Defence & Security
Strategic trends across the Indo-Pacific region

Kevin Rudd

The US might be reorienting to the region, but so is the region responding to the deep gravitational pull from China.
6 May 2019
North Korea
Why North Korea will not return to outright provocations

Khang Vu

Even the weekend missile test – while raising tension – must be read as a signal of Pyongyang’s intentions.
6 May 2019
Papua New Guinea
Waiting in Waigani: PNG in political turmoil

Shane McLeod

Instability threatens Papua New Guinea’s government as a rival moves against Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.
6 May 2019
China

Africa
Belt and Road: colonialism with Chinese characteristics

Anthony Kleven

In Beijing’s scramble for Africa, history is repeating and locals are once again missing out.
3 May 2019
Nuclear Weapons

Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament

North Korea
North Korea’s uranium and prospects of a stealthier bomb

Morris Jones

Counting Pyongyang’s missiles for potential nuclear weapons is understandable but perhaps we need to think smaller, too.
3 May 2019
China

Technology

United Kingdom
Huawei reaches into Britain

Kerry Brown

A British minister’s harsh career lesson might also expose the Western mindset of perpetual technological superiority.
3 May 2019
United States

North Korea

South Korea
The persistent status quo with North Korea

Robert E Kelly

For all the bluster, threats, reversals and extremes in recent times, very little “on the ground” has altered.
2 May 2019
Islamic State

Terrorism
Caliph emerges without his caliphate

Lydia Khalil

From the clothes to the location, the ISIS leader’s video tells much about the group’s ambition.
2 May 2019
India
Social media in India fans fake news

Murali Krishnan

Given the high stakes in the volatile election season, misinformation can not only be malignant, but downright deadly.