Legal safeguards that kept the 2009 declaration of martial law following the Maguindanao massacre in check are unlikely to play out in the same way today.
Stephen Grenville's intervew with Sebastian Mallaby covered Trump, the US Federal Reserve, what the RBA can learn from America and how Trump might interact the World Bank and IMF.
America’s alliances are not much of an asset at all in managing relations with China. Indeed they are in many ways a net liability, because the benefits they offer are offset by the costs they impose.
Relations with China are chilly but have not descended into conflict, US relations are stable, and there has been some promising global outreach for Taiwan.
This week's links include Australia's crackdown on 'fake refugees', US officials on Manus Island, and working to pre-empt disaster displacement on Myanmar and Vanuatu.
In the late 1970s, when deciding how to respond to asylum seekers arriving by boat, the government said Australia had a commitment to provide 'sanctuary to genuine refugees within its territory'.
This week's links include the role for religious leaders and churches in climate change strategies, PNG pollies taking to social media, and the end of RAMSI on the Solomons.
The G7 meeting comes at a time when economic globalisation is widely said to have stalled, if not moved into reverse, but there is plenty of data that suggests otherwise.
Regardless of whether Australian forces are enlisted in any anti-Iran campaign, there is a risk that our troops, aircraft or ships in the Middle East may find themselves targeted in any Iranian retaliation.
Perhaps practical policy-makers might be tempted to cut the Gordian knot by imposing capital controls, especially for short-term volatile capital inflows (leaving characteristically-stable foreign direct investment untouched).
Australia can attempt to define its engagement with the initiative while it is still early days, or it can stick to playing by rules written by others.
This vote for Rouhani sends a clear message to the Supreme Leader’s office that Iranians want economic prosperity brought about by peaceful re-engagement.
This week's links include private sponsorship plans in Australia, the increased rate of US federal immigration arrests, immigration in the UK election, and concerns about a growing slave trade.
It’s easy to overlook an event that perhaps offers Turnbull his best shot at his own regional legacy this term – the summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Sydney next March.
Most of the most serious consequences have occurred not because of Trump’s actions. But as a result of leaks from within the US intelligence community and the White House.