22 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: Women make excellent spies Daniel Flitton Chauvinist assumptions are a big part of the reason the West lost its nuclear edge.
22 Dec 2020 The strange connections of isolation Melissa Conley Tyler Reflecting on a year when a virus closed borders and drove us all together.
22 Dec 2020 The modern sharing of Pacific “public goods” Stuart Minchin A repository for regional data not only preserves the lessons of the past, but will shape a better future, too.
21 Dec 2020 How extremist messaging co-opts emergency events Timothy Graham The cynical saying “never waste a good crisis” is just as true for far-right and conspiracy theorists alike.
21 Dec 2020 A missile spotter’s guide to North Korea (and beyond) Victor Abramowicz Everything happens for a reason. And that reason is normally physics or finance.
18 Dec 2020 Can Modi calm the farm? Aarti Betigeri A “crash or crash through” approach has served India’s PM well, but India’s farmers are proving a bigger obstacle.
18 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: Love on the Spectrum Erin Bassett The world is full of characters. A reality TV series offers a playful chance to get to know more of them.
18 Dec 2020 Washington’s warped Asia policy debate Dhruva Jaishankar Whoever Joe Biden puts into key positions, best they make quick studies on regional dynamics.
18 Dec 2020 Learning from an island in a pandemic Grant Wyeth For all the focus on New Zealand’s and Taiwan’s successes, another fascinating island nation has kept the virus at bay.
17 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: Evil Geniuses Sam Hendricks Creating an American dystopia took planners, architects and salesmen. How did they get away with it?
17 Dec 2020 A missed opportunity for the International Criminal Court Shannon Maree Torrens In declining to investigate possible UK war crimes in Iraq, the ICC has dealt a blow to victims and its own reputation.
17 Dec 2020 When China lashed out Frank Yuan Lessons of the past are too readily overlooked. But Australia has walked a tightrope between clashing giants before.
16 Dec 2020 Frenemies forever? PNG’s prime minister sees off a challenge Jonathan Pryke , Shane McLeod It’ll be a merrier Christmas for James Marape, but a politically fractious new year looms.
16 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: The moral ambiguity of spying Erin Hurley A Black female protagonist elevates the genre to show how intelligence professionals live with their choices.
16 Dec 2020 Avoiding a “lost decade” in the Pacific Roland Rajah , Alexandre Dayant Remoteness has helped the Pacific mitigate the worst health risks in the pandemic – but not the severe economic costs.
16 Dec 2020 Russia and China team up on the Indian Ocean Oriana Skylar Mastro The US and its allies may have military dominance in the region, but it’s no guarantee of influence.
15 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: Homeland Elegies Lydia Khalil A novel clears up what has been obscured by the reflexive belief in America’s founding myths.
15 Dec 2020 The wrong side won: Remembering John le Carré Milton Cockburn The famed author roamed the grey of the international order and captured a world of “half-angels fighting half-devils”.
15 Dec 2020 Bringing space law into the 21st century Donald R Rothwell The international agreements around outer space, which date to the Cold War, are being tested by new space activity.
14 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: Capturing a precarious moment Aarti Betigeri Documentary photographers have the toughest of briefs – a still image of an ever changing world.
14 Dec 2020 Australia-Indonesia relations need to talk the talk Melissa Crouch Indonesian language programs in Australian universities – a gateway to cultural connection – are disappearing.
14 Dec 2020 A dilemma for Pakistan as UAE cuts off work visas Adnan Aamir A vital source of employment and income has been severed after Pakistan ran afoul of its powerful benefactors.
11 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: A lockdown loaf Jennifer Hsu When it came to baking bread, we were breaking bread as a community.
11 Dec 2020 Joe Biden’s Pentagon pick sends a message Erin Hurley The choice of Lloyd Austin as Defense Secretary singles out someone who could help end America’s “forever wars”.
11 Dec 2020 PNG and the politics of the death penalty Moses Sakai Why have a costly public consultation when it’s already abundantly clear capital punishment has little support?
11 Dec 2020 Bangladesh: Sculptures, statues and hard-liners Syed Badrul Ahsan Outcry over how to commemorate the nation’s first president pits Islamists against secularists – again.
10 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: Casting a line in Pacific fisheries Jonathan Pryke The feel-good story of eight apparently vulnerable Pacific nations up against every major fishing economy in the world.
10 Dec 2020 Indonesia-China cooperation: Standby for take-off Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat , Habib Pashya For all the obstacles in the relationship, ties between Jakarta and Beijing look set to only continue to grow.
10 Dec 2020 Where America finds itself John Sexton With Trump on the way out, from the White House at least, there is perhaps a chance to get serious for a moment.
9 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: Minister of Finance Incorporated Alyssa Leng To grasp Malaysia’s infamous 1MDB scandal means understanding the elaborate ecosystem of government-linked companies.
9 Dec 2020 Do politicians really make “excellent envoys”? Jeffrey Robertson A politician turned plenipotentiary can make a powerful statement. Yet it can also undermine public service neutrality.
9 Dec 2020 A reckoning for Thailand’s indigenous defence industry Hadrien T. Saperstein The Covid pandemic forced into action long-held plans to remodel defence procurement, but it’s a big challenge.
8 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: The politics of Tiger King Bec Strating An absurd insight? Dishonesty, narcissism and the celebritisation of politics do sound awfully familiar.
8 Dec 2020 China’s online meddling goes beyond the Great Firewall Yaqiu Wang Human rights movements still suffer from falsehoods and misinformation even on social media platforms banned by Beijing.
8 Dec 2020 Women, peace and security are not only wartime issues Rose Khattar The cost of domestic violence has only grown during Covid lockdowns – in rich and poor nations alike.
8 Dec 2020 Artefacts paving France’s return to Africa Charmaine Manuel As its economic influence shrinks in its former territories, France is trading in a new currency: history.
7 Dec 2020 Favourites of 2020: Memes Madeleine Nyst Internet culture is moving faster than ever, and what better way to understand a crazy year?
7 Dec 2020 The Afghan inquiry and the question of responsibility Rodger Shanahan Agitating for a big scalp only distracts from reflecting on what the Brereton report actually uncovered.
7 Dec 2020 Solve generational problems by listening to the youth who’ll live them Caitlin Mollica , Helen Berents Developing the Youth, Peace and Security agenda in the Asia-Pacific is a chance to ensure lasting change.
7 Dec 2020 The case for going all-in on renewables Jeffrey Lau Energy security and economic growth have political support where climate change doesn’t. Bring them all together.
4 Dec 2020 Indonesia’s Omnibus Law won’t kill corruption Johannes Nugroho The new legislation will shift regional power dynamics, but it can’t eradicate an entrenched culture of kickbacks.
4 Dec 2020 Jim Wolfensohn’s knowledge bank Peter McCawley Impatient and ambitious, as World Bank president the Australian-turned-American tackled a global “cancer of corruption”.
4 Dec 2020 North Korea’s very odd year Khang Vu Compounding crises have forced Kim Jong-un to break old habits. It may be a sign of new opportunity.
3 Dec 2020 As a national champion departs the scene, a China food fight looms Greg Earl Picking winners? In this case, one sort of export interest seems to have suffered due to support for another.
3 Dec 2020 In the Philippines, a label can take your life Michael Beltran Accusation as a communist – “red-tagging” – is a potential death sentence, which doesn’t stop some from using it.
3 Dec 2020 More pollies in more posts Daniel Flitton Are changing contours of global power or suspicions of the “swamp” driving more politicians to fill key diplomatic jobs?
2 Dec 2020 The surprise of Biden Erin Hurley Written off before he improbably rose to the top, Joe Biden may have the right stuff to lead America through a crisis.
2 Dec 2020 India’s farmers take on Modi Edmond Roy The tactics that have allowed the Modi government to enforce unpopular new laws may not work this time.
2 Dec 2020 Al-Qaeda: The core problem Lydia Khalil The killing of senior terrorist Abu Mohammed al-Masri on a Tehran street raises questions about al-Qaeda’s ties to Iran.
2 Dec 2020 A false start for PNG-Bougainville consultations Gordon Peake The post-referendum process stalled after a delegation arrived in Port Moresby, only to have the meeting cancelled.