14 Oct 2024
Succumbing to the parochialism of the present
The world always looks dangerous, depending on your vantage point.
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8 Oct 2024
When the friendly skies above go dark, rockets light up
How airspace closures signal the geopolitical strategies unfolding in the Middle East. -
27 Aug 2024
Hostage diplomacy: Fresh ideas to end a modern blight
A new Australian senate inquiry into the practice of imprisonment for leverage offer a chance to learn from international experience. -
9 Aug 2024
Olympics doping controversies show global bio governance failures
From Covid to genetically modified foods or DNA databases, the world is not cooperating enough on pathogens and biological technology regulation. -
2 Aug 2024
Shots around the world: The influence of assassins on international affairs
Leaders are always going to be hard to protect, especially if demonstrating a common touch means touching commoners. -
5 Jul 2024
Why Australia needs more flights to Latin America
Australia’s civil aviation sector needs to be an effective tool for connection and diplomacy in signalling political interests. -
26 Jun 2024
Hope for gold: The value in the Olympics
An economic case is hard to make. Reputational risks abound. Yet hosts want the Games, and that’s no bad thing. -
24 May 2024
Should foreign aid be the government’s responsibility?
A fair-go means everyone pitching in to help those in need. Plenty of options exist, if we choose to use them. -
22 May 2024
A working definition of Sinophobia would improve the China debate
Governments can address racism without shutting down discussions on the challenges of China’s rise. -
22 May 2024
No, a pandemic treaty will not usurp Australia’s sovereignty
Damaging disinformation harms negotiations and seeks to obscure the fact that states make their own policy decisions. -
16 May 2024
Seek national security? Begin by becoming relevant
The weak needn’t suffer what they must. -
8 May 2024
Australia’s chance to foster good health in Asia and the Pacific
Big questions loom as we re-evaluate our position in the region. -
2 Feb 2024
Pacific Islands: Spillover threats from transnational organised crime
Facing a policing squeeze in Southeast Asia, criminal networks will increasingly shift their operations to regions of perceived weakness. -
11 Jan 2024
By default not design: the end of the asylum consensus
Ever since Australia adopted the “Pacific Solution”, norm busting has become the norm. -
3 Jan 2024
Why do we travel to unsettling places?
Whether the DMZ or sites of historic atrocities, place carries a connection to remind us of the precariousness of life. -
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4 Dec 2023
Learning to live in a world without progress
Optimistic about the trajectory of human society? That’s brave. -
27 Nov 2023
Rise of the Redback
The US dollar remain the dominant currency. But China – and others – are driving the yuan as an alternative. -
30 Oct 2023
The future isn’t what it used to be
Will a revolution be the way the world’s young people right the wrongs of the modern era? -
7 Aug 2023
Why universities are still at risk for foreign interference
Australian universities are vulnerable as open and collaborative institutions. With more sensitive research underway, they are also part of the solution. -
4 Aug 2023
Women belong everywhere and this World Cup proves football can be the great equaliser
Respect for female athletes “tearing it up on the pitch” must translate into respect off the field, too. -
27 Jul 2023
Nuclear weapons: “Oppenheimer” won’t make a difference, but Australia can
The movie missed a chance to galvanise a renewed campaign, to better protect against existential danger than rely on sheer dumb luck. -
26 Jul 2023
Why the Australian Voice referendum matters globally
Close friends will be watching for an outcome that lives up to the values for which the country professes to stand. -
21 Jul 2023
Who leads the world as longest in charge of their country?
Put together a list and you can start to see a pattern. -
19 Jul 2023
What Norway might learn from Nauru after a massive phosphate find
A handful of countries meet demand for an essential fertiliser ingredient – and geopolitical competition complicates the equation. -
15 Jun 2023
The importance of pride: supporting LGBTQ rights in Asia
The recent Sydney WorldPride was a milestone moment in connecting a regional and global movement. -
25 May 2023
Economic diplomacy: Taking cover from the summit war of words
Proliferating regional institutions risk becoming shooting stars, with a long trail of bureaucratic half-lives behind. -
19 May 2023
Building a Quad that lasts to the next generation
Joe Biden won’t decide the future of the Quad. But he and the other engaged leaders can help foster it. -
8 May 2023
Lessons in sorrow: Serbia needs a gun buyback after mass shootings
Australia’s example has shown decisive action can galvanise and protect a community in the wake of tragedy. -
4 May 2023
The cost of crime and corruption on Pacific fisheries
The need for a well-funded response to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing has never been greater. -
4 May 2023
Five potential global consequences of Sudan’s escalating conflict
Even distant Australia could feel knock-on effects of a refugee crisis, gold smuggling and disruption to wheat crops. -
2 May 2023
Choosing openness in the international economy
As the region seeks to rebound from a global economic downturn, the free flow of goods and services is key. -
29 Dec 2022
Pop culture politics: How to Interpret 2022
“Soft power” or reputation risk, the cross-over of popular entertainment and global politics is never far from the news. -
15 Dec 2022
Allies, algorithms and safety online
Echo chambers of extreme content are a growing concern for governments and regulators around the world. -
13 Dec 2022
2022: A global turning point
Looking at trends and contours that have coalesced this year to make international politics more contested and unpredictable. -
1 Dec 2022
Economic diplomacy: Scoring goals outside the stadium
Shifting geopolitics and economics make picking the diplomatic champion from the Qatar World Cup more challenging. -
8 Nov 2022
COP out: Should Albanese be in Egypt? And what about APEC? G20? EAS?
The demands on leaders in global diplomacy have only grown but that hasn’t made negotiations more meaningful. -
3 Nov 2022
Risks and responses repatriating foreign terrorist fighters and families
Australia is bringing home families that lived under Islamic State, and experience overseas offers valuable lessons. -
2 Nov 2022
Australia must help turn back a regional democratic retreat
With only half the Indo-Pacific a democracy, a collective approach is needed to bolster critical institutions. -
17 Oct 2022
Under pressure: the present and future of international order
The order fashioned for the 80 years since the Second World War has been far better than the 30 years before it. -
16 Sep 2022
Disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction in Asia-Pacific
Consulting people with disabilities about their experience and needs is a first step in leading preparations. -
27 Jul 2022
The Quad needs a futures focus
A better – and public – understanding is needed of the cascading effects of regional challenges. -
9 Jun 2022
Stemming the tide of piracy in Southeast Asia
The laws set by the United Nations 40 years ago no longer suit the fight against modern-day crime on the high seas. -
3 Jun 2022
Global food threats: a chicken and egg story
“Temporary disruptions” carry a long term risk. But unwinding international supply chains could send farmers backward. -
2 Jun 2022
Knowledge is power: A small investment for a big return
Australia should see that training rights advocates across the region can be an effective means to bolster democracy. -
20 Apr 2022
Russia-Ukraine: It always comes down to food
War in eastern Europe is devastating the supply of staple goods to distant regions that can least afford it. -
25 Mar 2022
The logistical challenge of responding to disaster
Climate change will not only make for more frequent emergencies – it will change how and from where to provide relief. -
10 Mar 2022
Economic diplomacy: Building back better with frenemies after Ukraine
Foreign policy concepts are subtly infiltrating Australia’s federal election campaign in the shadow of an invasion. -
7 Mar 2022
The hypocrisy of Russia’s push for a new global cybercrime treaty
The same Russia in the middle of invading a neighbour is preaching respect for state sovereignty online. -
4 Mar 2022
Ukraine: Don’t write off the international order – read and rewrite it
Resistance to Russia’s aggression is being shaped by how decentralised and data-centric global rules have become.