Reports that Thailand, with Chinese money, is planning to build a new canal between the Pacific and Indian Oceans have set off a new wave of alarm bells over China’s plans to dominate the region.
It is one thing to recognise the realities of current sensibilities; quite another to let them mask the more substantial arguments required to win a greater measure of popular support than in 1999.
There are two broad narratives in the international coverage of Australia. First, the country is no longer a beacon for human rights. Second, its politics are parochial and often paralysing,
Young journalists are told professionalism is relative: no media are interest-free, and if you work for Chinese state media, you should represent the interest of the Chinese state.
The UK is a middle-size European country with very few alternatives in free trade, immigration matters or anything else to those open to its continental cousins.
The current account and fiscal deficits played a key role in the growth deceleration that started a few years ago and have so far only been partially unwound.
Where the South China Sea was once the big ticket item for the bloc's summits, this weekend was dominated by another lingering regional flashpoint – North Korea.
There is a counter-narrative emerging in Europe’s approach to irregular migration, even as EU governments seek ways to discourage desperate journeys to Italy.
This weeks links include a consultation paper on simplifying Australian visa arrangements, and distribution and characteristics of Haitian immigrants in US.
Foreign support for the rebuilding of Marawi City is necessary and most welcome but again will only address the latest symptom of this decades-old problem.
Boris Johnson’s ebullient pronouncements last week on a future Royal Navy freedom of navigation operation in the Indo-Pacific region have attracted attention, but also criticism.
The fetters on Myanmar’s democracy are many, but while most are in the hands of the military, Aung San Suu Kyi's party could reform Article 66(d) tomorrow.
The RBA leadership is clearly thinking about the possibility that the relationship between inflation and output growth may have altered in an enduring way.
Supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Lebanese government does mean tacitly accepting the presence of Hizbullah, a designated terrorist group in Europe and the US.
This weeks links include the psychology of psychic numbing, the ongoing plight of Rohingya asylum seekers, and Chinese development infrastructure projects.
It looks as though the United States is going back to its position during negotiations on UNCLOS, and setting aside the carefully balanced nature of the EEZ regime.