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15 Dec 2016
EU-Turkey relations: A decade of reversals
The EU’s prestige, normative standards and soft power have been relentlessly eroded by the Turkish government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. -
15 Dec 2016
Merkel pays the price for a bold stance on refugees
Merkel has vowed to deport many new arrivals and a bill to open deportation camps has just been passed. -
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14 Dec 2016
The future according to Vlad and Shinzo
A peace treaty with Russia is the holy grail of Japanese diplomacy. -
14 Dec 2016
What exactly did the rebel defence of east Aleppo achieve?
Why didn’t the world’s media shift some focus onto the armed groups inside Aleppo and ask what they were achieving by being there? -
14 Dec 2016
Fighting with America: It's what good friends do
The most effective thing Australia can do now is to lean in to the confused situation in Washington. -
13 Dec 2016
Christmas comes early in Hong Kong with Leung's sign off
Leung’s rule completely disrupted the balance of city’s political power, as evident in the escalating scale and intensity of public protests. -
13 Dec 2016
What to make of Abe's Pearl Harbor visit
The view from Tokyo on world and regional affairs at the moment is perhaps best described as sitting on the edge of a game of go. -
13 Dec 2016
Meet Rex Tillerson: Trump's pick for Secretary of State
Most attention since Tillerson emerged as favorite for State has focused on his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. -
13 Dec 2016
Why did the media get Trump so wrong?
In the Fairfax papers yesterday, Tom Switzer poked some well-deserved fun at the Australian political commentariat's collective failure to get the Trump phenomenon right. -
13 Dec 2016
Fighting with America: Trump is the biggest stress test for ANZUS yet
Rather than historical amnesia, the problem Australian prime ministers will encounter with Donald Trump is historical illiteracy. -
13 Dec 2016
The Paris agreement and Australia’s electricity generation
Policy needs to seize the best options in a complex industry. -
12 Dec 2016
Digital diplomacy @DFAT
A successful digital media strategy may result in diplomats becoming less prominent. -
12 Dec 2016
Fighting with America: Making the hard choices
The myth at the heart of the sentimentalist view of the alliance is it draws its strength and durability from the fundamental values and historical connections that we share rather than from a mere alignment of interests. -
12 Dec 2016
Italy: Pressure for popular vote to force electoral law reform
Renzi’s fall is destined to have repercussions in Europe for various reasons, including the stability of Italy's banking system. -
10 Dec 2016
Weekend catch-up: Trump's phone strikes again, PMs resign, Singaporean populism and more
What happened on The Interpreter this week? -
9 Dec 2016
Australian eyes turn Trump-ward
Unfortunately, the attention that both journalists and audiences pay to Trump is (at least in part) attention unpaid elsewhere. -
9 Dec 2016
Fighting with America: Why Washington needs a more discerning ally
Hard thinking is needed, free of the emotional trammels that so often accompany the alliance debate. -
9 Dec 2016
How the ABC can avoid tuning out the Pacific
Our nearest neighbours deserve further funding of Pacific-oriented ABC services. -
9 Dec 2016
Laos: Playing to win in Mekong hydropower game
Laos' 'success' on the Mekong could prove deeply costly for the people of Cambodia and Vietnam. -
9 Dec 2016
Dealing with xenophobic nationalism: Lessons from Singapore
The 2011 election was a shock for the government. In response, while broadly maintaining its immigration policy, the government pursued a policy of across-the-board attention to the concerns that the election had highlighted. -
9 Dec 2016
Why Trump shouldn't weaken US sanctions on Russia (Part 2)
Russia’s belligerence in Ukraine gave the US an opportunity to constrain Russia’s economy and its economic expansion across Eurasia. -
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8 Dec 2016
Overdone reaction to Trump-Tsai call reflects two exceptionalisms
The call suggests Trump finds it odd the Chinese Communist Party would pre-determine which fellow democratically elected leaders he should shun. -
8 Dec 2016
The future of the AIIB is bigger than Australian coal
If Australian support for the AIIB is so driven by coal exports, the government's commitment to sustainable regional development should be questioned. -
8 Dec 2016
Aung San Suu Kyi's fall from grace
The loudest complaint is she has failed to do anything about the plight of the mostly stateless Rohingya Muslims. -
7 Dec 2016
Taiwan, not the US, will likely pay the price for the Trump-Tsai call
China is likelier to retaliate is against Taiwan itself. -
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7 Dec 2016
Middle East diplomacy: Assad will have to be included
It would serve no western interests to leave Assad with no option but to look to Iran and Russia for ongoing support. -
7 Dec 2016
Renzi's referendum and the future of the euro
Sold as a celebration of European unity in diversity, the euro is today experienced as an instrument of brutal homogenisation. -
7 Dec 2016
Why Trump shouldn't weaken US sanctions on Russia (part 1)
This two-part series examines how US sanctions have kept Putin's empire building in check. -
6 Dec 2016
Why Chinese economic diplomacy is working in Southeast Asia
Chinese-style economic diplomacy is focused more on the ‘hardware’ of economic cooperation and less on the ‘software’. -
6 Dec 2016
Book review: Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy: Conflict and Cooperation
The volume provides an understanding of the inner structures guiding Riyadh’s decision making on the global stage. -
6 Dec 2016
'First we take Aleppo, then we take Idlib'
The gradual isolation and strangulation of Aleppo is part of a much broader strategy that has taken shape over the past year. -
6 Dec 2016
Unbundling globalisation
The market can look after efficiency, but governments have to look after equity. -
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5 Dec 2016
John Key's departure a blow for the region
Uncertainty and renewed contest likely in New Zealand politics after PM's surprise resignation. -
5 Dec 2016
Beware the carbon bubble
If the market for a resource declines significantly, the impact is felt not only by shareholders. -
5 Dec 2016
The merits of generals in government
As I facetiously said on a number of occasions during my recent abortive run for the Senate, you cannot have too many generals in parliament. -
5 Dec 2016
James Mattis: Mad Dog, warrior monk and defence sec nominee
James Mattis has nothing in his record to suggest he is a crude partisan. -
3 Dec 2016
Weekend catch-up: Fidel, Fillon, fiscal policy and more
In Australia the political reaction was remarkably muted, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten declining to make a statement. -
2 Dec 2016
Future Frigates and the wisdom of large surface ships
The folly of large surface ships and primacy of submarines is not clear-cut. -
2 Dec 2016
Is there a global wave of populism?
Local circumstances, individual talent and a dash of pure chance might have brought about the political results we have seen across the world, not populism. -
2 Dec 2016
In Vietnam, Castro receives his dues
Even now the old comrade commands respect in Vietnam. -
2 Dec 2016
Quick comment: Rodger Shanahan on Neil Prakash
It seems increasingly likely that Australia will seek to extradite Prakash. -
1 Dec 2016
Migration and border policy links: Economic benefits, UK public opinion, Ukraine and more
The economic benefits of migration, women making perilous journeys, and unpacking Trump's statements on unauthorised migration. -
1 Dec 2016
Islamic civil society’s enduring vitality in Indonesia's democracy
Indonesia cannot rely on its politicians to fight radical Islam and intolerance. -
1 Dec 2016
Economic diplomacy brief: Trumpnomics, TPP turnaround, deciphering Duterte and Telstra on Asia
Modelling shows that the ideal US tariff on Chinese imports would be 5-10% – could this be the trade compromise for a dealmaker like Trump? -
1 Dec 2016
South Korea-Japan relations: Threat and identity
Over the last four years, the threat posed by North Korea has grown.