Asia and Pacific
Korea: The perverse logic of crisis
Malcolm Cook is quite right to say that Pyongyang's belligerence should not be rewarded with calls for compromise, and he's also right that shows of solidarity among South Korea…
Grading Australia-Indonesia defence relations: Good, but could do better
Defence Minister Stephen Smith and Foreign Minister Bob Carr have been in Jakarta this week for the annual 2-2 Australia-Indonesia talks. It was a business-as-usual dialogue, with…
Korean Peninsula: Holding firm
As Rory Medcalf suggested in his contribution, the reactions of countries threatened by North Korea's latest nuclear-tipped bombast are playing out better than in previous…
Korean War II? Maybe, but not likely
Are we headed for a new Korean War? Not just skirmishes, sabre-rattling or a torpedo in the night, but a full-blown armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula?
You would be…
DPRK 'almost ready' to deploy ICBM?
Yesterday on Radio National, Foreign Minister Bob Carr said the following about North Korea:
In terms of military intelligence, it appears the country is almost ready to…
North Korea's permanent war footing
When your country is always on a war footing, how do you know you are on the brink of war? When your political leadership and government propaganda constantly remind that your…
China links: Peng Liyuan, ocean dragons, foreign policy, Brzezinski, economic data and more
Joel Wing-Lun is a Research Associate in the Lowy Institute's East Asia Program.
The Global Times published an interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski in which he says that China's…
Burma's Muslims: A primer
Andrew Selth is a Research Fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute.
Given the spate of articles in the news media which connect the anti-Muslim riots in Burma last week with the…
For Australia Network, it's never safe
You've got to feel sorry for Australia's public international television service, Australia Network. Launched by the Keating Government in 1994 under the name Australia…
Whaling: Japan does conduct research
I thank Mr Watson for his response to my recent post. Unfortunately, space doesn't allow me to respond in kind to everything he has said, so in my final response I'll focus on the…