Australian Perspective
Why the US (and Australia) should go back to Iraq
ISIS's dramatic seizure of Mosul last week has caused much geo-strategic hyperventilation. Commentators are variously predicting the collapse of Iraq and eulogising (once again)…
Australia-US defence deal: What it means
This morning Prime Minister Tony Abbott and US President Barack Obama announced the conclusion of a series of agreements between the US and Australia. Chief among these is the US…
Assessing Australia's UN performance
Prime Minister Tony Abbott visited New York this week and, as leaders have to do when in the Big Apple, got together with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the state of…
In New York, Abbott avoids the China question
Speaking in Canada earlier this week, Tony Abbott made waves by calling for a coalition of conservative governments to fight the global carbon-pricing push now being led by the…
Mosul falls, Canberra shrugs: Australia's Iraq amnesia
One would have thought that a country which invades another for what it considered altruistic reasons would continue to have an interest in events there long after the troops have…
The monarchy and Australia's image abroad
As you return to work after the Queen's Birthday long weekend, take a moment to reflect on how this holiday looks to the rest of the world. What message does Australia’s…
SBY: Abbott says farewell to a friend of Australia
Tony Abbott has effectively said farewell to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as president of Indonesia.
Our prime minister was right to praise him. SBY has presided over remarkable…
Abbott has stopped the boats, now he can reap the benefits
Although I profoundly disagree with the Government's policy on asylum seekers, the 2014 Lowy Institute Poll indicates that it has been successful in at least three ways beyond the…
Foreign-investment anxiety revealed in Lowy Poll
I've just written on the widespread antipathy in Indonesia to foreign investment, and how it is colouring the presidential election campaign. I attributed this hostility to the…
Allure of normalcy: America's first-order foreign policy issues
Last week saw the publishing of Robert Kagan's latest essay for New Republic magazine: 'Allure of Normalcy: what America still owes the world'. It is a magisterial contribution…