Uncategorised and other

The sky is no longer the limit: Australia and East Asia in Space
The sky is no longer the limit: Australia and East Asia in Space
SpaceX may be the highest-profile player in the race to commercialise Space, but it is certainly not the only one. In 2021, the global Space economy was estimated at more than US…
A new era of democracy for Fiji – but where are the women?
A new era of democracy for Fiji – but where are the women?
The most recent Fijian election, held in December 2022, was hailed as a milestone in the Pacific Island country’s democratic journey – yet this has come at a price, with the…
Is the tide turning on classroom bans for Afghan girls?
Is the tide turning on classroom bans for Afghan girls?
For more than 500 days, the daughters of Afghanistan have been the only girls in the world to be systematically denied access to higher education – again. Global apathy is now…
As US-China rivalry heats up, can Australia defuse the risk of superpower conflict?
Commentary
As US-China rivalry heats up, can Australia defuse the risk of superpower conflict?
Albanese will need to explain how Australia’s investment in more lethal defence capabilities will make the Indo-Pacific safer – and ensure conflict never occurs. Originally…
Valuing Asia’s women leaders
Valuing Asia’s women leaders
What do Nancy Pelosi and Jacinda Ardern have in common? Not much many would say. Yet upon Ardern’s resignation as New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister and its third female leader …
Women leaders: not so poles apart
Women leaders: not so poles apart
This past month, two progressive female political leaders – Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives – willingly…
How an Australian freed an unfinished nation’s history
How an Australian freed an unfinished nation’s history
Book review: Indonesia out of Exile: How Pramoedya’s Buru Quartet Killed a Dictatorship, by Max Lane (Penguin, 2023) Australia’s relationships with Indonesia are usually…
Link start-ups ecosystems to build influence in Southeast Asia
Link start-ups ecosystems to build influence in Southeast Asia
In 2019, Indonesian President Joko Widodo surprised many when he appointed 35-year old Nadiem Makarim as Minister for Education and Culture. Makarim had risen to prominence as the…
A seat at the negotiating table: How women are building peace in Yemen
A seat at the negotiating table: How women are building peace in Yemen
As the conflict in Yemen enters its ninth year, there is renewed hope for an end to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The United Nations mediated truce last year,…
Avenging the century of humiliation, one artefact at a time
Avenging the century of humiliation, one artefact at a time
Book review: Portrait of a Thief, by Grace D. Li (Penguin Random House, 2022) In 1860, the Second Opium War culminated in British and French troops sacking the Old Summer…