Australia in the World

A recent survey of Australian journalists has come to the unsurprising conclusion that, as a class, journalists tend to lean to the left, politically. But if that's true, why are they so pro-American? I don't mean 'pro-American' in the conventional sense of supporting US foreign policy goals.

The Australian Defence White Paper 2013 was not the only such document to be released recently: France's 2013 White Paper on Defence and National Security appeared the same week. But, as far as strategic perceptions of France in our region are concerned, there the symmetry ends. I looked

Kien Choong responds to our Consular Conundrum thread, in particular Alex Oliver's proposal for a levy to pay for DFAT's consular services: I don't think a levy in travel is an efficient way to finance consular assistance. A true user-pays levy would be to send the bill to the individuals

Alex Oliver deserves congratulations for her continuing focus on the problems that confront DFAT, both as a result of the excessive demands made for consular assistance and the continuing reduction of its financing. As she is very much aware, consular demands are a long-standing issue and I

DFAT's budget pain drags on. Last year's announcement of two new diplomatic missions – one in China (Chengdu) and one in Francophone Africa (Dakar, Senegal) – suggested a modest turnaround in DFAT's fortunes. But of course it's not the fortune of DFAT that's at stake; it's the fortune of the

Dougal Robinson is a Lowy Institute Defence Intern. The Australian Government's Defence White Paper is a week old. Islamabad noticed, as did New York. Here's a round-up of the major judgments: The Lowy Institute's Rory Medcalf: 'Canberra's revised strategic policy is not as meek as it

Major Gen (Retd) Jim Molan is author of Running the War in Iraq. The Defence White Paper (DWP2013) has pretty well negated defence as a political issue. From the point of view of the Government, that means it's a roaring success. Beginning with an American style launch and ending with a shambolic

Mike Callaghan is Director of the Lowy Institute's G20 Studies Centre. Will Julia Gillard go to the G20 Leaders' summit in St Petersburg on 5-6 September, one week before the federal election? This is a question being asked by many, including the foreign embassies in Australia which are monitoring

Goodness knows how they got John Howard to agree to this, but it comes out pretty favourably for him. Click 'read more' to see parts 2 and 3, and see you next week. [fold

The Australian Government was right not to set up grand expectations for its 2013 Defence White Paper released today. This is a less ambitious and in some ways more sophisticated document than the 2009 plan released by Kevin Rudd. Here are a few initial impressions. The Government is to be

Herewith my initial thoughts on the Defence White Paper 2013, with the usual caveat that this is the result of a first quick read and thus subject to revision. All the talk about this White Paper is that it takes a softer line on China, and although Minister Stephen Smith says the Government

The media is reporting that the Defence White Paper will be released tomorrow. The document itself will presumably appear here first, and in the hours and days after the launch, we will have commentary from a range of experts both here and on Twitter (look for the #ausdef13 hashtag). In the

Michael Harris is Chief Economist for the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Science (ABARES). The Asian Century White Paper outlines a vision of Australia's present and future where all aspects of Australian life and policy are enmeshed with Asia, so that even the most

The Shadow Defence Minister, Senator David Johnston, addressed the Lowy Institute last night to outline his view on the state of defence in Australia and the outlook for the 2013 Defence White Paper. Unsurprisingly, he was scathing in his criticism of the Gillard Government's approach to defence

I enjoy ANZAC Day as much as the next person. Dawn service is great, a few beers and tall tales even better. And I am the first to acknowledge how bloody good Australian soldiers are, having been one.  But at least I also acknowledge that perhaps other countries have played pretty big roles

A poll released today by the Lowy Institute and the Australia India Institute reveals some surprising findings on Indian public opinion towards Australia. For example, despite bad press over the security of Indian students in 2009-10, Indians hold relatively warm feelings towards Australia,

Michael Green served on the US National Security Council staff from 2001-2005 and is now Senior Vice President for Asia at CSIS and a non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute. Kudos to former Prime Minister John Howard for giving a straight assessment of the Iraq War on the 10th anniversary of

The strategic partnership between Australia and China announced yesterday has been a long 24 months in the making. As with any initiative requiring the approval of senior Chinese leaders, there have been fits and starts along the way. Less than a month ago, when the countdown to Julia Gillard's

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard achieved a diplomatic breakthrough in Beijing today when she and China's Premier Li Keqiang agreed that Australia and China will forge a strategic partnership. There will be an official announcement from Gillard and Premier Li in the next few hours.