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The notion of the 'alternative' has played a conspicuous role in the recent history of German politics. During the crises of 2011-12, Chancellor Angela Merkel emphatically declared that her government's Euro policies were alternativlos ('without alternative'), in turn providing the impetus for an

North Korea does not naturally inspire optimism. Yet the tone among expert observers of the country's missile and nuclear programs has taken an unmistakably pessimistic tilt of late. Concern is mounting at Pyongyang's rapid technical advances. The frequency, sophistication and success rate of recent

Last weekend Fiji's police force arrested six prominent opponents of the ruling party. Their alleged crime was breaching the Public Order Act by making remarks about the constitution at a conference convened by Pacific Dialogue, an NGO, on Fiji's Constitution Day. The arrests were nothing short of a

Washington DC and the United Nations in New York mark the latest stops in a substantial foreign policy offensive for Aung San Suu Kyi.  Her presence as Myanmar's leader at the East Asia Summit last week for the first time put the ‘State Counsellor’ (an office created to reflect her

The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting for 2016 has concluded. This meeting was notable for its accelerated admittance of two French territories, New Caledonia and French Polynesia.Concerns over the PACER Plus trade deal were also discussed at the forum, with Papua New Guinea and Fiji reportedly

So far the selection process for the next UN Secretary General hasn't generated much razzle dazzle. Hopes are fading the long process will result in the appointment of the first woman to the post, for example. We are yet to see any Security Council member exercise a veto, an act that could prompt a

Indonesia’s ambitious 35,000 MW (megawatt) electricity expansion is falling behind schedule. How the project will be expedited in the context of organisational changes within government is unclear, as is the status of remote power delivery and progress on renewables. A decision in May by

When the history of North Korea's arms programs is written, the key event in 2016 may well be identified not as last Friday's (or January's) nuclear test, but South Korea's decision to allow US deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile interceptor system on its soil.

Ronald Reagan famously said of a nuclear agreement with the then Soviet Union that it was based on an attitude of 'trust, but verify'. Perhaps slightly contradictory but very realpolitik nonetheless. Thirty years later, Secretary of State John Kerry's admission that the latest Syrian cessation of

In May I wrote that a North Korean nuclear test was clearly imminent. Last week's test came as no surprise. The test, and North Korea’s recent missile tests, show that sanctions are not working. If nothing changes, North Korea is moving inexorably towards an operational nuclear arsenal that

Summit season in Asia came early in 2016. Normally, the concentration of ASEAN ministerial, the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the APEC leaders’ meeting occurs in November. As the EAS is tacked on to the ASEAN summit, APEC being hosted by Peru, and with the G20 meeting in Hangzhou in September the

One of the great misfortunes of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is that some of the policies he has suggested do actually deserve discussion, but are now tainted by the Orange One’s lunatic style, shallowness, and lack of focus. For example, Trump has raised long-overdue issues about

Last month China launched the world’s first quantum communications experiment satellite 'Micius' into orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert. The small satellite, named after an ancient Chinese philosopher, is tasked to establish a hack-proof communication line; a

The latest online magazine from Islamic State features an Australian flavour, among some other interesting aspects. First is the name change; no longer is 'Dabiq' the title (unless this masthead continues to put out editions separately); 'Rumiya' (formal Arabic for Rome) has replaced 'Dabiq'. As

For a country whose leaders are often loud in declaring their dislike of others meddling in their affairs, China seems very keen lately to host major international meetings that bring precisely the intense attention it usually feels uncomfortable with. There was the Asia Pacific Economic Meeting (

In news that may help Laos successfully compete for the world's attention in a week cram full of colourful leaders' meetings, the US has announced it will spend another $90 million to help clean up unexploded ordnance (UXO), a legacy of the two million tonnes of bombs the US dropped between 1964 and

Recently appointed Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called for Australia to commit to dispute resolution with Timor-Leste in a post on The Interpreter. Stephen Grenville provides an update on the conciliation process here. Government funding makes up approximately 20% of all revenue to

By John Gooding, Digital Editor at the Lowy Institute and Associate Editor at The Interpreter. This week, Australia's chosen submarine contractor DCNS brought legal action against an individual in France over the leaking of documents outlining specifications for the Scorpene-class submarine, which

Earlier today US President Barack Obama traveled to Midway Atoll, located off the coast of Hawaii, to celebrate the expansion of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine protected area (MPA). The monument's expansion will permanently protect pristine coral reefs, deep sea marine

The results from this week's straw poll for the UN secretary-general (SG) race introduced a couple of new twists, although former Portuguese prime minister turned UN refugee chief António Guterres remains in the lead. He received 11 'encourage' votes from the UN Security Council's 15 members but

Earlier this week the President of the Republic of Vietnam Tran Dai Quang chose Singapore to make one of his first international appearances in a three day visit that underlined the importance of the ties of that bind these two countries. Singapore and Vietnam are probably the only members of the

Applications are now open for the 2016 Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue, the flagship event of the Aus-PNG Network, hosted by the Lowy Institute.The Bougainville Government says that the mining company Bougainville Copper Limited now only has ‘minimal value’. Bougainville's

Despite pressure for change from emerging economies, the major international economic institutions remain disproportionately controlled by representatives from advanced economies. The World Bank has always been led by an American, the IMF by a European, and the Asian Development Bank by a Japanese

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has put his weight unequivocally behind efforts to bring a negotiated end to more than four decades of conflict in the south of the country, but uncertainty is bleeding momentum from the process and the clock is ticking. The Duterte administration inherited a