Asia and Pacific
Digital Diplomacy links: Modi on Weibo, cartoon diplomacy, Canadian lobsters & more
On the first Friday of each month the Interpreter will publish Digital Diplomacy links instead of the weekly Digital Asia links. As Australian digital diplomacy strives to catch…
India's Gurdaspur terrorist attack: Location, timing and method
On 27 July, three militants crossed from Pakistan into the Indian state of Punjab, according to GPS sets they were carrying. They planted five IEDs on a railway track, targeted…
Digital Asia links: Instagram influencers, Hacking Team, encrypted FireChat, clickbait nationalism and more
The Asia Pacific is the most dynamic digital landscape in the world, home to the fastest adopters of new technologies and the largest concentration of mobile and social media…
This week in Jakarta: Diplomacy, deals and the death penalty
Indonesia's President Jokowi will welcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Jakarta today, making it his third meeting with an international leader this week. Jokowi…
Taiwan-China relations (part 2): Beijing is the determining factor
As was laid out in part 1 of this two-part series, barring major unforeseen developments between now and voting day on January 16, 2016, it is likely that Tsai Ing-wen will become…
Taiwan-China relations (part 1): Continuity or renewed tensions?
With the high likelihood that Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will regain the presidency in the January 2016 elections, many analysts have predicted a return of…
North Korea should dominate South Korean foreign policy, and there's no way around that
To new readers, this is part four in a running debate between me and Van Jackson of Georgetown. Van (we are friends) originally argued that the group of countries pushing back on…
The growing militarisation of the South China Sea
It's increasingly clear that China intends to use its artificial islands in the South China Sea for military purposes.
Admiral Harry Harris, commander of US Pacific Command,…
Japanese defence normalisation: Progress on three fronts
Over the last two months, there has been noticeable progress on three separate fronts in Japan's 30-year process of 'renormalising' its' approach to external defence:
Last week,…
Indonesia: We don't have to be condemned to crisis
Ken Ward is to be congratulated for a straight forward and sober analysis of the Australia-Indonesia relationship. In his own matter of fact style, Ken takes us through a complex…