Australia and Asia
Jokowi makes a political spectacle of executions
It's hard to believe that just four months after President Jokowi swept to power on a wave of disillusionment with Indonesia's politics, his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono…
Obama's India visit reveals weakness of US position in Asia
Shashank Joshi makes a good case for the importance of Obama's visit to India last month, and against my view that there is much less to the US-India alignment than meets the eye…
New Lowy Institute poll: 62% Australians oppose execution of Chan and Sukumaran
In a new poll conducted by the Lowy Institute on the weekend, 62% of the Australian adult population say that the executions of the two Australian citizens, Andrew Chan and Myuran…
India nuclear deal needs serious parliamentary scrutiny
The Australian parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) will soon review the proposed treaty between Australia and India on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of…
Police massacre threatens Philippines peace deal
The best chance for peace in Muslim Mindanao in the Philippines has just noticeably faded.
The deadly clash in the early morning of Sunday 25 January between the Special Action…
How Chinese media covered Obama's State of the Union
In his State of the Union address on Wednesday, President Obama mentioned China a total of three times.
One was to praise China's commitment to cut carbon emissions. The second…
Chinese media coverage of Paris shootings reflects different values
Much of the Chinese coverage of the Paris shootings over the past week has been very different from, and critical of, Western coverage of the event. While they all condemn…
Cambodia's controversial dam seems set to go ahead
What is happening with Cambodia's Lower Se San 2 dam?
Elliot Brennan's citation of a Bangkok Post report of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's speech at the opening of the Stung…
India's new Asia-Pacific strategy: 'Act East'
It has been a busy year for India in the Asia Pacific. From multilateral summits to bilateral diplomacy, the Modi Government has deliberately moved to step up engagement with its…
Abe's mandate: The strategic dimension
As discussed in part 1 of this post, Prime Minister Abe is likely to make the economy his first post-election priority. He wants to pull the economy out of recession and set the…