Global Issues
Waqf-based forests: Harnessing Islamic philanthropy for climate financing in Indonesia
Domestic funding for climate resilience has been one of Indonesia’s top priorities. Going “bigger” and “better” are essential to Indonesia’s future prosperity, given the Asian…
Australia’s comparative advantage in climate transition
Australia’s $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility (SEAIFF) is a catch-all response to diverse objectives. It was a “deliverable” – or at least an “announcable” –…
China’s high ambition for the low-altitude economy
The futuristic notion of flying drones buzzing atop houses and city streets, making deliveries or even transporting passengers, might never quite eventuate. Yet governments and…
Are US export controls making China’s chip industry more innovative?
Recent reports of Chinese semiconductor chip manufacturers planning to produce 5-nanometre (nm) chips this year raise several uncomfortable questions for American efforts to…
Is the EU Australia’s blind spot in the Indo-Pacific?
Seen from Australia, the European Union may seem very distant and somehow disconnected from the Indo-Pacific. Yet, the strategic space in which Australia and the European Union…
Invisible victims: How counter-trafficking efforts leave people with disability behind
Dao (not her real name) came to Thailand from Laos when she was 17. With her hearing impairment, she had struggled to find work in Laos. Dao’s aunt told her that she could find…
Great powers vs domestic politics: The clean energy trade-off
The clean energy transition has emerged as a new frontier in the intensifying US–China strategic arms race. Energy transition minerals (ETMs) – an essential component of the shift…
ASEAN and the military applications of AI
ASEAN's new Guide on AI Governance and Ethics, released earlier this year, marks a milestone as the region's first coordinated effort to manage the risks of artificial…
UN-ravelling the world of United Nations acronyms
Have you heard of the latest trend in New York City? If you’re in Manhattan, it’s the mysterious Frog Club, an establishment so exclusive that one can only gain access by sending…
What are China’s long-term Antarctic ambitions?
The recent opening of China’s Qinling base, its third permanent Antarctic station, has worried some Australian and American observers. Their concerns suggest it may be time…