Trade
The Kyrgyzstan route facilitating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Kyrgyzstan’s trade figures defy economic logic, suggesting that a vast amount of its imports are bound for a third country – namely, Russia. Kyrgyzstan’s trans-shipment to Russia…
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…
Economic diplomacy: Made in Australia with new energy
Elbows out
Is there a better case study in the curious politics of geo-economic fragmentation than Australia’s latest effort to revive manufacturing? Prime Minister Anthony…
Economic diplomacy: Hanging on in ASEAN
Passing lane
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Southeast Asia is “where Australia's future lies” and Treasurer Jim Chalmers says even more enthusiastically that …
China’s dominance over critical minerals poses an unacceptable risk
Critical minerals are the world's building blocks for emerging and future technologies. They are essential to manufacturing, clean energy production, semiconductor production, and…
Reverse colonialism? India and Britain’s free trade agreements
As elections loom, India is in free trade agreement mode. Hot on the heels of announcing the signing of a “landmark” deal with a group of non-EU European countries, India has also…
What price sanctions?
Book Review: The Trade Weapon, by Ken Heydon (Wiley 2023)
Following the presumed assassination of Russian political opposition figure Alexei Navalny, the United States,…
Shipping and the great shrinking waterways
How low can the Yangtze go?
Although Asia’s longest river is making a slow recovery from the late-2022 drought that stopped some of the traffic up the “golden waterway” that…
The parts within the whole: Understanding Southeast Asia’s economies
Southeast Asia is home to almost 700 million people and collectively amounts to the fifth-largest economy in the world. Over the past two years, it has grown between 4-5 per cent,…
Kicking up a stink: Europe’s farmers, like those in Australia, are counting costs
The European Union has abandoned a plan to reduce pesticide use by half across the continent by the end of this decade. It follows widespread demonstrations from local farmers in…