United States
Seychelles: Washington comes calling
The United States has announced it is reopening its embassy in Seychelles. The mission, opened at independence in 1976, was closed as a cost cutting measure in 1996 coincident…
Amid great power visits, don’t underestimate middle power cooperation
This week, US President Joe Biden visited Vietnam as part of a trip “to strengthen alliances around the world to maintain stability”. One widely reported outcome is the…
Climate justice: friendshoring, China’s supremacy and America’s IR Act
When the Inflation Reduction Act (IR Act) passed the US Congress in August 2022, it was acclaimed as the largest, most ambitious climate change investment in American history. The…
Indo-Pacific strategy: Uniting all the players on the board
With US President Joe Biden expected “shortly” to visit Vietnam, it is increasingly evident that America needs a more unified strategy for the Indo-Pacific. The present approach…
Australia and the UN: A new agenda for peace
Last month, a New Agenda for Peace (NA4P) policy brief was released by the United Nations, outlining a vision for tackling today’s major challenges to peace and security. Among…
The social licence for AUKUS has not yet been earned
The Australian Labor Party is firmly committed to the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines, at least according to the unopposed motion passed at last week’s ALP National Conference…
Bridging the divide: the significance of the US-South Korea-Japan trilateral
The Philippines may be the oldest US treaty ally in Asia, but South Korea and Japan are arguably the closest. The US-South Korea mutual defence treaty will turn 70 years…
The Moon: The great game on new turf
There is something about humans and land. Even in the age of virtual reality, humans clamour for territory. When songs of hyper-globalisation were trending, Russia reinforced that…
For America’s atomic bomb legacy, the past is present
Over the past few weeks, Oppenheimer, the Hollywood biopic about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “Father of the Atomic Bomb”, has earned more than US$425 million at the box…
Archipelago angst: How Indonesia and the US differ on air routes over sea lanes
A few weeks ago, Indonesia’s armed forces chief Admiral Yudo Margono revealed interesting data about the countries said to have violated Indonesian airspace. The highest number of…