West Asia
Australia gears up for UNSC Syria talks
Denis Fitzgerald is a freelance journalist covering the United Nations in New York. He blogs at UN Tribune.
For the first two weeks of Australia’s presidency, the UN Security…
Revisiting the 'Asian arms race' debate
Chris Rahman is a Senior Research Fellow in Maritime Strategy and Security at the University of Wollongong.
The hoary question of whether Asia is experiencing a naval arms race…
Syria: Ready, aim...wait a minute
To say that Saturday's White House decision to delay a military strike on Syrian targets in order to seek Congressional approval was unexpected would be an understatement. But…
Chemical weapons use in Syria: Who, what, why?
Rod Barton was a senior UN weapons inspector in Iraq. He is the author of The Weapons Detective: The Inside Story of Australia's Top Weapons Inspector.
It is difficult from media…
Syria: Missile attack is Obama's least worst military option
Even with Syria's overnight decision to allow weapons inspectors access to the site of the recent chemical weapons attack, events in Syria appear to be sliding inexorably to some…
Syria: Chemical weapons and Obama's 'red line'
Following claims of an Assad regime chemical weapons attack in Syria, calls are intensifying (particularly in France) for something to be done in response.
Certainly US social…
Should the US cut military aid to Egypt?
Bob Bowker is a former Australian ambassador to Jordan and Egypt. He is now an Adjunct Professor at the ANU Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies.
In the aftermath of the bloodbath…
Nagl: Drones precluded US invasion of Pakistan
Douglas Fry is a Fairfax Media writer.
'Were it not for drones, the United States would probably have had to have invade Pakistan.' So declared Dr John Nagl at a public lecture…
Egypt links
For the latest, just follow the #Egypt hashtag on Twitter.
'Reconciliation now seems hopeless; Egypt is shattered'. The US is complicit, says Ali Gharib, so it's time to cut…
Afghanistan and Iraq, both failures
Former US Army colonel and now visiting fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Gian Gentile tells it like it is in the LA Times:
Many years ago the British historian and…