Analyses

In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Lauren Williams examines Islamic State’s use of the Western media to disseminate its propaganda. Williams argues mainstream media outlets have a responsibility to treat Islamic State-produced material more critically, expose the weaknesses of its messages, and

Four key narratives help explain the way that China acts in and interprets the world, providing a more nuanced guide to China’s aims and ambitions and helping to shape more effective responses to China

In this Analysis, Lowy Institute Research Fellow Aaron L. Connelly examines the role of the US Congress in policy toward the Asia-Pacific region

In this Analysis, Arianto Patunru and Sjamsu Rahardja highlight the protectionist shift in Indonesia, and argue that this will harm Indonesia’s economic prospects

In this Analysis, Andrew Zammit argues that Australians fighting in Iraq and Syria pose a threat to Australia’s security and examines the options for responding to that threat, including through non-coercive means

In this Analysis, Alan Dupont argues that successive Australian governments have failed to define an effective national defence strategy. Australia needs a defence strategy that counters threats across multiple domains, is based on more diverse regional defence relationships, and is underpinned by

In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Marty Harris examines political and social activism among Jordanian youth in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings. The Analysis argues that Jordan’s young people are caught between a desire for political change and a fear of instability, and that this tension will

In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Hugh Jorgensen and Dr Daniela Strube examine China’s approach to global economic governance. The paper argues that China will seek a greater role in governance processes, but will pursue a combination of approaches involving both existing Bretton Woods

In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Dirk van der Kley examines China's policy options in Afghanistan, once the NATO-led mission there comes to an end in December 2014

In this Lowy Institute Analysis, G20 Studies Centre Director Mike Callaghan examines what outcomes from the Brisbane G20 Summit in November would help reinvigorate the forum and render this year's Summit a success

In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Jo Chandler presents a devastating picture of the endemic violence against women in Papua New Guinea. She highlights the courageous efforts of PNG civil society to change attitudes and assist the victims, and the role Australia is playing to help PNG address the

In this Analysis the 2014 Lowy Institute-Rio Tinto China Fellow, Lisa Williams, argues that despite China’s reputation for being a climate change laggard the country is putting real effort into reducing carbon emissions. The Analysis identifies the key drivers and domestic players in China’s

In this Analysis Lowy Institute Melanesia Program Director, Jenny Hayward-Jones, argues that Australia’s massive expenditure of $2.6 billion on the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) was a high price to pay for restoring stability in a small country. 

In this Analysis Lowy Institute Research Director, Anthony Bubalo, argues that the current turmoil in the Middle East is incubating a new generation of jihadists. In many respects the current conditions in the region are worse than those that saw the emergence of al-Qaeda. 

This Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Policy Paper, entitled ‘New foreign policy actors in China’, is based on groundbreaking findings on the changing nature of Chinese foreign policy formulation. Authors Linda Jakobson and Dean Knox have drawn from the research

China today is using economic statecraft more frequently, more assertively, and in more diverse fashion than ever before. Yet fears of Chinese economic coercion should not be overdrawn. In many cases, China’s use of economic statecraft has been counterproductive. 

This Lowy Institute Analysis examines the trajectory of the Syrian conflict in the wake of the Russian and US agreement to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons.  It argues that while that agreement, enshrined in Security Council Resolution 2118, may remove a pernicious class of weapons from

The multilateral trading system, an important contributor to global peace and prosperity, is in trouble.  In a new Lowy Institute Analysis for the G20 Studies Centre, Mark Thirlwell argues that it is time for G20 Leaders to work harder to save it.  

Mark Thirlwell has an essay in the March-April issue of Pacific Standard that takes a look at Australia’s recent economic success and assesses whether we can keep beating the odds.  Is Australia’s 21-year run of economic growth the product of a successful economic model? 

Therefore Chinese foreign policy can be expected to be reactive. This may have serious consequences because of the potentially explosive nature of two of China's most pressing foreign policy challenges: how to decrease tensions with Japan and with Southeast Asian states over diverse territorial

In an analysis brief for the National Bureau of Asian Research, Lowy Institute East Asia Program Director Linda Jakobson writes that China, Japan, and South Korea are all vigorously lobbying to become a permanent observer on the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum established in 1996. 

The Pacific Islands region is in the midst of an information and communications technology (ICT) revolution that could have profound implications, particularly for democratic governance and the region’s development.       

In this extended article for The Diplomat, the Lowy Institute’s Rory Medcalf examines the aspirations and the omissions of the Australia’s Government’s October 2012 Asian Century white paper. He argues that the paper presents too benign and linear a view of the Asian strategic

The fight against Somali-based pirates is becoming a private battle as global defence cuts reduce naval counter-piracy deployments. Because governments have struggled to contain the spread of piracy in the Indian Ocean, shipping companies have turned to private military security companies to