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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 8 hours ago
    • Papua New Guinea

    For PNG, Albanese’s visit was about more than just security

    Maholopa Laveil
    Dealing with Australia and keeping a door open to China gives James Marape the chance to foster the local economy.
  • 19 hours ago
    • Aid & Development
    • Pacific Islands

    Getting it together: Pacific engagement still lacks coordination

    Meg Keen
    Showing collective action across countries and sectors is essential to Pacific development and winning friends.
  • 27 Jan 2023
    • Central Asia
    • Caucasus
    • Russia
    • Turkey

    How Russia loses allies amid the war in Ukraine

    Nikola Mikovic
    Setbacks in the Kremlin’s campaign are causing regional supporters to think twice about the Eurasian military alliance.
  • 26 Jan 2023
    • Bangladesh
    • United States

    Sanctions help bring accountability in Bangladesh

    Mubashar Hasan
    Extrajudicial killings and disappearances have dropped dramatically, with the government aware the world is watching.
  • 25 Jan 2023
    • China
    • Australia
    • Energy
    • Resource security
    • Technology

    Lithium, lightest metal on earth, carries heavy geopolitical weight

    Marina Yue Zhang
    Instead of a source of great tech power competition, lithium should be key to a collective fight against climate change.
  • 25 Jan 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • Development Assistance
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Australian Foreign Aid
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands

    Chinese aid to the Pacific: decreasing, but not disappearing

    Alexandre Dayant , Meg Keen , Roland Rajah
    With fewer Chinese finances available and less demand from Pacific countries, geopolitical competition is opening up.
  • 24 Jan 2023
    • Asean
    • Japan
    • Sustainability

    Japan and ASEAN: 50 years of maritime strategy

    Thư Nguyễn Hoàng Anh
    Collaboration on ending illegal fishing and piracy in the region is important. But there are also bigger fish to fry.
  • 24 Jan 2023
    • Asia and Pacific
    • Asia Pacific Regional Relationships
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australian Diplomacy

    Reality-checking the democracy agenda

    Eduard Lazarus
    Indonesia presents valuable lessons in Australia’s support for democracy in the Asia-Pacific.
  • 23 Jan 2023
    • Diplomacy

    With travel back, summit diplomacy is revamped

    Mercedes Page
    The foreign policy calendar for 2023 is stacked for a big year of geopolitics.
  • 23 Jan 2023
    • China
    • Chinese Trade
    • Australia
    • Australia's Trade
    • Trade
    • WTO

    How will China’s punitive trade restrictions against Australia end?

    Justin Brown
    Good vibes could turn into a solution – but if China demands a quid pro quo, reaching agreement will be complex.
  • 20 Jan 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Review

    How an Australian freed an unfinished nation’s history

    Duncan Graham
    The fascinating story of how Indonesia came to better know itself through a time of repressive regimes.
  • 20 Jan 2023
    • Australia in the World
    • Diplomacy
    • Foreign Policy

    An enduring formula for Australian foreign policy

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    Relationships, forums and neighbours are still a winning combination for Canberra on the global stage.
  • 19 Jan 2023
    • New Zealand

    Jacinda Ardern’s foreign policy legacy

    Robert Ayson
    Major shocks set an agenda and catapulted New Zealand’s youngest ever Prime Minister to international attention.
  • 19 Jan 2023
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Pacific Islands
    • China and the Pacific
    • Solomon Islands

    Weaving webs of statecraft in the Pacific Islands

    Joanne Wallis , Henrietta McNeill , Alan C. Tidwell , Czeslaw Tubilewicz
    Gaining influence in the region is about tools and techniques, not just the actors.
  • 19 Jan 2023
    • Climate change
    • International law
    • Pacific Islands

    The acid test: legal moves to force action on climate change

    Donald R Rothwell
    Small island states are now adopting a determined strategy of “lawfare” to bring attention to environmental threats.
  • 18 Jan 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Technology
    • Sex and Gender

    Link start-ups ecosystems to build influence in Southeast Asia

    Robert Law
    Australia should launch a major initiative to support investment with new business prospects in the region.
  • 18 Jan 2023
    • North Korea
    • South Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons

    “If the problem becomes more serious”: South Korea talks going nuclear

    Gabriela Bernal
    The high stakes on Korean Peninsula have quickly become even more acute in 2023.
  • 17 Jan 2023
    • Fiji

    Fiji’s new politics

    Shailendra Bahadur Singh
    After a first smooth change of power, forging consensus in a nation renowned for ethnic tension poses a continued test.
  • 17 Jan 2023
    • Australia
    • Multiculturalism

    Australia should have more public holidays – but make them civic and secular

    Hugh Piper
    Allowing people to choose their own days of significance would better reflect our modern national identity.
  • 16 Jan 2023
    • Yemen
    • Sex and Gender

    A seat at the negotiating table: How women are building peace in Yemen

    Jena Jaensch
    Peace is not just the absence of conflict but dismantling the structures that contribute to gender-based violence.
  • 16 Jan 2023
    • India
    • Japan
    • Australia
    • Technology
    • United States

    Towards meaningful Quad cooperation on intelligence

    Arzan Tarapore
    Collaborative AI capabilities would allow the partners to deepen military cooperation, should leaders choose that step.
  • 13 Jan 2023
    • Papua New Guinea

    PNG needs a census, not more population estimates

    Maholopa Laveil
    Knowing a true number of residents is crucial to set development goals – for local government and foreign partners.
  • 13 Jan 2023
    • China
    • Australia
    • Australian immigration
    • Migration

    Undue suspicion of Chinese Australian scientists slows progress

    Yun Jiang
    Clear guidance is needed how national security is assessed in research and what are the boundaries of collaboration.
  • 12 Jan 2023
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • International law
    • War Crimes

    The hard road to justice for Russian war crimes

    Shaun Cameron
    Prosecution of war crimes in Ukraine are crucial to maintain international law and the peace and security it promotes.
  • 12 Jan 2023
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia
    • Multiculturalism

    Our public holidays should reflect Australia’s multicultural make-up

    Osmond Chiu
    Many countries in the region already have more public holidays to recognise diverse cultural and religious populations.
  • 11 Jan 2023
    • Europe's Economy
    • European Union
    • Trade
    • Climate change

    Crossing the carbon border

    Stephen Minas
    International trade is skewed in favour of exporters who pay less for carbon emissions. The EU wants to change that.
  • 10 Jan 2023
    • North Korea

    The Korean Peninsula: Why 2023 will not be like 2017

    Khang Vu
    “Fire and fury” had more to do with the temperament of the White House, while Pyongyang provokes with purpose.
  • 10 Jan 2023
    • China
    • Review

    Avenging the century of humiliation, one artefact at a time

    Mercedes Page
    The looting of Beijing’s “Garden of Eternal Brightness” by European armies in 1860 lingers in tales of the diaspora.
  • 9 Jan 2023
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australia in the Asian Century

    Asian Century White Paper: a decade on

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    The language may have changed, but the message stays the same.
  • 6 Jan 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Terrorism

    Twenty years after Bali

    Sidney Jones
    Indonesia’s police, military and prisons were altered by the 2002 attack. Democratic backsliding may signal an undoing.
  • 5 Jan 2023
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Coronavirus

    Australia’s mainstream media neglected Asia’s Covid stories

    Ross Tapsell
    A heavy focus on how the US and UK struggled with the pandemic further removed Australians from their neighbourhood.
  • 4 Jan 2023
    • Iran

    The personal is political: Iran protests for a normal life

    Shadi Rouhshahbaz
    The regime has trampled not only women’s rights. An array of grievances makes everyone a leader of this struggle.
  • 3 Jan 2023
    • China

    CCP: Who makes up the party

    Richard McGregor
    Demography is destiny, as is said – and the numbers in China make for a compelling story.
  • 30 Dec 2022
    • China
    • Taiwan

    How to Interpret 2022: A Taiwan crisis

    Daniel Flitton
    One of Asia’s flashpoints again tested regional relations, as well as analysts.
  • 29 Dec 2022
    • China
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Global Issues
    • United States
    • Review

    Pop culture politics: How to Interpret 2022

    Daniel Flitton
    “Soft power” or reputation risk, the cross-over of popular entertainment and global politics is never far from the news.
  • 28 Dec 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia

    How to Interpret 2022: Australians change government

    Clare Caldwell
    What our columnists and contributors made of the protagonists and power plays during this year’s federal election.
  • 27 Dec 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands
    • Solomon Islands

    How to Interpret 2022: Solomon Islands strikes a deal

    Clare Caldwell
    Honiara’s foreign policy caused ripples across the region, as we round up highlights of the year from The Interpreter.
  • 23 Dec 2022
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Review

    How to Interpret 2022: Russia invades Ukraine

    Clare Caldwell
    Vladimir Putin seemed convinced Kyiv would fall in days. We look back at ten months of war.
  • 22 Dec 2022
    • Malaysia
    • Philippines
    • Defence & Security
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Administration

    The Interpreter 2022: Your most-read articles

    The Interpreter
    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated the year. But readers also wanted to know all about Southeast Asia’s elections.  
  • 21 Dec 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • Timor-Leste
    • Australia
    • Public Diplomacy And International Broadcasting
    • Bougainville
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Review

    Seeking independence: three books to read this summer

    Jessica Collins
    From Timorese history and Bougainville’s dreams to Australia’s regional stories, catch up on essential background.
  • 21 Dec 2022
    • Coronavirus

    Covid-19: from crisis to closure?

    Philippa Nicole Barr
    Moving from pandemic to endemic, many countries have not learnt the lessons of disease preparedness.
  • 20 Dec 2022
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji

    Fiji’s coalition of convenience: what’s next?

    Meg Keen
    A focus on recovery from the pandemic makes international support essential, whichever coalition forms government.
  • 20 Dec 2022
    • Ukraine

    Zelenskyy: when the “Lion of Kyiv” addressed the Lowy Institute

    Michael Fullilove
    The anatomy of an interview with a wartime president.
  • 20 Dec 2022
    • Indonesia
    • Resource security
    • Trade

    To unchain Indonesia’s commodity reliance

    Suryaputra Wijaksana
    Riches from minerals and agriculture resources are yet to transform the local economy. Wider reforms should be the goal.
  • 19 Dec 2022
    • India
    • Japan
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    A focused direction for the Quad

    Erin Mello
    Doubling-down on existing initiatives – rather than new goals – will see the grouping deliver tangible public goods.
  • 19 Dec 2022
    • China
    • Middle East
    • Saudi Arabia

    China’s catch-up game in the Middle East

    Rodger Shanahan
    For all the promises and praise, there is little prospect of displacing deep ties between the Gulf nations and the West.
  • 19 Dec 2022
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    Christmas in Ukraine: hope, defiance, determination

    Mateo Szlapek-Sewillo
    Celebrating under a shadow cast by war.
  • 16 Dec 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Review

    Beyond binary choices in Australia China relations

    Jennifer Hsu
    Trade partner or security threat? Might we escape the trap of over securitisation with more diversity in leadership?
  • 16 Dec 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • Coronavirus
    • Pacific Islands

    A changing aid landscape in the Pacific

    Alexandre Dayant , Roland Rajah , Riley Duke
    Budget support was favoured during the pandemic, with loans — which must be repaid — also overtaking grants.
  • 15 Dec 2022
    • Australia
    • Global Economy
    • Trade
    • WTO
    • Technology

    Economic diplomacy: From pollie crises to polycrisis

    Greg Earl
    There are political bunfights, strategic challenges and wicked problems, but let’s not “overcrisify” the world.
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