Digital Asia links: Weibo backflip, Facebook comeuppance, dancing grandpa, more
Sarah Logan’s links to digital news across Asia.Why definitions will be crucial for North-South talks
“Denuclearisation” is fraught with ambiguity and means very different things to each side.Europe: the movers and the shakers
The responses to the Syria strikes illustrate a troubling divide in Europe in defending Western principles.China influence: in defence of parliamentary sovereignty
For a party with no interest in popular elections at home, the Chinese Communist Party shows remarkable curiosity about electoral democracies elsewhere.Is Japan’s rare earth discovery fool’s gold?
It is one thing to be in possession of an unrivalled deposit of unmined ore, and quite another to unlock its vast potential.Caught in a pincer
The biggest destabilising player in Melanesia over the past five years has not been China, but Indonesia.Pacific islands links: Vanuatu’s China wharf, leaders in London, elections, and more
Links and stories from around the Pacific by The Interpreter team.Climate change and shifting alliances
The Maldives’ experience suggests the need to adapt to global warming could in the future be manipulated for political leverage.CHOGM: the zombie summit that will not die
Wasting Prime Ministerial time is not good diplomacy.A new take on violence in Indonesian Papua
Violence outside the spectacle of insurgency continues, as mundane as it is pervasive.As threats to Trump mount, allies must uphold the Iran deal
Perhaps France’s Emmanuel Macron can convince Trump he will retain far more leverage over Iran within the existing nuclear deal.Employment as protection: complementary pathways for refugees
Refugees should have better access to labour migration schemes to reduce the pressure on humanitarian quotas.Biding time: the G20 Eminent Persons Group on financial governance
The EPG says economic reforms proposed by the G20 are neither radical nor novel.A new high: India–Japan defence links
A new deal for amphibious aircraft shows just how far ties between the two countries have come.Is Trump ready to bear the cost of a trade war?
The test of US policy is not how much it can hurt others but how much pain it will withstand.Aid links: Timor youth, India’s biometric ID test, and more
Links and stories from the aid and development sector.Why poor countries won’t lose out from the US–China trade war
If anyone deserves protection at this increasingly protectionist time it is the least developed countries around the world.Commonwealth Games: medals, babies, and nation-building
Pacific island countries, especially, win big in a breakthrough event.Syria strikes: mission accomplished?
The US felt compelled to act, Bashar al-Assad has been punished, yet may not be deterred.Weekend catch-up: Chinese influence in Vanuatu, Syrian crisis, and trade woes
The week that was on The Interpreter.Boao Forum, through the eyes of China’s state media
“Confidence” was the message, reinforced in print and online.In Syria, Trump must collude with Russia
Airstrikes aside, the US needs Moscow to influence the Assad regime and negotiate an end to this sordid conflict.Europe and its populists
The triumph of Viktor Orbán in Hungary is not just a curious and isolated development.Japan, South Korea and the West’s tension with Russia
Why did Japan and South Korea not join the expulsion of Russian diplomats after the Skripal attack?New trans-Tasman vision needed
In a world of significant change, Australia and New Zealand will need each other more than ever.Economic diplomacy brief: Indonesia and Vanuatu, dole woes, and IP theft
Greg Earl with economic snippets from across the region.“Presumably, we shall have to call her a Stateswoman”
More positive profiling of women in office will result in more positive perceptions of women in political leadership.Global monetary policy returning to “normality”
Fears about the effects of quantitative easing are refuted by experience.Migration and border policy links: US border troops, American journeys, and more
Links and updates from across the migration and border policy field.Vietnam’s crackdown on dissent could undermine its stability and growth
Detaining enemies of the state could erode international support for Vietnam.Julie Bishop and the liberal ideal
The Foreign Minister seemed most animated when discussing ideas that are clearly under threat in the region and indeed globally.Entrepreneurial traffic in the Jakarta jam
Ride-hailing apps are all the rage in Indonesia’s capital, but an old favourite is chugging on.Pacific Islands links: Vanuatu base talk, PNG unplugged, medals, and more
Links and stories from around the Pacific by The Interpreter team.Rouhani, Erdogan, and Putin’s bizarre love triangle
Jostling over Syria offers a glimpse of emerging alliances and compromises as the US-led security order winds down.The Boao confidence
Xi Jinping didn’t mention Beijing’s current stand-off with Washington, but the contrast he was drawing was clear.Australia vs China, Europe vs Russia
Surprising parallels in international relations appear to lead to similar replies.The lack of appeal in Nauru
Australia should question why final court appeals have been scrapped in the tiny Pacific nation before an alternative was set up.Getting our maritime security effort right
The time has clearly come for a careful examination of what Australia needs in a civil maritime security organisation.The many questions about China’s Vanuatu ambition
Talk of a Chinese military base in Vanuatu should provoke tough questions in Australia, but not undue alarm.Xi’s big bureaucratic shake-up
Sweeping reforms may be difficult to swallow for central and local agencies, but the reorganisation of the Chinese bureaucracy has a good chance of success.Borneo oil spill costs Indonesia’s poor
Marine pollution and its impact on ocean life represents a major threat to coastal communities.The peril of North Korea’s charm offensive
The US and South Korea must be wary about Pyongyang dangling the strings.Aid and development links: superheroes and the resource curse, poverty in Nigeria, and more
Links and stories from the aid and development sector.American trade policy returns to “aggressive unilateralism”
The US deployed similar trade tactics in the 1980s to pursue its grievances with a rising Japan.Amal Clooney no match for Trump and China in Southeast Asia press clampdown
Authoritarian governments are quick to claim “fake news” in a neighbourhood crackdown on press freedom.Weekend catch-up: Sergei Skripal, Korean summit, and women’s rugby in Tonga
The week that was on The Interpreter.Bangladesh: breaking with dynasty
Forthcoming elections in Bangladesh will expose the semblance of democracy in the country.Chinese belts and roads stir mixed reactions in Europe
Europeans are growing more wary of China, but still welcome many of its contributions.Tajikistan and Uzbekistan: a welcome but fragile thaw
The signs of warming relations between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are built on the friendship between two authoritarian rulers.
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