US midterms: the no joke elections
Is anything short of a punishing defeat for Republicans actually an endorsement of Donald Trump?
Singapore: policing social media
Chatter and dissent are now taking place online while freedom of expression and assembly are curbed elsewhere.
China: re-engineering the Uighur
The re-education camps represent one of the visible planks of an overarching attack on Uighur identity.
The Orchids’ tale: PNG’s women’s rugby league team
A new documentary tells the story of the PNG Orchids at the World Cup and how they are changing perceptions of women.
Aid links: markets from space, a kink in a “nudge” policy, more
Working for a ride-sharing app in Africa, “invisible countries”, and links from the aid and development sector.
Chinese fishing fleet a security issue for Australia
China’s fishing industry is the world’s largest. But this is not just about fish.
Xinjiang: outrage is not a policy
Demonstrating that forced re-education is not the answer may be the most effective way to end the practice.
New Caledonia to remain part of France
The referendum left the independence movement eyeing 2020 as the year of emancipation from 165 years of colonisation.
Sri Lanka: when is a political opinion a crime?
The arrest of a Tamil MP has put a spotlight on the limits of free expression in the island nation.
Four reasons to manage China’s rise
China shapes almost every global issue, yet the reasons for anxiety about Beijing’s ambitions guide how to respond.
How China changed its language on speech
Language helps preserve a unique culture but Cantonese is marginalised by authorities in southern China.
The Australian Army’s drone air force
Drones incur the army a small cost but yield impressive results. The challenge is, they're available to everyone.
Facebook deploys a “War Room” ahead of India’s elections
If 2014 was India’s first social media election, interference shapes as a potential threat to the second in 2019.
The cliché is true: this is the most important US midterm, ever
The midterm elections this week may change the balance of power in Washington and re-define Donald Trump’s presidency.
Weekend catch-up: who takes the helm, Australia?
Political leaders stake out ground on foreign policy, Khashoggi controversy continues, and the week on The Interpreter.
Sadly, again, Indonesia fails on transport safety
The country’s deadliest airline crash in two decades underscores the need to finally address an appalling record.
The Merkel legacy – a study in shades
Success and failure mark all careers in high office. Angela Merkel could often persuade, but not always inspire.
Deng’s ghost haunts Xi, as Maoism makes a return
Clouds loom over China as economic growth slows and the effects of the trade war with US take hold.
Yemen, Khashoggi, and the deadly Saudi trade
No one denies Western weapons are used in Yemen but it took a journalist’s death to focus on arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Scott Morrison gets ready for Asia’s summit season
Yes, familiar themes abound, but there was plenty of interest in the PM’s first big foreign policy speech.
Elections a sham in Rakhine State
Elections this weekend in Myanmar should be on the agenda of human rights advocates to insist the Rohingya have a voice.
Labor’s ambitions in the Pacific
Australia’s politicians are yet to explain why Pacific nations would want only one partner.
“Would you like thanks with that?”
Veterans are already well supported before shoehorning an American tradition to Australia and ignores service of others.
Melbourne joins the Belt-and-Road
Maybe a state-level decision will be a circuit-breaker for Australia’s befuddled approach to China’s signature policy.
New Caledonia’s independence referendum explained
How and why this moment has arrived, who can vote, and what will happen next? Here is what you need to know.
Concerns over Saudi Arabia go far beyond Khashoggi
The death of the dissident journalist has exacerbated regional worry about the many missteps by the Saudi Crown Prince.
Caught in the net: slavery on Southeast Asian seas
The seafood you bought from your local market could have been caught by a slave.
Trump scores a win over Russia
Ribald nuclear threats by Vladimir Putin show that Washington’s decision to withdraw from the INF Treaty was right.
Disinformation campaigns and US elections
Alerted and (hopefully) alarmed, the new US tactic to scare off Russian interference won’t stop online trolls at home.
Bill Shorten takes on the world
It’s not Australia going it alone, but the Labor leader wants to chart a more independent course in foreign policy.
The Economist: a change of heart
In the face of effusive predictions, don’t break out the champagne. Keep calm and carry on.
#Metoo catches up with Bollywood and India beyond
The bollywood actor who triggered the #metoo movement in India was initially censured for her complaints.
With Trump in Mind, China Realigns
America's anti-China trade policies are compelling China to realign.
Is the TPP worth it?
Despite the hype, there are serious questions whether the benefits of the TPP really outweigh its costs.
The last man executed in Singapore, until the next
Singapore doubles down as Malaysia retreats from the death penalty.
Jamal Khashoggi: shifting law in a deadly turf war
The journalist’s death illustrates broader anxieties for the international rule of law and the fate of the global order.
Weekend catch-up: Mike Pence takes to the soapbox
Vietnam's censorship and foreign policy, Canada's Huawei deal, Himalayan tension: the week that was on the Interpreter.
Japan’s immigration and integration questions
Twice as many people move to Japan than to Australia, now Japan is finally set to accept foreign labourers.
The one Iran deal the US should keep
The 1955 Treaty of Amity has offered a chance to resolve disputes between the US and Iran. Abandoning it carries a cost.
Indonesia: populism and politicisation of Islam
The terrorism threat in Southeast Asia fundamentally changed over 15 years, but Indonesian laws struggled to adapt.
Indonesia’s anti-terror law: crisis to consensus
How Indonesia moves rapidly from statement to agreement on contentious revisions to anti-terror laws.
Never too late to get the kids off Nauru
Australia is overdue to respond to the deterioration of the mental and physical health of refugee children on Nauru.
Economic diplomacy: Japan + China, BRI push back
Watching Shinzo Abe try a high wire act with China’s Xi Jinping, and what tourism tells us about Asia’s economic ties.
Australian energy diplomacy
Implemented correctly, Australia could achieve some of its foreign policy goals through its energy exports.
Island diplomacy: a storm in the Maldives
A recent election could shift the power balance between China and India in the Indian Ocean.
Pakistan: indebted to China, Saudi Arabia, and IMF
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Kahn slammed the IMF during his election campaign and then sought a bailout - why?
Aid links: plastic ban, celebrity ties, and more
Japan stops aid to China, what happened to Millennium Villages, and other stories from the development sector.
India’s Arctic energy partnership with Russia
The enduring ties between Moscow and New Delhi have expanded again – in billions of ways.
Vietnam: why blogger Mother Mushroom went free
Hanoi has released a prominent blogger, who'd been jailed on propaganda charges, on the condition she leave for the US.