Articles | 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.