Economic diplomacy brief: India ties, Labor on BRI
Infrastructure wars in Asia, a Japan-Europe deal, and the Varghese India report got a surprisingly low-profile launch.
“Poor old” China meets “poor young” Africa
Population ageing in China opens a new window for African development – and the wider world should pay attention, too.
North Korea also an intelligence test for Trump
Pyongyang, always keen observers, are seeking to bypass the US bureaucrats and appeal directly to Donald Trump.
What has gone wrong in Cambodia?
In 1993 the international community allowed Hun Sen to remain the dominant political force, as he still is today.
India’s demographic timebomb
Without a manufacturing base to provide mass employment, the country faces potholes on its growth journey.
The Grey List: more trouble for Pakistan’s economy
Lax financial regulation sees Pakistan sanctioned, and also potentially reveal secret details of China’s mega projects.
Aid links: an escape from the resource curse, more
Aid and the Thai cave rescue, postcards and rice, and a round-up of stories from the aid and development sector.
Keep calm and carry on: a message to Trump critics
With two-and-a-half years still to go in Trump’s first term, this level of outrage just cannot be maintained.
Indo-Pacific: are the British coming back?
Budget black holes and Russia’s growing naval truculence will test the ambition of the Royal Navy to act in Asia.
Trump-Putin: beyond election meddling
The Helsinki Summit was judged as a spectacle, far more than on what the talks were supposed to deliver.
The President, his partners, and Putin
If America’s allies in Europe were ever in doubt, now they know: the President is a US-only leader.
Koreas, gas pipelines, and Russia’s ties that bind
Kim Jong-un’s summit with Donald Trump captured attention, but on the Korean Peninsula, many convoluted ploys are afoot.
Australia and India: different worlds
Australia wants India to support its “rules based order”, but does New Delhi want the same rules?
Thai cave rescue: no country for Wild Boars
Attention has turned to the “stateless” problem of three of the boys, their coach, and maybe 3 million more in Thailand.
Indonesian tourism booms, Australia misses out
Despite high visa compliance rates among Indonesians, Australian policies discourage them from holidaying down under.
Turkey must be thinking of the Bomb
While NATO wobbles and strongmen prosper, a newly authoritarian Turkey might turn towards nuclear options.
Why India is buying the world’s emptiest airport
Geopolitical rivalry between big powers sometimes yields odd results.
Weekend catch-up: Trump–Putin rendezvous and more
ASIO and DFAT talk China, Mohammad bin Salman’s reforms and Japanese floods: the week that was on The Interpreter.
Japan floods a warning for a changed climate
Failure to radically cut global carbon emissions will mean disasters such as that in Japan will become the new normal.
Polio in PNG: a menace resurfaces
A mass immunisation campaign is needed, and a dedicated effort to lift dismal health standards in the country.
Short-term capital flows to emerging economies
Surges and retreats of foreign capital flows pose a question: how could they be made less volatile and more beneficial?
Why Japan is supporting Cambodia’s election
Despite Western concern the ballot will be neither free or fair, Tokyo is seeking to counter China’s influence.
Aid and the new face of entrepreneurship
Backing local entrepreneurs helps redefine the assumption that informal-sector employment is fundamentally precarious.
Reform in Saudi Arabia: will MbS squib it?
Saudi Arabia’s young tyro is trying to keep up with citizens who are demanding a lot more of their rulers and system.
Tit-for-tat-for-tit-for-tat
In his trade war, Donald Trump’s maximum pressure tactics look likely to prove highly counterproductive.
High anxiety: Donald Trump’s summits
The summit with Putin reflects an ongoing US strategic failure to learn to think how Moscow thinks.
Cambodia: dispelling the Malaysia illusion
No stunning surprises will be allowed in Hun Sen’s drive to remain as prime minister.
China’s expanding navy
The PLA-N is growing rapidly, raising problems for personnel and the integration of new capabilities into the service.
Burdens and threats at NATO summit
Donald Trump’s theatrics about military spending will distract the alliance from a focus on pressing threats.
Pacific links: Melanesian arts festival, more
China offers pre-APEC meeting with Pacific leaders, the ABC in the Pacific, Solomon Islands resilience, and more
Assessing Duterte’s China investment drive
Separating the PRC and Hong Kong when calculating Chinese investment in the Philippines has major consequences.
New Zealand’s P-8 purchase: straddling the gap
New Zealand could change to a strategic “front line” if geopolitical competition in the South Pacific hots up.
Boris Johnson exits. Pass the salt.
Johnson still displays a twinge of anxiety in his effusive praise of British strength.
Syria: extinguishing the flame of the revolution
Bashar al-Assad faces more challenges, but momentum in military campaigns is a difficult thing to stop.
New Caledonia: decolonisation in conversation
Locals in New Caledonia share their views about the territory’s prospects ahead of the November ballot on independence.
The domestic politics of New Zealand’s defence
It’s not China that animates New Zealand’s latest defence policy statement.
US Navy sails into Taiwan sunset
Whereas in 1996 America’s affirmations of support for Taiwan were genuine, they are now a bluff.
China business and China threats
Doing business with China means being able to say no when the conditions for Australia become too onerous.
Indonesia’s elections and the local result
Analysts should be wary of using regional elections as a guide for the 2019 presidential race.
Weekend catch-up: Hambantota port and more
Cambodian military politics, Nauru’s ABC ban, and “Patrons of Mateship”: the week that was on The Interpreter.
“Patrons” of the alliance and the missing mates
Australia’s public diplomacy is not advanced by excluding women and failing to recognise diversity.
Novichok poisoning and the test for Britain
The difficulty for the UK now is in crafting a fresh response to the continued effects of Russia’s brazen attack.
Poor man’s cigarette: India’s unspoken epidemic
Watered-down regulation of the “bidi” industry has created disastrous consequences for smokers and the country alike.
International rescue: the Thai cave response
The latest dramatic rescue has spurred a huge international response – but cooperation never seems to outlast a crisis.
Tail wagging the dog: Seehofer in Germany
Germany’s Minister of the Interior is the latest right-wing leader in Europe to surf the populist political wave.
Détente divergence: the US-South Korean split
South Koreans don’t see how destructive and divisive Donald Trump is, nor is it their concern with North Korea so close.
Hambantota: “the Chinese port”
The facility is seen as an egregious example of how Beijing is using loans and aid to curry strategic influence in Asia.
Immigration links: Mediterranean sea rescues, more
Immigration policy deal in Germany, Malta charges rescue ship captain, and more links from the migration sector.
Denmark: fading out ghettoes
A bid “to ensure good Danish knowledge” has raised fears of Islamophobia.
Nauru ABC ban: Australia damned by faint criticism
Authoritarian dangers encroaching on the Pacific have been a theme of late – but not for Australia about Nauru.