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.
Friends like these … allies and the Pence speech
The US may have to adjust its goals and means to obtain full allied support for its China policy, and what about Trump?
Europe: Merkel, May, and Moscovici
This month's election in Bavaria is yet another sign of Europe in disarray.
Vietnam’s quandary: red or green?
Vietnam is caught between Chinese rocks and a climate change hard place – and looks to partners like Australia for help.
Canada and Huawei: letting politics slip in
Canada's decision to allow Huawei to participate in its 5G mobile networks is much more political than the PM suggests.
Chinese whispers and Pacific agency
Pacific island countries are well aware of strategic risks, and want the issues that worry them most to be in focus.
Thawing tensions in the Himalaya
Geopolitics are transforming this influential region politically, culturally, linguistically, and environmentally.
Weekend catch-up: Bougainville referendum and more
Hong Kong discontent, Fiji on the UNHRC and fighter aircraft duel (on Instagram): the week that was on The Interpreter.
European companies driven out of Iran
The US decision to re-impose nuclear sanctions on Iran has significant implications for European businesses.
Deciding the future for PNG’s provinces
Bougainville’s independence referendum is on the horizon. The prospect of autonomy in other provinces is also growing.
Killing Chimerica
“Decoupling” the deep economic entwinement with China is increasingly seen as vital to US security.
Is the second Trump-Kim summit necessary?
The more attention the world pays Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, the less incentive it has to actually surrender weapons.
South Asia diplomacy hostage to a bitter legacy
Pakistan, India, Bangladesh – the neighbourhood just can’t seem to get along.
The geopolitics of China’s tax reforms
Any government – even in the People’s Republic – has to be wary about changing income tax rules.
Mahathir: Uighurs “have done nothing wrong”
Countries are struggling to navigate the issues – trying to please Beijing, the Uighurs, and respect human rights.
Beware of fighter pilots bearing gifts
A “dog fight” between a Russian and US jet, apparently over Syria, looks to be fake news.
Daylight robbery: cyber escapades of North Korea
Everyone knows Pyongyang’s criminal hackers are hard at work – but what nobody knows is how to stop them.
Pacific links: PNG, the fast and the furious, more
Sports cars for APEC, French Polynesia wants justice for nuclear tests, plus links from the Pacific islands region.
Japan’s complicated relationship with coal power
While banks back away from coal, political and safety concerns about nuclear power are pushing Tokyo towards it.
China: how big tech is learning to love the party
The Communist Party has cemented its presence in leading tech firms, heralding a new age for private companies.
Australia’s Israel-Palestine conflict
This is actually one of those rare issues in Australian foreign policy where the two major parties quite often disagree.
Fiji and human rights, the limits of influence
Why was a violator elected to a body responsible for protecting human rights?
Decoding the bombshell story for China
Right or wrong, claims Beijing hacked computer chips has accelerated a push to cut out China from US supply chains.
The corridor of power
The remote Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan was central to the Silk Road, Great Game, and Cold War – now China has plans.
Reconciling with China in the Pacific
To overcome suspicion, Australia should work to reshape the multilateral system for better global collaboration on aid.
What should Australia do about Saudi Arabia?
If Saudi complicity in the death of Jamal Khashoggi is shown, Canberra must make a stand to express disgust.
Shifting sands in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is being drained of it’s language, freedom of speech, and now it’s surrounding seas. Is a brain-drain next?
Encryption does not create privilege
Eavesdropping, colloquially, has a bad name, but when justified by law and properly regulated, what’s the objection?
Weekend catch-up: Xi Jinping takes to TV, and more
UN explains rising temperatures, missing Saudi journalist, Pence challenges China: The week that was on The Interpreter.
Realigning the Australian Army
The army is preparing for new challenges on the battlefield. It should align it's strategy with that of the White Paper.
End the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war
The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize is a message to countries to investigate and prosecute conflict related sexual violence.
See the difference: CGTN’s Australian gambit
China’s broadcasters are spruiking, but overseas propaganda is more to benefit bosses back in Beijing.
Courting supreme mistrust
Where India’s Supreme Court has grown in stature, partisan bickering may undermine the US Supreme Court for years.
Economic diplomacy: Australia abroad, China’s cash
Australia has a new way to count Chinese foreign investment, underlining how this has become a vexed policy issue.
Facing ghosts of the past in Bougainville
Post-war justice has been elusive, but until grievances are confronted, the consequences of impunity can be deadly.
Mind the gap: views of security in the Pacific
An emphasis on “non-traditional” issues in the islands should not discount Canberra’s legitimate geostrategic concerns.
Missing in action: India’s aircraft carriers
How is it that an Indian aircraft carrier has never been employed in a conflict?
What to do about a warming planet
The IPCC report warns fundamental change on such a large scale will be difficult, but the alternative shapes as worse.