Skip to main content
The Interpreter

Interpreter - Menu Links

  • Articles
  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • About

Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 1 day ago
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Pacific Islands

    A looming police shortage in the Pacific: Drug use can cripple a male workforce

    Melissa Jardine
    The labour and public health consequences from expanding drugs surge in the region must be acted upon.
  • 4 Dec 2024
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Pacific Islands

    “Narco-subs” in the Pacific demonstrates need for effective maritime security cooperation

    Henrietta McNeill , Genevieve Quirk
    Criminals are always looking for an edge. Listening to what the Pacific needs and coordinating maritime security responses will help blunt the threat.
  • 4 Dec 2024
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • Global Issues
    • Human rights
    • International law
    • Transnational Challenges

    Australia’s chance to align global efforts against “hostage diplomacy”

    Sean Turnell
    A new senate report has set out sensible recommendations for a fresh approach on wrongful detention of Australians overseas.
  • 29 Oct 2024
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Pacific Islands

    Pacific Islands need stronger corrections systems to address transnational and organised crime

    Danielle Watson
    Rehabilitation is too often a forgotten arena in regional efforts.
  • 27 Sep 2024
    • Australia
    • Emerging Threats
    • Coronavirus
    • Transnational Challenges
    • United Nations

    Is the world ready for its next big health crisis?

    Rebecca Wakerman Powell
    Antimicrobial resistance will test global responses to health security, just as Covid-19 did.
  • 6 Sep 2024
    • Australia
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • International law
    • Transnational Challenges

    Russian sanctions: Why has Australia stayed quiet on reparations?

    Anton Moiseienko
    With strong rule of law credentials and expertise, Canberra should use its advantage in responses to war.
  • 27 Aug 2024
    • Diplomacy
    • Global Issues
    • Human rights
    • International law
    • Transnational Challenges

    Hostage diplomacy: Fresh ideas to end a modern blight

    Sean Turnell
    A new Australian senate inquiry into the practice of imprisonment for leverage offer a chance to learn from international experience.
  • 26 Aug 2024
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Pacific Islands
    • Tonga

    The down-low on deportations and drugs in Tonga

    Henrietta McNeill
    The practice by Australia of sending criminals back to their home country can pose a risk to regional security without the proper reintegration support.
  • 1 Aug 2024
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia
    • Australian Diplomacy
    • Diplomacy
    • Transnational Challenges

    Smuggling budgies? Australia’s fight against wildlife trafficking

    David M. Andrews
    Masters of soft diplomacy and flag-bearers for Aussie tourism, our native animals need all the protection they can get.
  • 18 Jun 2024
    • Asia
    • Indonesia
    • Malaysia
    • Thailand
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability
    • Transnational Challenges

    The carbon sinks of Southeast Asia are in trouble

    Mohd. Yunus
    Global demand for palm oil and paper is threatening a fragile peatland ecosystem. International cooperation is needed now.
  • 17 Apr 2024
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia
    • Human rights
    • Migration
    • Transnational Challenges

    Invisible victims: How counter-trafficking efforts leave people with disability behind

    Elisabeth Jackson
    It is often those who should be responsible for protecting people with disabilities who exploit them.
  • 12 Mar 2024
    • China
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australian Public Opinion
    • Multiculturalism
    • Technology
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Public Opinion
    • Public Opinion Polling

    Chinese social media and the 2025 Australian federal election

    Fan Yang , Robbie Fordyce , Luke Heemsbergen
    Those intent on spreading political misinformation are finding ways around strict foreign interference rules.
  • 2 Feb 2024
    • Global Issues
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Pacific Islands

    Pacific Islands: Spillover threats from transnational organised crime

    Danielle Watson , Jay Caldwell
    Facing a policing squeeze in Southeast Asia, criminal networks will increasingly shift their operations to regions of perceived weakness.
  • 4 Dec 2023
    • Global Issues
    • Climate change
    • International law
    • Transnational Challenges
    • United Nations

    Learning to live in a world without progress

    Mark Beeson
    Optimistic about the trajectory of human society? That’s brave.
  • 15 Nov 2023
    • Human rights
    • Migration
    • Technology
    • Transnational Challenges

    Human trafficking: Harnessing technology to help those most vulnerable

    Cate Sumner
    Delivering legal services to victims often means overcoming barriers in language, information and distance.
  • 6 Nov 2023
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Middle East
    • Israel

    Gaza and re-imagining international order

    Bobo Lo
    The events of the past month show that the usual recipes for global problem-solving are no longer fit for purpose.
  • 16 Oct 2023
    • Emerging Threats
    • Coronavirus
    • Technology
    • Transnational Challenges

    Managing risk: Pandemics and plagues in the age of AI

    David Heslop , Joel Keep
    An Australian-initiated international forum could hold the key to controlling unconventional weapons in the age of generative AI.
  • 10 Oct 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Human rights
    • Transnational Challenges
    • United Nations

    Online scams in Southeast Asia create double victims: those targeted and those forced to carry them out

    Jitsiree Thongnoi
    There are those deceived by scams, and those coerced into crime.
  • 2 Oct 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Malaysia
    • Singapore
    • South China Sea
    • Coronavirus
    • International law
    • Transnational Challenges

    The surprising link between piracy and Covid-19

    Jade Lindley , Dhiyaul Aulia Huda
    Poverty, institutional incapacity and budget cuts fuelled a surge in pandemic piracy. The lessons are many.
  • 18 Jul 2023
    • European Union
    • Digital Disruption
    • International law
    • Technology
    • Transnational Challenges

    Regulating artificial intelligence: How the EU just got us closer

    Melinda Rankin
    In these times of high-tech angst, a new draft Act passed in the European Parliament sets the scene for the future of AI.
  • 11 Jul 2023
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Climate change
    • Coronavirus
    • Digital Disruption
    • Environment
    • Technology
    • Transnational Challenges

    Existential risk is a whole-of-society challenge

    Tom Barber
    From climate change and pandemics to nuclear war and extinction by AI, collective action will be imperative.
  • 27 Jun 2023
    • India
    • India's Economy
    • Maldives
    • Australia and Asia
    • Climate change
    • Transnational Challenges

    To balance the Quad equation, India and Australia must drive an “Indo” focus

    Radhey Tambi
    The Bay of Bengal is an emerging hotspot for non-traditional security challenges that cross the entire region.
  • 9 Feb 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Asylum seekers and refugees
    • Migration
    • Transnational Challenges

    Australia and Indonesia can lead a response to refugee crisis in the region

    Andrew Hudson
    Shared information will help with rescue efforts and to pursue the leaders in people smuggling outfits.
  • 13 Dec 2022
    • Europe
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Trade
    • Global Issues
    • Climate change
    • Coronavirus
    • Environment
    • Transnational Challenges
    • The Americas

    2022: A global turning point

    Ian Hill
    Looking at trends and contours that have coalesced this year to make international politics more contested and unpredictable.
  • 5 Dec 2022
    • Al Qaeda
    • Cyber Security
    • Islamic State
    • Terrorism
    • Transnational Challenges

    Why outsourcing counter-terrorism online won’t work in future

    David Wells
    Policing online hate speech currently falls into a murky space shared between governments and big tech.
  • 15 Sep 2022
    • Global Economy
    • IMF
    • Transnational Challenges

    Digital finance makes international cooperation even more important

    Jenny Gordon
    In a world without physical cash, differing standards for digital currencies risk creating exclusionary trade blocs.
  • 12 Sep 2022
    • Terrorism
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Review

    Understanding global right-wing extremism

    William Allchorn
    Tackling the threat first means appreciating the scope, appeal and transnational character of the narratives driving it.

Stay informed with the latest commentary and analysis on international events from experts at the Lowy Institute and around the world.

Register

The Interpreter features in-depth analysis & expert commentary on the latest international events, published daily by the Lowy Institute.

© Copyright 2025 Lowy Institute

  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • Articles
  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Log In
  • My bookmarks