22 Feb 2023
Wang Yi’s fruitless diplomacy in Europe
Beijing misunderstands that Russia’s war in Ukraine – and China’s failure to condemn it – has vastly changed views.
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31 Jan 2023
Europe: Crossing the East-West divide
A new alignment challenges France and Germany as drivers of European politics – offering Britain a chance for influence. -
13 Dec 2022
2022: A global turning point
Looking at trends and contours that have coalesced this year to make international politics more contested and unpredictable. -
22 Nov 2022
Europe must fully embrace nuclear energy
With Russia’s stranglehold on the region’s energy, it is time to add a second shade of green. -
31 Aug 2022
Mikhail Gorbachev: The last revolutionary
Ambitious Soviet reformer whose political career was defined by “perestroika”. -
22 Aug 2022
Six months of war in Ukraine: Europe’s life and fate
Emotions have inevitably subsided but support for Ukraine remains resolute – enough to dismay Putin-loving populists. -
15 Aug 2022
Norway’s 30 minutes with the PM
Norway’s ambassador takes a moment in his last week in Canberra to explain what he would tell Anthony Albanese. -
1 Aug 2022
On water matters: the fate Baltic ferries tell of global order
Modern life can hold some inconvenient lessons – for those willing to search them out. -
30 Jun 2022
War fatigue in the West
The democratic world passed the compassion test for Ukraine. Now it faces the real challenge. -
27 May 2022
Ukraine: The view from Warsaw
More than offering neighbourly support, Poland wants to ensure Russia suffers a strategic defeat. -
21 Mar 2022
As Hungary nears an election, Brussels and Moscow will be watching
Viktor Orbán looks likely to win re-election and continue posing problems for European policymakers. -
10 Mar 2022
Ukraine: The United States re-establishes its credentials
Against the backdrop of Putin’s invasion, Biden’s ability to rally allies is winning support. -
28 Feb 2022
Russia’s war will hasten the drive for clean energy security
Wind and solar is not only zero-emissions – it’s local. And that will cut Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and oil. -
27 Jan 2022
Power plays: the growing competition to fuel energy transitions
Serbia’s decision to cancel a lithium mine in the face of environmental outcry underscores a modern economic challenge. -
14 Jan 2022
Novak Djokovic – a symbol for anti-vaxxers?
The ruling to deport the tennis ace could hamper his career but transform him into a different type of star. -
11 Jan 2022
When no shots are heard around the world
The saga of Novak Djokovic’s visa has galvanised global attention – with a result that still hangs in the balance. -
20 Dec 2021
European security: Putin ups the ante with NATO
Why is Moscow making proposals it must know are unacceptable? -
17 Nov 2021
A brewing crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ethnic and political frictions haven’t disappeared and threaten to turn deadly. -
10 Nov 2021
The forest for the trees: trouble at the Poland-Belarus border
A migrant crisis is the next episode in an ongoing Russian and Belarusian project to undercut the European Union. -
22 Oct 2021
“Strategic autonomy” is more dangerous for Europe than AUKUS
Breaking from the United States would militarise the European Union to the extent that it would become unrecognisable. -
11 Oct 2021
Subs: Australia’s reputation overboard
In Europe, and not only in France, the image of Australia has suffered a direct hit. -
2 Sep 2021
Europe and the South China Sea
More warships in disputed waters may cause instability. But the presence of navies from afar sends a clear message, too. -
24 Aug 2021
Europe turns away from asylum-seekers
Covid saw fewer refugees on the move but numbers could soon rise. Those needing help deserve to be treated with dignity. -
25 Jun 2021
Macron’s right-wing gamble
The French president is betting on the far-right to boost his chances in the 2022 election. -
21 Jun 2021
Believing Biden
The US President has persuaded European allies of his values-based policy. But will such faith carry home? -
14 Apr 2021
Serbia’s vaccine diplomacy: Balancing China and the West
The politics of Covid have tangled up countries across the world – but that’s not always a drawback. -
17 Feb 2021
Russia vs the EU
A visit to Moscow by Europe’s top envoy did nothing to calm a growing diplomatic spat. What if Washington weighs in? -
4 Feb 2021
The Donbass conflict: Waiting for escalation
The forgotten war involving Ukraine and Russia in the energy-rich region is simmering still. -
3 Feb 2021
A “beggar-thy-neighbour” approach keeps seafarers stranded
Some countries have banned crew rotations. Some have tight limits. A few are open. So a crisis continues. -
25 Jan 2021
The US and the next leader of the OECD
Australia’s candidate for Secretary-General is a favourable contender, but American backing is still up in the air. -
18 Dec 2020
Learning from an island in a pandemic
For all the focus on New Zealand’s and Taiwan’s successes, another fascinating island nation has kept the virus at bay. -
26 Nov 2020
The outlines of a European policy on the Indo-Pacific
Germany and the Netherlands have new strategies for the Indo-Pacific, and maybe the beginnings of a common EU stance. -
19 Nov 2020
Beijing’s bad books: Australia can learn from Norway and South Korea
China’s coercive diplomacy is not new. Other countries have managed to repair ties after a perceived slight. -
26 Oct 2020
The Three Seas Initiative: A European answer to China’s Belt and Road?
A quest to modernise dilapidated infrastructure in Central Europe has quickly transformed into a geopolitical contest. -
24 Sep 2020
Francis Fukuyama in Minsk
The outcry for liberal freedoms on display in Belarus suggests “The end of history” wasn’t all wrong. -
16 Sep 2020
Trump’s gambit in the Balkans
Drawing down troops from Germany one day, inserting the US into the Serbia-Kosovo dispute the next. What’s at play? -
7 Sep 2020
Pandemic democracy
Voting is based on trust between citizens and their government. In an age of social distancing, such faith is tested. -
7 Sep 2020
How Russia benefited from Belarus’s turmoil
The “last European dictator” has turned back to the Kremlin after the West imposed sanctions for recent crackdowns. -
28 Aug 2020
A diplomatic breakdown over “snapback” tests the UN
Dispute over a US call for pre-2015 Iran sanctions has pushed the Security Council to its limit. It’s been there before. -
22 Jul 2020
Is Huawei in the UK a canary in the coalmine?
Britain’s 5G ban shows that political risk must be priced into commercial calculations as the world considers value. -
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1 May 2020
Governments, not pandemics, stop access to reproductive health
A winding back of hard-won women’s rights in Europe has implications for us all. -
24 Apr 2020
ISIS looks to prosper in a world distracted by the virus
Europe could quickly be confronted by another security crisis if the terrorists growing resurgence is left unchecked. -
21 Apr 2020
Hit hard, could Covid lead Europe to rethink economic policy?
Airlines could be nationalised, global supply chains severed. Will a once familiar market-led dogma survive the crisis? -
20 Jan 2020
No end in sight for Germany’s troubles with Huawei
As other European capitals look for a cue, German politicians are sharply divided over the Chinese tech company. -
4 Nov 2019
What 1989 unleashed, and what it didn’t
The story of “post-Wall” Central Europe is not simply a straight line from liberalism’s triumph to its collapse. -
27 Aug 2019
Macron tries to put the spark back into the G7
By keeping Trump from derailing the proceedings, the self-anointed saviour of the West scored a tactical win. -
5 Jul 2019
The burden of friendship: Germany, Trump and NATO
Germany earns a special ire in the President’s complaints, but Berlin sees less challenge in dollars and more in trust. -
21 Jun 2019
Accountability for flight MH17: a long and winding road …
Trials in absentia are problematic, but as with the Lockerbie trial, the quest for justice will be arduous and complex. -
10 May 2019
My mother’s life: faraway dreams, new growth and seeking acceptance
Born to a world in flames, set back by illness, an adventure to Australia would strengthen the threads of a nation.