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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 6 hours ago
    • Asean
    • China
    • India
    • Global Economy
    • Trade

    India cautiously unlocks Chinese investment after years of resistance

    Shanthie Mariet D’Souza
    Relaxed foreign direct investment rules will test whether New Delhi can draw Chinese capital away from Southeast Asia.
  • 27 Mar 2026
    • India
    • Trade
    • WTO

    What is India’s game at the WTO?

    Shanthie Mariet D’Souza
    By blocking an investment deal, New Delhi might be playing for leverage in other disputes.
  • 26 Mar 2026
    • Australia
    • European Union
    • Energy
    • Trade
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    The EU–Australia FTA plays the long game on critical minerals with no short cuts

    Brent Jackson
    Australia's minerals sector is world-class at extraction, but refining lags decades behind China – and no trade deal changes that overnight.
  • 24 Mar 2026
    • Trade
    • Coronavirus
    • Sustainability

    The geopolitics of pharmaceutical supply chains

    Vincent So
    Covid exposed the fragility of global medicine supply and national rivalry is making it permanent.
  • 23 Mar 2026
    • India
    • Trade

    India’s cautious embrace of trade

    Henry Storey
    India is striking trade liberalisation deals at pace, but deep structural barriers will cap how much it transforms the economy.
  • 20 Mar 2026
    • China
    • Australia
    • Energy
    • Trade
    • Sustainability
    • Africa

    China’s $120bn minerals blitz – and what Australia stands to lose

    Marina Yue Zhang
    In a world where geopolitical leverage and prosperity accrue to those who process, refine, and manufacture, the window to change course is narrowing.
  • 17 Mar 2026
    • Asia
    • Global Economy
    • Energy
    • Trade

    Beware the long reach of the Iran war in Asia’s food systems

    Robert Walker
    Disruption to fertiliser supply could lock in a food price hike across South and Southeast Asia.
  • 17 Mar 2026
    • Japan
    • Global Economy
    • Trade
    • United States

    Behind Japan’s US investment pledge, a China problem

    Henry Storey
    Structural economic forces – not solely US strong-arming – explain Japan’s growing interest in America.
  • 10 Mar 2026
    • Aid & Development
    • Global Economy
    • Energy
    • Trade
    • Iran

    The economic fallout of the Iran war for Indo-Pacific developing countries

    Roland Rajah
    The Iran war isn’t just a Middle East crisis.
  • 26 Feb 2026
    • Asean
    • Trade
    • United States

    Southeast Asia trade after the US Supreme Court tariff decision

    Roland Rajah
    How Trump rebuilds his tariff wall will shape future trade with the region.
  • 25 Feb 2026
    • Indonesia
    • Trade
    • United States

    What the aunties miss about tariffs

    Sondang Grace Sirait
    A good tariff deal means little if permits crawl and customs stumble.
  • 25 Feb 2026
    • Trade
    • Sustainability
    • Solomon Islands

    A second gold rush in Solomon Islands but a familiar extractive trap

    Riley Duke
    Gold is replacing logging as a mainstay for the economy but the government must balance revenues with stability.
  • 23 Feb 2026
    • Trade
    • United States

    The Supreme Court ruling means we need international institutions more than ever

    Jenny Gordon
    Only multilateral action will ensure trade’s full benefits flow to all countries.
  • 19 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Europe
    • Global Economy
    • Trade

    European industry faces an existential China challenge

    Henry Storey
    Exports will continue to be the linchpin of Chinese prosperity. This is not good for the global economy.
  • 10 Feb 2026
    • India
    • Australia
    • Trade

    India and Australia’s trade deal remains half-finished

    Sanchari Ghosh
    Economic integration hasn't kept pace with geopolitical convergence.
  • 4 Feb 2026
    • Trade
    • Global Issues
    • International law
    • United Nations
    • Canada

    Mark Carney is wrong about the rules-based order

    Sandy Hollway
    Declaring the system a fiction ignores real achievements and only makes it easier for big powers to demand their way.
  • 2 Feb 2026
    • India
    • Trade
    • United States

    India-EU trade deal: Beyond the “mother of all deals”

    Shameek Godara
    Trump’s trade tactics have misfired, pushing two of the world’s largest economies into a landmark partnership.
  • 28 Jan 2026
    • India
    • Trade

    Green shoots emerge in India’s economic reform agenda

    Henry Storey
    The shock of US tariffs has helped revive India’s stalled liberalisation efforts.
  • 28 Jan 2026
    • Asean
    • Energy
    • Trade
    • Technology

    Resilience in a conditional trade order: ASEAN’s 2026 challenge

    Apoorba Banerjee
    For ASEAN, policy volatility is now an input into industrial planning.
  • 19 Jan 2026
    • China
    • Vietnam
    • Global Economy
    • Trade

    Yes, Vietnam really is winning the trade wars

    Roland Rajah
    Higher exports are delivering real gains, alongside rerouted Chinese production.
  • 19 Jan 2026
    • China
    • Russia
    • Global Economy
    • Trade

    The decline of sanctions

    Imran Khalid
    A once useful policy instrument is being undermined by evasion and a crisis of legitimacy
  • 15 Jan 2026
    • Global Economy
    • Trade

    Tariffs: Why Oxford students are more protectionist than their professors

    Aylon Berger
    A classroom discussion reveals just how far the economic consensus has shifted.
  • 14 Jan 2026
    • Energy
    • Trade
    • United States

    Stranded and uninvestable: Venezuela’s oil prospects

    Huw McKay
    The economics don’t stack up for American oil companies, but the Trump administration is trying to change the terms of the geoeconomic game.
  • 16 Dec 2025
    • India
    • Global Economy
    • Trade

    India’s economic reforms: Domestic resilience to reshape global standing

    Pratyush Paras Sarma
    Labour codes, tax cuts and GST reforms position India for a new era of growth and international influence.
  • 16 Dec 2025
    • China
    • India
    • Taiwan
    • Trade

    Leveraging Taiwan: India’s strategic counterbalance to China

    Shanthie Mariet D’Souza
    Record trade and closer ties with Taipei mark New Delhi’s shift from caution to assertiveness.
  • 11 Dec 2025
    • China
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Energy
    • Trade

    Why the Ukraine war works in China’s favour

    Nikola Mikovic
    China has Russia cornered – reliant on Beijing for markets and energy exports and playing the role of junior partner.
  • 25 Nov 2025
    • Asia
    • Asean
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Malaysia
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Global Economy
    • Trade
    • United States

    Southeast Asian manufacturing: No longer immune from geopolitics

    Apoorba Banerjee
    The region’s industrial sector must adapt in a new climate of supply-chain weaponisation.
  • 10 Nov 2025
    • Australia
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Trade
    • Technology

    Not every critical mineral is equal – and Australia’s policy should reflect this

    Eli Hayes , Darren Lim
    The elements that genuinely matter for security should be treated as defence policy, not economic opportunity.
  • 6 Nov 2025
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Trade
    • Technology

    A new permanent contest with China over critical minerals will be hard to win

    Robert Walker
    Australia’s more ambitious critical mineral deal-making is exacting a high price
  • 5 Nov 2025
    • Australia
    • Trade
    • Africa

    Australia’s mineral diplomacy can connect Africa’s resources to Asia’s demand

    Christopher Burke
    Deeper engagement would help ensure Indo-Pacific partners are not hostage to China’s industrial dominance.
  • 29 Oct 2025
    • Asean
    • Trade
    • United States

    ASEAN’s dealmaking with Trump shows promise

    Robert Walker
    The US President is still dictating terms but critical mineral cooperation might give the region a bargaining tool
  • 22 Oct 2025
    • Australia
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Trade
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    Can rare earths be Australia’s next mining boom?

    Jenny Bloomfield
    Traditional approaches won’t secure Australia’s critical minerals future – or the geopolitical heft on offer.
  • 21 Oct 2025
    • Asean
    • Cambodia
    • Indonesia
    • Laos
    • Malaysia
    • Thailand
    • Energy
    • Trade
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • United States

    The sun is setting on Southeast Asia’s solar exporters

    Robert Walker
    US tariffs are testing whether ASEAN is all talk on regional integration for renewable energy generation.
  • 17 Oct 2025
    • Trade
    • Climate change
    • United States

    A new multilateral green trade pact is the antidote to growing economic nationalism

    Ryan Mulholland , Natalie Baker
    Linking decarbonisation with trade policy could offer an alternative to rising protectionism.
  • 15 Oct 2025
    • China
    • Malaysia
    • Australia
    • Trade
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • United States

    Rare earth showdown: Why the West must learn to pick winners – and partners

    Jersey Lee , Andrew Goledzinowski
    Albanese must convince Trump that only allied cooperation can break China's rare earth chokehold.
  • 10 Oct 2025
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Trade
    • Climate change
    • Migration

    The Liberal Party’s coming foreign policy split

    Hugh Piper
    Immigration, climate, trade and China are fracturing the conservative side of politics into rival camps with competing worldviews.
  • 8 Oct 2025
    • Asia
    • Indonesia
    • Europe
    • Global Economy
    • Trade
    • WTO

    Europe notches an early win in Indonesian free trade deal

    Henry Storey
    EU trade with Southeast Asia has been undercooked, but a recent agreement augurs well for others in the pipeline.
  • 6 Oct 2025
    • Australia
    • Maritime Security
    • Trade
    • Middle East

    How Australia can navigate long-term Red Sea shipping disruptions

    Hamed Zakikhani
    Route volatility is squeezing grain exports and fertiliser imports, and there are no calm waters on the horizon.
  • 3 Oct 2025
    • Asia
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Malaysia
    • Taiwan
    • Trade
    • United States

    America’s EV plan needs Southeast Asia more than it admits

    Apoorba Banerjee
    Unless the US wants to pay more and wait longer, it should secure trusted capacity from non-Chinese supply chains.
  • 26 Sep 2025
    • Global Economy
    • G20
    • Trade
    • WTO
    • Global Issues
    • Climate change
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Space exploration
    • United Nations

    Why we need international institutions…

    Jenny Gordon
    …and how to rebuild them in an era of great power competition.
  • 26 Sep 2025
    • Debt
    • Energy
    • G20
    • Poverty
    • Trade
    • Africa

    Show or substance? The African Union’s G20 test

    Isel van Zyl , Jana de Kluiver
    Under this year’s South African presidency of the global forum, it’s more important than ever for the Union to speak as one.
  • 5 Sep 2025
    • Vietnam
    • Trade
    • United States

    In Vietnam’s case, what, exactly, is the target of Trump’s “transshipment” tariffs?

    Jackson Lopez
    Ill-defined enforcement and geopolitical realities may see Washington’s measures favour Beijing over Hanoi.
  • 29 Aug 2025
    • Australia
    • Trade
    • United States

    Problems in the post

    Nicola Charwat
    Australia’s small exporters are caught in a wider contest between the United States and China over the cost of mail.
  • 29 Aug 2025
    • Aid & Development
    • Asean
    • Defence & Security
    • Trade

    Triple shock threatens Southeast Asia’s development model

    Dina Chhorn
    Tariffs, border disputes and shrinking aid budgets combine to challenge six decades of regional economic progress.
  • 27 Aug 2025
    • India
    • Trade
    • United States

    Trump’s tariffs are only part of the problem for Indian manufacturing

    Henry Storey
    Deeper structural problems at home pose bigger challenges than the trade dispute with Washington.
  • 11 Aug 2025
    • India
    • Trade
    • United States

    Trump and Modi can’t ignore the trade policy power of India’s farmers

    Vani Swarupa Murali
    Electoral arithmetic and protest power give India’s agricultural sector a big voice.
  • 7 Aug 2025
    • China
    • Global Economy
    • Trade

    Too much of a good thing: Will China finally commit to solving overcapacity?

    Henry Storey
    Facing an addiction to manufacturing, Beijing’s rhetoric will need to be matched by deep structural and political reforms.
  • 4 Aug 2025
    • Indonesia
    • Energy
    • Trade
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    The copper gambit: How Indonesia turned a trade war into strategic leverage

    Akhmad Hanan
    Indonesia’s mineral transformation from raw exports to refined power shows the benefit of resource nationalism.
  • 1 Aug 2025
    • India
    • Trade
    • United States

    The shine has come off the Modi-Trump bromance (and perhaps the India-US relationship)

    Chietigj Bajpaee
    Claims of ideological affinity between the world’s oldest and largest democracy won’t be enough.
  • 1 Aug 2025
    • Trade

    Worry less about tariffs, leave room for trade rivalry between allies

    R. N. Prasher
    Competition is healthy, but not when it strengthens the hand of true strategic rivals like China.
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