Skip to main content
The Interpreter

Interpreter - Menu Links

  • Articles
  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • About

Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 10 Jun 2025
    • Maritime Security
    • Energy
    • International law
    • United States

    What lies beneath: Trump and the security of subsea cables

    April A. Herlevi
    To access the riches under the sea, the new US administration seeks dominance.
  • 29 May 2025
    • South Korea
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Australia-South Korea: The case for a new maritime focus

    Jennifer Parker
    The naval relationship between the two nations has plateaued, but there's a way to regain momentum.
  • 5 May 2025
    • Maritime Security
    • Technology

    Undersea cable control: The information dimension

    Richard Dunley
    Historical lessons on how control of undersea communication networks offers advantage beyond mere disruption.
  • 29 Apr 2025
    • India
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • Terrorism
    • United States

    Kashmir and what’s next after the Pahalgam attack: How India’s partners could help in this crisis

    Arzan Tarapore
    Stepping up overflight surveillance in the Indian Ocean would be a good start.
  • 17 Apr 2025
    • China
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Intelligence and security
    • Maritime Security

    China’s “spy ship” that wasn’t off the coast of Australia

    Jennifer Parker
    Caught in a political storm, most claims about the mission of the Tan Suo Yi Hao don’t hold water.
  • 28 Mar 2025
    • Maritime Security
    • Trade
    • Yemen
    • United States

    Breaking Houthi resolve: Why Trump’s strikes won’t work any better than Biden’s

    Mark O'Neill
    The “whack-a-mole” approach to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea needs a rethink – upstream, rather than down.
  • 25 Mar 2025
    • China
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • AUKUS
    • Maritime Security

    Awful but lawful: China's Australia flotilla

    Thomas Shugart
    China wasn't making a legal point. This was a show of force.
  • 24 Mar 2025
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Indonesia and Australia: Defence cooperation under Prabowo

    Edna C. Pattisina
    For Australia, walking the talk will be critical to a sustainable strategic relationship that benefits both nations.
  • 19 Mar 2025
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Australian defence and the nebulous “archipelago”

    Richard Dunley
    In the region to our north, the risks of playing out operational concepts on a map devoid of politics are manifold.
  • 17 Mar 2025
    • Maritime Security
    • Trade

    The Suez battles forces beyond its control

    Selwyn Parker
    Not only rocket attacks but tariff threats, there is mounting uncertainty in global shipping.
  • 14 Mar 2025
    • Maritime Security
    • Trade
    • International law
    • Sustainability
    • Pacific Islands

    Sunk costs: Pacific shipwrecks and the urgent call for the Nairobi Convention

    Sheridan Ward
    An international accord to clean up shipwrecks and other waste from commerce on the high seas already exists. The region should get on board.
  • 13 Mar 2025
    • Singapore
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Singapore’s navy modernisation: Big on size but small on personnel

    Rahman Yaacob
    Grappling with the need to overcome constraints on the number of personnel available to crew warships and submarines.
  • 11 Mar 2025
    • India
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • Quad

    Why Australia–India maritime ties matter

    Nidhi Priya
    Strengthening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific will be good not just for the region but for global security and trade.
  • 6 Mar 2025
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Should Australia rekindle its Merchant Navy?

    Victor Abramowicz
    From defended assets to arsenal ships, armed merchant vessels offer opportunities for Canberra.
  • 6 Sep 2024
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • Trade
    • Iran
    • Yemen

    Iran’s shadow hand in Houthi Red Sea attacks

    Jonathan Campbell-James
    How the Houthis and Iranians work together isn’t absolutely clear – but stopping the threat to shipping requires more than shooting down incoming missiles and extends to disrupting an intelligence and targeting system.
  • 17 Jul 2024
    • China
    • China's Military
    • South China Sea
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Moving beyond the grey zone: The case for ICAD

    Adam Lockyer , Yves-Heng Lim , Courtney J Fung
    Why some Indo-Pacific nations are renaming the place between peace and war.
  • 12 Jul 2024
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia and Climate Change
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Testing the climate for AUKUS

    Albert Palazzo
    The deterrence effects of nuclear-powered submarines are easily overstated, and the boats won’t fulfil Australia’s most pressing security needs in a changing environment.
  • 10 Jul 2024
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • Technology

    Cable ties: Defending seabed lines of communication

    Samuel Bashfield
    Underwater vulnerabilities need to be far more prominent in the conversation.
  • 20 Jun 2024
    • China
    • Philippines
    • South China Sea
    • Maritime Security
    • International law

    Overcoming the deliberate legal ambiguity adopted by China’s coast guard

    Peter Leavy
    A new order is telling of Beijing’s selective and ongoing effort to undermine the law of the sea.
  • 19 Apr 2024
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • Review

    Girt by sea: Redrawing Australia’s mental map

    David Brewster
    A big part of the challenge is asking the hard questions – and a new book does just that.
  • 11 Apr 2024
    • Asean
    • South China Sea
    • Cyber Security
    • Cyber Warfare
    • Emerging Threats
    • Maritime Security
    • Technology

    ASEAN and the military applications of AI

    Ngô Di Lân
    While artificial intelligence can be used to magnify lethal force, it can also promote regional peace and stability.
  • 5 Apr 2024
    • China
    • China's Military
    • Philippines
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australia's Defence Challenges
    • Maritime Security
    • United States
    • US Navy

    What should Australia be doing about the South China Sea?

    Susannah Patton
    While Australia’s interests are clear, its contribution is ambiguous.
  • 2 Apr 2024
    • China
    • Japan
    • Philippines
    • Maritime Security
    • United States

    A wave of US trilaterals sends a clear message to China

    Richard Javad Heydarian
    Revamped security groupings led by Washington, including with Manila and Tokyo, are the new normal.
  • 27 Mar 2024
    • China
    • India
    • Maldives
    • Sri Lanka
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Mapping the oceans is the new front in the battle for influence in the Indian Ocean

    David Brewster
    Ruling the waves means first understanding what lies beneath. Enter the geopolitics of hydrography.
  • 26 Mar 2024
    • Japan
    • Maritime Security
    • Pacific Islands

    Should Japan expand its security partnerships in the Pacific?

    Daniel Mandell
    Four reasons why rushing in may not be the answer.
  • 8 Feb 2024
    • Defence & Security
    • Al Qaeda
    • Emerging Threats
    • Islamic State
    • Maritime Security
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Terrorism
    • Technology
    • Middle East
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Lebanon
    • Yemen

    Non-state actors and the phantom of asymmetry

    Ved Shinde
    The might of the US military no longer guarantees world order. There are new actors and new ecosystems in play.
  • 2 Feb 2024
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • Quad

    A practical way for Australia to help in the western Indian Ocean

    Jennifer Parker
    Expanding the rollout of a Quad maritime domain awareness initiative would be a boost to security – for the region, and Australia.
  • 29 Jan 2024
    • Australia and Climate Change
    • Australia's Defence Challenges
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Australian Navy
    • Maritime Security
    • Review

    Why big projects fail: Climate change and AUKUS submarines

    Stephen Grenville
    Construction lessons – from the Empire State to the Sydney Opera House – can inform Australia’s most pressing problems.
  • 14 Nov 2023
    • Japan
    • Philippines
    • Maritime Security

    Japan’s new golden age in Southeast Asia

    Richard Javad Heydarian
    Tokyo’s recent geopolitical assertiveness cements its position as a regional security and economic powerhouse.
  • 14 Nov 2023
    • Australia
    • Maritime Security
    • Trade

    Australia needs to resource a merchant fleet

    Richard Dunley
    Virtually all Australia’s trade moves by sea, yet relies almost exclusively on foreign flagged and foreign owned vessels.
  • 28 Sep 2023
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia's Defence Challenges
    • Australia-United States Relations
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • Review

    AUKUS: A debate after the fact is still worth having

    Georgina Downer
    Can Australia’s statecraft and alliances offer alternative security options in the Indo-Pacific?
  • 26 Sep 2023
    • Asean
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    ASEAN’s first joint military exercise

    Rahman Yaacob
    A pyrrhic military cooperation or building capability for future contingency?
  • 13 Sep 2023
    • Asia
    • Maritime Security

    Sea robbery in the Singapore Strait

    Thư Nguyễn Hoàng Anh
    A crucial global trade route is subject to a rash of petty crime, but the consequences aren’t so petty.
  • 4 Aug 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Maritime Security
    • International law
    • United Nations
    • United States

    Archipelago angst: How Indonesia and the US differ on air routes over sea lanes

    Aristyo Rizka Darmawan
    UNCLOS ambiguity, again.
  • 21 Mar 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • International law

    Could Indonesia legally stop transit by nuclear-powered AUKUS subs?

    Dita Liliansa
    International law includes passage rights for all vessels in archipelagic waters – during peace or wartime.
  • 30 Nov 2022
    • India
    • Australia
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Maritime Security

    Australia–India: “Hands Across the Water”

    Justin Burke
    Naval port visits send important signals and contribute to the thriving bilateral relationship.
  • 28 Sep 2022
    • China's Military
    • Australia's Defence Challenges
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Buying the wrong submarine

    Peter Layton
    Being able to sink ships doesn’t end a war. Australia should consider ballistic nuclear missile subs as an alternative.
  • 25 Apr 2022
    • Southeast Asia
    • Maritime Security

    Not all maritime disputes are built the same

    Evan A Laksmana
    Resolving some of the South China Sea’s longest running issues needs a policy toolkit that is customised and diverse.
  • 15 Apr 2022
    • Maritime Security
    • South China Sea
    • Asean
    • Vietnam

    Taming troubled waters

    Lai Thai Binh
    Looking from Vietnam, multi-layer joint efforts to ensure maritime security are welcome in the South China Sea.
  • 13 Apr 2022
    • Maritime Security
    • China
    • International law

    Law of the sea: A contested watershed ruling

    Clive Schofield
    The 2016 arbitral award on the South China Sea has changed the dynamics of maritime disputes.
  • 12 Apr 2022
    • Maritime Security
    • China
    • Vietnam
    • Philippines
    • Malaysia

    China’s nine-dash line proves stranger than fiction

    Bec Strating
    How Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea have crept imperceptibly into global popular culture.
  • 11 Apr 2022
    • Maritime Security
    • Southeast Asia

    Thinking outside the box on Southeast Asian maritime security

    Collin Koh
    The pandemic brought about an observable increase in transnational crimes – smuggling, piracy and trafficking.
  • 8 Apr 2022
    • Maritime Security

    Shore thing: climate change and maritime security intrinsically linked

    Kate Clayton
    Rising sea levels in Southeast Asia and the Pacific mean collaboration on maritime order is essential.
  • 5 Apr 2022
    • Maritime Security
    • China's Military
    • India's Navy
    • Australian Navy

    Of maritime security and a rules-based order

    Abhijit Singh
    All good in theory, but the operational logistics of multinational cooperation at sea will take more than narratives.
  • 31 Mar 2022
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security

    Order at sea: Southeast Asia’s maritime security

    Geoffrey Till
    Regional capacity building and the maintenance of good order in its waters are vital for the region’s ongoing stability.
  • 21 Sep 2021
    • US Navy
    • Maritime Security
    • China-Australia Relations
    • Asia Pacific Security
    • Australian Navy
    • Asean
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australia-United States Relations
    • China
    • United Kingdom
    • France

    AUKUS and the CPTPP: It’s all about China

    Ian Hill
    Security deterrence is only one factor in the new and fast-moving geostrategic environment of the Indo-Pacific.
  • 27 Aug 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Maritime Security
    • China's Military
    • Australian Navy

    Australia’s seaborne trade: Essential but undefendable

    Hugh White
    Recognising the limits to Australia’s military potential.
  • 16 Dec 2020
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • China
    • Russia

    Russia and China team up on the Indian Ocean

    Oriana Skylar Mastro
    The US and its allies may have military dominance in the region, but it’s no guarantee of influence.
  • 28 Oct 2020
    • Defence & Security
    • Maritime Security
    • India-Australia Relations
    • India

    Rebirth of the quadrilateral Malabar: Promises and portents for India

    Prakash Gopal
    The inclusion of Australia in the 2020 Exercise Malabar signals India’s resolve to defend its interests in the region.
  • 19 May 2020
    • United States
    • Maritime Security
    • United Nations

    Diego Garcia: An American perspective

    Michael McDevitt
    A bid by Mauritius to claim the Chagos Archipelago puts the future of the base in question. Does the US have an answer?
Pagination
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • Current page 1
  • Page 2
  • Next page ››

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