Skip to main content
The Interpreter

Interpreter - Menu Links

  • Articles
  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • About

Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 21 hours ago
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • United Nations

    COP29: The climate finance fudge

    Stephen Grenville
    Acrimonious debate in Baku amounted to a lost opportunity, squabbling over funds when action is needed everywhere for the energy transition.
  • 27 Nov 2024
    • Climate change
    • Technology
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji
    • Nauru
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Samoa
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Tuvalu

    The Pacific disinformation playbook

    Meg Tapia
    A surge in connectivity has exacerbated the region’s challenges, undermining trust in science and government.
  • 21 Nov 2024
    • Diplomacy
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • United Nations

    Zooming in on climate change: The experience of a virtual COP29 attendee

    Isabelle Zhu-Maguire
    Flying thousands of delegates across the globe has its own environmental cost – so how effective are global negotiations conducted online?
  • 18 Oct 2024
    • United Nations

    Answering the SOS of the United Nations

    Clare Beaton-Wells
    Australia’s support of the Pact for the Future is a chance to shape reform of the global organisation.
  • 2 Oct 2024
    • Climate change
    • International law
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • United Nations

    What lies beneath: There’s more to cables than geopolitics

    Cynthia Mehboob
    The undersea cable industry is left to tackle the challenges, while policymakers engage in national security power plays.
  • 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.
  • 18 Sep 2024
    • United Nations

    Does the West know how to truly hear what the Global South is saying?

    Claire Yorke , Klaus Kotzé
    The art of listening is an essential way to shape our future.
  • 17 Sep 2024
    • United Nations

    The UN “Summit of the Future” can’t afford to ignore the present

    Stéphanie Fillion
    Negotiations for a new global pact have hit obstacles, reflecting many of the problems facing the international system.
  • 13 Sep 2024
    • Sustainability
    • United Nations
    • Space exploration

    A Sustainable Development Goal for space

    Tom Cernev
    As human activity intensifies beyond Earth, there is a need to identify exactly what “space sustainability” means.
  • 21 Aug 2024
    • Climate change
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands
    • New Caledonia
    • Tonga

    Polycrisis in the Pacific: How leaders will respond at the PIF Summit in Tonga

    Mihai Sora
    A tiny capital will be host to a huge regional agenda.
  • 5 Aug 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • United Nations

    What is China’s role in achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals?

    Hannah McNicol
    It is time to think more seriously about the increasing relationship between Chinese and dominant international development models.
  • 19 Jul 2024
    • International law
    • United Nations
    • Space exploration

    Rising tensions over outer space – a new diplomatic hot zone

    Rebecca Connolly
    There is concern over the growing threat of space and counterspace weapon capabilities.
  • 23 May 2024
    • Russia
    • United Nations

    Putin’s foot soldier in New York: How Vassily Nebenzia fought on after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine  

    Stéphanie Fillion
    Seen as a potential heir apparent to Sergey Lavrov, Vassily Nebenzia is a mysterious but relentless envoy for the Kremlin.
  • 22 May 2024
    • Global Issues
    • Coronavirus
    • International law
    • United Nations

    No, a pandemic treaty will not usurp Australia’s sovereignty

    Alexandra Finch , Lawrence Gostin
    Damaging disinformation harms negotiations and seeks to obscure the fact that states make their own policy decisions.
  • 13 May 2024
    • China
    • Australia
    • Australian Navy
    • Defence & Security
    • United Nations

    The cause for China’s coercion in the skies may lay under the water

    Justin Burke
    Better to understand now why Australia might be targeted rather than in the aftermath of a fatal incident.
  • 10 Apr 2024
    • United Nations

    UN-ravelling the world of United Nations acronyms

    Stéphanie Fillion
    With a lexicon all its own, does a reliance on the alphabet soup pose challenges to transparency and inclusivity?
  • 5 Apr 2024
    • India
    • Cyber Security
    • Technology
    • United Nations

    Don’t play it by ear: Audio deepfakes in a year of global elections

    Dymples Leong
    From robocalls to voice clones, generative AI is allowing malicious actors to spread misinformation with ease.
  • 13 Mar 2024
    • India
    • United Nations

    Great power ambitions: India’s aim at the UN Security Council

    Arkoprabho Hazra
    New Delhi is a system-influencing state, with an eye on multi-alignment, but is that enough to secure a permanent seat at the table?
  • 28 Feb 2024
    • China
    • North Korea
    • South Korea
    • Russia
    • United Nations
    • United States

    Can South Korea become a global pivotal state?

    Gabriela Bernal
    With non-permanent member status on the UN Security Council, Seoul has a long list of goals to help make its mark.
  • 11 Jan 2024
    • Global Issues
    • Human rights
    • International law
    • Migration
    • United Nations

    By default not design: the end of the asylum consensus

    Khalid Koser
    Ever since Australia adopted the “Pacific Solution”, norm busting has become the norm.
  • 12 Dec 2023
    • Climate change
    • United Nations

    Down or out: The future of fossil fuels at COP28

    Michelle Lyons , Ryan Neelam
    Record attendance by oil, coal and gas lobbyists shows how seriously the industry is taking this conference – and the gap remaining to any deal.
  • 8 Dec 2023
    • Climate change
    • United Nations

    Half time at COP28: Reflections from Dubai

    Melanie Pill , Georgia Hammersley
    A new loss and damage fund is real progress­ – but on its own is far from enough.
  • 7 Dec 2023
    • International law
    • United Nations
    • The Americas

    Does the world have any energy left to cope with another war?

    Donald R Rothwell
    Talk of conflict between South American countries Venezuela and Guyana has suddenly flared over a longstanding border dispute.
  • 5 Dec 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • United Nations

    Indonesia ratifies nuclear weapons ban treaty. Australia should too.

    Marianne Hanson
    Why does the government remain at odds with the vast majority of its neighbours?
  • 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.
  • 30 Nov 2023
    • Environment
    • United Nations

    Inside the tangled negotiations for a global plastic treaty

    Stéphanie Fillion
    Countries want to end plastic pollution by 2040 but haven’t yet found agreement on a path to the goal.
  • 23 Nov 2023
    • Climate change
    • United Nations

    Global Goal on Adaptation: Shaping a new framework at COP28

    Georgia Hammersley , Melanie Pill
    Crafting a common metric might be a negotiator’s nightmare but it’s never been more urgent to help the world's most vulnerable.
  • 17 Nov 2023
    • United Nations
    • Space exploration

    Making space arms control work

    Cassandra Steer
    After a decades-long deadlock, the past two years have seen a giant leap forward in international negotiations.
  • 27 Oct 2023
    • Diplomacy
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • United Nations
    • United Arab Emirates

    Climate negotiations in a fossil fuel state: What to expect from COP28

    Melanie Pill
    Even with outcomes uncertain, there are three big topics likely to dominate the upcoming talks in Dubai.
  • 20 Oct 2023
    • Australia
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability
    • United Nations

    Can UNESCO save the Great Barrier Reef?

    Amy Capuano
    Climate change is a problem that confounds the original World Heritage model.
  • 16 Oct 2023
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • United Nations

    Global South activists seek a human rights framework for the climate crisis

    Clare Francis
    A groundswell movement was evident as leaders gathered at the UN last month to make sure the people most affected are heard.
  • 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.
  • 22 Sep 2023
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Vanuatu
    • United States

    The US–Pacific Islands Partnership, one year on

    Meg Keen , Daniel Mandell
    Recognising that it cannot go it alone, Washington needs to coordinate its development efforts with like-minded partners.    
  • 19 Sep 2023
    • Australia and Climate Change
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • United Nations

    Global Stocktake: Unlocking trillions for climate action

    Frank Jotzo , Michelle Lyons
    The Paris Agreement’s assessment of climate policies finds some good news, but massive room for improvement.
  • 18 Sep 2023
    • G20
    • BRICS
    • United Nations

    UN General Assembly: Snubs and fragmentation

    Stéphanie Fillion
    This year’s meeting will be marked by notable absentees, fuelling a sense that the body’s multilateral power is on the wane.
  • 30 Aug 2023
    • Europe
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • International law
    • United Nations
    • War Crimes

    Europe’s last war

    Ian Kemish
    Remembering the Bosnian conflict of 30 years ago to compare how the world responds to Russia’s war on Ukraine today.
  • 28 Aug 2023
    • Japan
    • Australia
    • Cyber Security
    • Cyber Warfare
    • Emerging Threats
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • United Nations
    • United States

    Australia and the UN: A new agenda for peace

    Adam Bartley , Charles T. Hunt , Aiden Warren
    Multilateral responses to the threats of new and emerging tech – from AI warfare to bioweapons – are crucial to success.
  • 22 Aug 2023
    • Bangladesh
    • Myanmar
    • Migration
    • United Nations

    Remember the Rohingya, for disease hasn’t forgotten them

    Arunn Jegan
    After six years, supposedly temporary camps now resemble slums. How long can the world turn away?
  • 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.
  • 19 Jul 2023
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Trade
    • United Nations
    • Türkiye

    Why the Black Sea Grain Initiative must be restored

    John Denton
    The collapse of a deal integral to world food security will imperil millions of lives.
  • 17 Jul 2023
    • Trade
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • United Nations

    The cost-benefit of turning “dirty” shipping clean

    Joe Lo
    The engines of global trade pump out enormous amounts of carbon and vulnerable Pacific islands are fighting for a change.
  • 14 Apr 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • Climate change
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands

    A strategy for engaging for small developing states

    Hamish Fejo
    If Australia is serious about climate change, it needs better relationships with island nations – near and far.
  • 9 Feb 2023
    • Asia
    • Asean
    • China
    • India
    • Laos
    • North Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • United Nations

    With caution and tact: How Asian countries voted on Ukraine at the UN 

    Stéphanie Fillion
    A resolution forces nations to show their hand. After Russia’s invasion, consistency has not been to everyone’s liking.
  • 15 Nov 2022
    • Malaysia
    • Myanmar
    • Human rights
    • Migration
    • United Nations

    Refugees may become victims of Malaysia’s electoral politics

    Max Walden
    The plight of Myanmar Rohingyas exposes Southeast Asia’s disjointed policies and fragile human rights protections.
  • 9 Nov 2022
    • Climate change
    • United Nations

    Climate change: governance on the highway to hell

    Mark Beeson
    If wealthy states can’t agree on compensating the world’s most environmentally ravaged, things are looking grim.
  • 25 Sep 2022
    • Russia
    • Digital Disruption
    • Technology
    • United Nations

    A neck-and-neck election for the future of the internet

    Mercedes Page
    As the war in Ukraine goes from bad to worse, Russia may still win a vote to reshape the net as we know it.
  • 21 Sep 2022
    • Defence & Security
    • Climate change
    • United Nations

    Guterres whistles in the wind

    Mark Beeson
    Yes, “our planet is burning”, yet those leaders with the power to act are stubbornly guarding their own little patch.
  • 9 Sep 2022
    • China
    • Human rights
    • United Nations

    Beijing three-step: China denies, deflects and dissembles on Xinjiang

    Michael Clarke
    The UN human rights report has exposed China’s hollow propaganda claims – but won’t stop them.
  • 2 Sep 2022
    • China
    • Human rights
    • United Nations

    A tragedy in Xinjiang, a tragedy for the UN

    Mercedes Page
    A long-delayed report finding human rights abuses – though damning – is a sign of China’s level of influence at the United Nations.
  • 2 Aug 2022
    • Myanmar
    • War Crimes
    • United Nations
    • Human rights

    ASEAN governments need to act on Myanmar

    Elaine Pearson
    The execution of four opposition activists by the junta needs urgent action from governments of all stripes.
Pagination
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • Current page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • 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 2024 Lowy Institute

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