1 day ago
Monitoring without mandate: Can sanctions succeed outside a UN framework?
The new “multilateral team” watching North Korea faces legitimacy challenges.
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17 Feb 2025
What the Pacific has said about Trump’s Paris pull-out
Listen to the region and the message is clear – wrong way, go back. -
14 Feb 2025
Australia can no longer assume multilateralism will work in its favour
With US withdrawals and China's growing influence, Australia must rethink its approach to the UN. -
12 Feb 2025
What a US withdrawal from WHO will mean for global health
And it’s a raw deal for the United States, too. -
6 Feb 2025
The global contest for the Pacific
Geopolitical fears of growing Chinese influence in Oceania are not the only interest Australia has in the region. -
28 Jan 2025
Abandoning the rules-based order is no solution
Competing narratives about the international order are being weaponised in an age of renewed territorial ambitions. -
23 Jan 2025
What does the Trump presidency mean for Women, Peace and Security?
International peace and security requires due consideration of the world’s women. This is no radical social theory. -
21 Jan 2025
The UN Peacebuilding Commission: What’s in it for Australia?
Regional clout for one thing. -
16 Jan 2025
Melting ice caps reveals the scourge of colonialism
Donald Trump shows no regard for the rights and autonomy of the Indigenous Inuit population who make up the majority of Greenland’s residents. -
19 Dec 2024
What a Trump second term holds for global development
Judging by track records, there's a bumpy road ahead for aid, health and climate funding. -
16 Dec 2024
Southeast Asia’s death penalty laws: The ultimate political game
The region’s diverse policies on executions are about more than the war on crime. -
6 Dec 2024
Hans Blix: The arms control Einstein who turned 96 this year
A consensus-builder who believes nuclear weapons are never in safe hands, no matter who holds them. -
3 Dec 2024
COP29: The climate finance fudge
Acrimonious debate in Baku amounted to a lost opportunity, squabbling over funds when action is needed everywhere for the energy transition. -
27 Nov 2024
The Pacific disinformation playbook
A surge in connectivity has exacerbated the region’s challenges, undermining trust in science and government. -
21 Nov 2024
Zooming in on climate change: The experience of a virtual COP29 attendee
Flying thousands of delegates across the globe has its own environmental cost – so how effective are global negotiations conducted online? -
18 Oct 2024
Answering the SOS of the United Nations
Australia’s support of the Pact for the Future is a chance to shape reform of the global organisation. -
2 Oct 2024
What lies beneath: There’s more to cables than geopolitics
The undersea cable industry is left to tackle the challenges, while policymakers engage in national security power plays. -
27 Sep 2024
Is the world ready for its next big health crisis?
Antimicrobial resistance will test global responses to health security, just as Covid-19 did. -
18 Sep 2024
Does the West know how to truly hear what the Global South is saying?
The art of listening is an essential way to shape our future. -
17 Sep 2024
The UN “Summit of the Future” can’t afford to ignore the present
Negotiations for a new global pact have hit obstacles, reflecting many of the problems facing the international system. -
13 Sep 2024
A Sustainable Development Goal for space
As human activity intensifies beyond Earth, there is a need to identify exactly what “space sustainability” means. -
21 Aug 2024
Polycrisis in the Pacific: How leaders will respond at the PIF Summit in Tonga
A tiny capital will be host to a huge regional agenda. -
5 Aug 2024
What is China’s role in achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals?
It is time to think more seriously about the increasing relationship between Chinese and dominant international development models. -
19 Jul 2024
Rising tensions over outer space – a new diplomatic hot zone
There is concern over the growing threat of space and counterspace weapon capabilities. -
23 May 2024
Putin’s foot soldier in New York: How Vassily Nebenzia fought on after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Seen as a potential heir apparent to Sergey Lavrov, Vassily Nebenzia is a mysterious but relentless envoy for the Kremlin. -
22 May 2024
No, a pandemic treaty will not usurp Australia’s sovereignty
Damaging disinformation harms negotiations and seeks to obscure the fact that states make their own policy decisions. -
13 May 2024
The cause for China’s coercion in the skies may lay under the water
Better to understand now why Australia might be targeted rather than in the aftermath of a fatal incident. -
10 Apr 2024
UN-ravelling the world of United Nations acronyms
With a lexicon all its own, does a reliance on the alphabet soup pose challenges to transparency and inclusivity? -
5 Apr 2024
Don’t play it by ear: Audio deepfakes in a year of global elections
From robocalls to voice clones, generative AI is allowing malicious actors to spread misinformation with ease. -
13 Mar 2024
Great power ambitions: India’s aim at the UN Security Council
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
Can South Korea become a global pivotal state?
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
By default not design: the end of the asylum consensus
Ever since Australia adopted the “Pacific Solution”, norm busting has become the norm. -
12 Dec 2023
Down or out: The future of fossil fuels at COP28
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
Half time at COP28: Reflections from Dubai
A new loss and damage fund is real progress – but on its own is far from enough. -
7 Dec 2023
Does the world have any energy left to cope with another war?
Talk of conflict between South American countries Venezuela and Guyana has suddenly flared over a longstanding border dispute. -
5 Dec 2023
Indonesia ratifies nuclear weapons ban treaty. Australia should too.
Why does the government remain at odds with the vast majority of its neighbours? -
4 Dec 2023
Learning to live in a world without progress
Optimistic about the trajectory of human society? That’s brave. -
30 Nov 2023
Inside the tangled negotiations for a global plastic treaty
Countries want to end plastic pollution by 2040 but haven’t yet found agreement on a path to the goal. -
23 Nov 2023
Global Goal on Adaptation: Shaping a new framework at COP28
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
Making space arms control work
After a decades-long deadlock, the past two years have seen a giant leap forward in international negotiations. -
27 Oct 2023
Climate negotiations in a fossil fuel state: What to expect from COP28
Even with outcomes uncertain, there are three big topics likely to dominate the upcoming talks in Dubai. -
20 Oct 2023
Can UNESCO save the Great Barrier Reef?
Climate change is a problem that confounds the original World Heritage model. -
16 Oct 2023
Global South activists seek a human rights framework for the climate crisis
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
Online scams in Southeast Asia create double victims: those targeted and those forced to carry them out
There are those deceived by scams, and those coerced into crime. -
22 Sep 2023
The US–Pacific Islands Partnership, one year on
Recognising that it cannot go it alone, Washington needs to coordinate its development efforts with like-minded partners. -
19 Sep 2023
Global Stocktake: Unlocking trillions for climate action
The Paris Agreement’s assessment of climate policies finds some good news, but massive room for improvement. -
18 Sep 2023
UN General Assembly: Snubs and fragmentation
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’s last war
Remembering the Bosnian conflict of 30 years ago to compare how the world responds to Russia’s war on Ukraine today. -
28 Aug 2023
Australia and the UN: A new agenda for peace
Multilateral responses to the threats of new and emerging tech – from AI warfare to bioweapons – are crucial to success. -
22 Aug 2023
Remember the Rohingya, for disease hasn’t forgotten them
After six years, supposedly temporary camps now resemble slums. How long can the world turn away?