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  • 25 Jan 2023
    • China
    • Australia
    • Energy
    • Resource security
    • Technology

    Lithium, lightest metal on earth, carries heavy geopolitical weight

    Marina Yue Zhang
    Instead of a source of great tech power competition, lithium should be key to a collective fight against climate change.
  • 23 Jan 2023
    • China
    • Chinese Trade
    • Australia
    • Australia's Trade
    • Trade
    • WTO

    How will China’s punitive trade restrictions against Australia end?

    Justin Brown
    Good vibes could turn into a solution – but if China demands a quid pro quo, reaching agreement will be complex.
  • 20 Jan 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Review

    How an Australian freed an unfinished nation’s history

    Duncan Graham
    The fascinating story of how Indonesia came to better know itself through a time of repressive regimes.
  • 18 Jan 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Technology
    • Sex and Gender

    Link start-ups ecosystems to build influence in Southeast Asia

    Robert Law
    Australia should launch a major initiative to support investment with new business prospects in the region.
  • 17 Jan 2023
    • Australia
    • Multiculturalism

    Australia should have more public holidays – but make them civic and secular

    Hugh Piper
    Allowing people to choose their own days of significance would better reflect our modern national identity.
  • 16 Jan 2023
    • India
    • Japan
    • Australia
    • Technology
    • United States

    Towards meaningful Quad cooperation on intelligence

    Arzan Tarapore
    Collaborative AI capabilities would allow the partners to deepen military cooperation, should leaders choose that step.
  • 13 Jan 2023
    • China
    • Australia
    • Australian immigration
    • Migration

    Undue suspicion of Chinese Australian scientists slows progress

    Yun Jiang
    Clear guidance is needed how national security is assessed in research and what are the boundaries of collaboration.
  • 12 Jan 2023
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia
    • Multiculturalism

    Our public holidays should reflect Australia’s multicultural make-up

    Osmond Chiu
    Many countries in the region already have more public holidays to recognise diverse cultural and religious populations.
  • 5 Jan 2023
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Coronavirus

    Australia’s mainstream media neglected Asia’s Covid stories

    Ross Tapsell
    A heavy focus on how the US and UK struggled with the pandemic further removed Australians from their neighbourhood.
  • 28 Dec 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia

    How to Interpret 2022: Australians change government

    Clare Caldwell
    What our columnists and contributors made of the protagonists and power plays during this year’s federal election.
  • 27 Dec 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands
    • Solomon Islands

    How to Interpret 2022: Solomon Islands strikes a deal

    Clare Caldwell
    Honiara’s foreign policy caused ripples across the region, as we round up highlights of the year from The Interpreter.
  • 21 Dec 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • Timor-Leste
    • Australia
    • Public Diplomacy And International Broadcasting
    • Bougainville
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Review

    Seeking independence: three books to read this summer

    Jessica Collins
    From Timorese history and Bougainville’s dreams to Australia’s regional stories, catch up on essential background.
  • 19 Dec 2022
    • India
    • Japan
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    A focused direction for the Quad

    Erin Mello
    Doubling-down on existing initiatives – rather than new goals – will see the grouping deliver tangible public goods.
  • 16 Dec 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Review

    Beyond binary choices in Australia China relations

    Jennifer Hsu
    Trade partner or security threat? Might we escape the trap of over securitisation with more diversity in leadership?
  • 15 Dec 2022
    • Australia
    • Global Economy
    • Trade
    • WTO
    • Technology

    Economic diplomacy: From pollie crises to polycrisis

    Greg Earl
    There are political bunfights, strategic challenges and wicked problems, but let’s not “overcrisify” the world.
  • 14 Dec 2022
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security

    It’s complicated: psychology and national security decisions

    Ben Scott
    Thinking about the plethora of security threats all at once is hard ­– which can increase the risk of bias intruding.
  • 9 Dec 2022
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    US-Australia alliance: beyond sentiment

    Caitlin Byrne , Peter Dean , Stephan Frühling , Andrew O'Neil
    Of supporters or sceptics alike, new research shows most Australians view the alliance via a cost-benefit analysis.
  • 8 Dec 2022
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    AUSMIN: the submarine conundrum

    Justin Burke
    It’s a big challenge to manage the ambition for nuclear-powered subs and still juggle other crucial defence decisions.
  • 2 Dec 2022
    • Australia
    • Migration

    Australia wants to attract the world’s best? Make it easier to migrate

    Aarti Betigeri
    An overdue review can start fixing national skills shortages by smoothing the way for workers and families to settle.
  • 1 Dec 2022
    • Australia
    • Global Economy
    • Global Issues
    • Qatar
    • United States

    Economic diplomacy: Scoring goals outside the stadium

    Greg Earl
    Shifting geopolitics and economics make picking the diplomatic champion from the Qatar World Cup more challenging.
  • 30 Nov 2022
    • Asean
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security

    Supporting the kind of region we want

    Richard Marles
    In tougher strategic times, ASEAN stands as a crucial forum to ensure competition doesn’t tip into confrontation.
  • 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 Nov 2022
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Australian Diplomacy
    • Diplomacy
    • Foreign Policy

    Confident, competent, inconsistent: Australia’s strategic personality

    Ian Hall
    Canberra’s report card receives a solid “pleasing result” on Southeast Asia, but a “could do better” on the Pacific.
  • 25 Nov 2022
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • The Americas

    Fruits of labour: Guatemala’s 30 minutes with the PM

    Daniel Flitton
    With farmers in Australia crying out for more workers, some outside-the-box thinking could help.
  • 24 Nov 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security

    Defence and development reviews: bringing parallel tracks together

    Tom Barber
    A cultural change in the way Australia’s approach to the world is formulated and prosecuted.
  • 17 Nov 2022
    • Asean
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Global Economy
    • Energy
    • Trade
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    Economic diplomacy: Charging up old ties with Jakarta

    Greg Earl
    Australia has stepped up a trade diversification push despite the first moves towards reconciliation with China.
  • 16 Nov 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    “Big differences to manage”: Albanese and Xi put a value on diplomacy

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    The government can say Australia didn’t have to give up interests or values to restart dialogue.
  • 8 Nov 2022
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • Global Issues
    • Multilateral Institutions

    COP out: Should Albanese be in Egypt? And what about APEC? G20? EAS?

    Daniel Flitton
    The demands on leaders in global diplomacy have only grown but that hasn’t made negotiations more meaningful.
  • 7 Nov 2022
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security

    Australia and B‑21 bombers: less bang for the buck

    Hugh White
    It’s an expensive habit to think about the military not as a practical tool but as a symbol of strategic intent.
  • 4 Nov 2022
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    The real message B‑52s send from northern Australia

    Sam Roggeveen
    Given distances and demands on crew and aircraft, a US bomber fleet near Darwin amounts to only modest change.
  • 3 Nov 2022
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • International law

    Ashmore Reef resurfaces as a maritime headache

    Donald R Rothwell
    A loose arrangement between Australia and Indonesia over the uninhabited islands is set to become a little less loose.
  • 3 Nov 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Global Economy
    • Trade
    • Multilateral Institutions

    Economic diplomacy: Searching for APEC

    Greg Earl
    APEC faces some new competition as Australia considers the sovereign risks involved in reducing domestic gas prices.
  • 3 Nov 2022
    • Australia
    • ISIS
    • Global Issues
    • Migration

    Risks and responses repatriating foreign terrorist fighters and families

    Khalid Koser , Lilla Schumicky-Logan
    Australia is bringing home families that lived under Islamic State, and experience overseas offers valuable lessons.
  • 2 Nov 2022
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    B-52 bombers only part of a very long Australian story

    Miranda Booth
    A revamp of RAAF Tindal for the nuclear-capable aircraft creates opportunities well beyond military confidence building.
  • 2 Nov 2022
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Global Issues

    Australia must help turn back a regional democratic retreat 

    Kevin Casas-Zamora
    With only half the Indo-Pacific a democracy, a collective approach is needed to bolster critical institutions.
  • 31 Oct 2022
    • Australia
    • Bougainville
    • Papua New Guinea

    Overcoming suspicion: reconciliation for Australia and Bougainville

    Anthony Regan
    The angry reaction to Richard Marles’ comments should be a warning to Canberra about the need to settle past grievances.
  • 25 Oct 2022
    • India
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security

    Australia’s shared security in the Indian Ocean

    Lisa Singh , Lewis Baker
    As two littoral states with significant sway, Australia and India can act as a conduit to link regional groupings.
  • 25 Oct 2022
    • Australia
    • Middle East Conflict

    After West Jerusalem shift, will Labor also turn on Israel at the UN?

    Dave Sharma
    Far from advancing the cause of peace, the government risks separating Australia’s position from its closest friends.
  • 25 Oct 2022
    • Australia
    • Middle East Conflict

    Jerusalem, the rules-based order and deal-making

    Ben Scott
    Australia's interests – near and far – are best served by consistent support for an effective multilateral system.
  • 24 Oct 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Technology
    • United States

    Where the chips fall: in containing China, the US can leave Australia out

    James Laurenceson
    Australia’s interest won’t be served by supporting US efforts to build a high fence around China’s technology industry.
  • 21 Oct 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands

    Waiting for the thaw: the Pacific hopeful on Australia-China reset

    Shailendra Bahadur Singh
    The island countries stand to benefit from any improvement in relations between two big development partners.
  • 20 Oct 2022
    • Australia
    • Australia and Asia
    • United States

    Supporting democracy without fighting autocracies

    Susannah Patton
    A binary Australian foreign policy isn’t on the cards. Engagement is still the best way to support regional democracy.
  • 13 Oct 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Review

    Found in translation: Australia and China’s shared history

    Angela Lehmann
    A memoir on collective historical baggage has much to teach about the evolution and maturation of both nations.
  • 10 Oct 2022
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Sustainability

    Sustainable catch: better Indonesia-Australia cooperation on fishing

    Aristyo Rizka Darmawan
    A new agreement is a chance to address the core problems of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
  • 10 Oct 2022
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands
    • Public Opinion

    Australia and Pacific Islands: Polls apart?

    Meg Keen
    Without a comprehensive public opinion survey of Pacific people, common attitudes can be challenging to identify.
  • 7 Oct 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia

    A new aid strategy: purpose, priorities, and plumbing

    Cameron Hill
    The government has a chance to define the criteria used in the hard choices about how to allocate scarce aid dollars.
  • 6 Oct 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Multilateral Development Banks

    Economic diplomacy: Time for transparency on aid reform

    Greg Earl
    A new study reveals difficult trade-offs between development spending on governance and the decline of democracy.
  • 4 Oct 2022
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    Diversity and inclusion: Australia’s global aim to walk the talk

    Danielle Ireland-Piper , Robin Perry
    It helps to ensure feelings of respect and value infuse diplomacy – and the management of foreign relations, too.
  • 4 Oct 2022
    • Australia
    • ISIS
    • Migration

    Islamic State: women, justice, and a complex impasse

    Rodger Shanahan
    What charges are laid against women returned to Australia will help us better understand the role they played in Syria.
  • 3 Oct 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • China
    • Timor-Leste
    • Australia

    Greater Sunrise: Can Timor-Leste play the “China card”?

    Teesta Prakash , Jack Sato
    Beijing is a minor player in development finance for Dili – but it’s a different story with state-owned enterprises.
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