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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 2 days ago
    • Quad
    • Technology

    How America First could undermine the Quad’s critical minerals plans

    Manish Vaid
    A counter to Beijing’s resource dominance is best served by coordinated action, but Donald Trump wants to go his own way.
  • 2 days ago
    • Sex and Gender
    • Technology

    AI’s war on consent: Women face coded misogyny

    Cynthia Mehboob
    Evidence is growing from across the world that digital platforms increasingly enable gender-based violence with authorities slow to catch-up.
  • 17 Jun 2025
    • China
    • Russia
    • Global Issues
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • Middle East
    • United States

    Brave new interior world: The rise of self-enhancing states

    Roderick Parkes
    Power is shifting inward, not outward, with control and influence the currency of choice.
  • 10 Jun 2025
    • Diplomacy
    • Technology
    • Public Opinion

    Before social media, there was shortwave: Lessons from the original information wars

    Abhijnan Rej
    There is nothing new in weaponising airwaves to shape hearts and minds across borders.
  • 5 Jun 2025
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Technology

    Ukraine’s cheap robot drones extract a heavy price from Russia

    David Kirichenko
    By pioneering tomorrow’s battlefield tactics, Kyiv is rewriting military doctrine and setting the template for future wars.
  • 27 May 2025
    • Technology
    • Middle East
    • United States

    Trump’s Gulf AI gambit to reshape the Middle East tech landscape

    Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal , Megha Shrivastava
    The US President’s regional tour also signalled an effort to peel back growing regional connections to Chinese tech companies.
  • 22 May 2025
    • Australian trade, investment & economy
    • Climate change
    • Technology

    Maximising Australia’s green growth

    Kristy Graham
    A new strategic framework is needed to transform Australia from fossil fuel supplier into Asia’s trusted clean energy partner.
  • 21 May 2025
    • Terrorism
    • Technology

    How extremists are manipulating AI chatbots

    James Paterson
    Chatbots are exploiting our need for connection and that’s bad news for those countering online radicalisation.
  • 20 May 2025
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Technology

    Ukraine and Australia: A contrast in military learning

    Mick Ryan
    Lessons from the Ukraine war appear to have had minimal impact on the Australian Defence Force.
  • 20 May 2025
    • Technology
    • United States

    America first, ethics second: The implications of Trump’s AI Executive Order

    Niusha Shafiabady , Andrew O'Neil
    The dismantling of AI oversight prioritises commercial dominance over collaborative global governance, adding to security concerns worldwide.
  • 19 May 2025
    • India
    • Pakistan
    • Diplomacy
    • Technology

    Hashtag geopolitics: Understanding the power of memes in the India-Pakistan conflict

    Antara Chakraborthy , Yasmine Wong
    In an era where wars are fought as much with symbols as with bullets, memes have become tools of influence, contestation, and digital diplomacy.
  • 14 May 2025
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Technology

    A critical mineral match for Australia and Indonesia

    Robert Walker , Hilman Palaon
    Downstreaming diplomacy and shared interests to secure the global supply of nickel and lithium should be the focus for Anthony Albanese’s trip to Jakarta.
  • 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.
  • 24 Apr 2025
    • China
    • Australia
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    If Australia is serious about becoming a renewable energy superpower, China must be part of the answer

    Caroline Wang
    A focus on risks shouldn’t blind us to the opportunities in the global green transition.
  • 7 Apr 2025
    • China
    • Trade
    • Technology
    • United States

    Electrifying geopolitics: Tesla vs BYD

    Mark Beeson
    The competition to change the world.
  • 4 Apr 2025
    • Technology
    • Review

    When the internet displaces the town square

    Abhijnan Rej
    At the intersection of urbanisation, technology and culture, a major geopolitical transformation is taking place.
  • 4 Apr 2025
    • Malaysia
    • Technology

    Can Malaysia’s semiconductor industry stream upwards?

    Doris Liew
    Ambition alone will not be enough to climb the global semiconductor value chain.
  • 2 Apr 2025
    • Australia
    • Technology

    The public goods case for Australia’s digital sovereignty

    Marina Yue Zhang
    The budget was a missed opportunity to tackle the technology transformation dilemma presented by AI.
  • 31 Mar 2025
    • Asia
    • China
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Technology

    Yes, some of China’s educated youth just asserted sovereignty over Australia

    Shijie Wang
    Online platforms reveal a fervent nationalism that has repercussions for the future of the region.
  • 28 Mar 2025
    • Singapore
    • Defence & Security
    • Trade
    • Technology

    Chipping away at controls: Singapore’s challenge with China-linked companies

    Alvin Camba
    A tech fraud case has again put the Southeast Asian nation in the spotlight.
  • 26 Mar 2025
    • China
    • Technology

    Cutting through the narrative: What China’s deep-sea cable-cutter really signals

    Cynthia Mehboob
    China’s deep-sea cable cutter isn’t about technology but theatre, less a weapon and more an effort to generate unease.
  • 21 Mar 2025
    • Indonesia
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    Indonesia’s EV gamble: Green on the surface, dirty underneath

    Robert Walker , Hilman Palaon
    Efforts to capitalise on nickel dominance has carried an environmental cost.
  • 21 Mar 2025
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    The Asia-Pacific is heating up – literally

    Akash Sahu
    The law of the concrete jungle is testing humanity’s survival instincts.
  • 12 Mar 2025
    • Energy
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    Energy security: Lead, don’t lag

    Patricia Schouker
    The fundamental problem – insufficient domestic production – hasn’t been solved.
  • 12 Mar 2025
    • Asia
    • Asean
    • Japan
    • Singapore
    • Australia
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    Artificial intelligence and sustainability in the Asia-Pacific

    Melinda Stuart
    With the right strategies, AI and clean energy can work in harmony, driving progress without compromising the planet.
  • 5 Mar 2025
    • Technology

    Meta’s Waterworth: Should we be hyperventilating about hyperscalers’ hyper-infrastructure?

    Cynthia Mehboob
    Imagine a sleek, shadowy form of statecraft, no longer bound by flags but by fibre optics.
  • 5 Mar 2025
    • Sex and Gender
    • Technology

    The lost potential in STEM: Why women are still left behind

    Lisa Singh
    The ever-growing role of technology in our everyday lives underscores the need for policy and cultural change to ensure the best minds are at work.
  • 3 Mar 2025
    • Terrorism
    • Sex and Gender
    • Technology
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Emerging Threats

    The hidden national security threat: Misogynistic extremism

    Emma Gerhardy
    Hate against women is often the precursor to radicalisation and mass violence. It’s time to address the connection.
  • 26 Feb 2025
    • Technology
    • Transnational Challenges

    Social media: A place that truth forgot

    Selwyn Parker
    Of all the online sources of misinformation and abuse, there are some top offenders.
  • 25 Feb 2025
    • China
    • Technology
    • United States

    AI: China and the US go head-to-head

    Jean Dong , Christoph Nedopil
    As the superpowers vie for tech supremacy, Asia must play the usual juggling act.
  • 20 Feb 2025
    • Digital Disruption
    • Technology

    Quantum game changer

    Evan Freidin
    The profound implications of quantum computing for global power and security are upon us right now.
  • 14 Feb 2025
    • Asean
    • Southeast Asia
    • Technology

    US restriction is chipping away ASEAN’s semiconductor future

    Doris Liew
    Southeast Asia needs to look at expanding and diversifying its semiconductor ecosystem beyond just manufacturing.
  • 7 Feb 2025
    • China
    • Australia
    • Foreign Policy
    • Climate change
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • United States

    The old theories don’t fit the new world order

    David Morris
    A workable and sustainable internationalism will need to grapple with questions of diversity and multipolarity.
  • 4 Feb 2025
    • Technology

    DeepSeek diplomacy: Disruption, dominance and data

    Miah Hammond-Errey
    Another shift in the world as we know it.
  • 3 Feb 2025
    • India
    • Australia
    • Digital Disruption
    • Technology
    • Pacific Islands

    The deadly consequences of disinformation in the Pacific

    Lisa Singh , Tushar Joshi
    International partners, including Australia and India, are well placed to counter the scourge.
  • 23 Jan 2025
    • Indonesia
    • Technology

    Nice try, Apple, but Indonesia wants a restart

    Hilman Palaon
    The tech giant’s US$1 billion investment won’t be enough to lift the ban in Indonesia.
  • 16 Jan 2025
    • Technology
    • United States

    A Big Tech race to the bottom is bad news for everyone

    David Wells
    Tariffs might not be the only trade obstacle with Trump’s America. “Censorship” could be the next test.
  • 15 Jan 2025
    • European Union
    • Technology
    • United States

    Meta power move is about more than fact checking

    Miah Hammond-Errey
    We can expect more pushback from US tech companies towards national governments – but will this also come with official US government support?
  • 13 Jan 2025
    • Cyber Security
    • Technology

    Meta’s decision to ditch fact-checking gives state-sponsored influence operations more chance

    Meg Tapia
    The social media giant’s move to user-based content moderation is a perilous step that risks enabling state-backed disinformation attacks.
  • 13 Jan 2025
    • China
    • Technology

    The great leap skyward: China’s jetliner dreams are getting real

    Kazimier Lim
    China’s homegrown C919 takes flight beyond the Chinese mainland, but real milestones – and global recognition – still lie ahead.
  • 6 Jan 2025
    • Aid & Development
    • Technology
    • Pacific Islands
    • Vanuatu

    Vanuatu’s digital vulnerability

    Cynthia Mehboob
    Who will fund Vanuatu's second cable? 
  • 6 Jan 2025
    • China
    • Technology
    • United States

    Australia’s predicament in navigating a new era of techno-nationalism

    Marina Yue Zhang
    If “the great tech decoupling” between the United States and China does come about, there will be costs.
  • 19 Dec 2024
    • Cyber Security
    • Technology

    The big global steps to forge a new relationship between tech and society

    Miah Hammond-Errey
    A lot of global tech-related policy has been implemented or proposed this year, so it’s worth taking stock to capture the developments.
  • 18 Dec 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Taiwan
    • Russia
    • Trade
    • Climate change
    • Technology
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands
    • United States
    • Southeast Asia

    What I’ll be watching for in 2025

    Susannah Patton , Melanie Pill , Sam Roggeveen , Robert Walker , Mihai Sora , Hilman Palaon , Oliver Nobetau
    Lowy researchers gaze at their crystal balls – with questions, more than answers, for the year ahead.
  • 10 Dec 2024
    • China
    • Australia
    • Global Economy
    • Trade
    • Technology
    • United States

    China’s EV manufacturing and Australia’s connected vehicles conundrum

    Henry Storey
    Canberra faces complicated trade-offs between competing domestic and foreign policy objectives.
  • 3 Dec 2024
    • Technology

    Bluesky dreaming? Social media shifts signal tech power and influence

    Miah Hammond-Errey
    Or does X mark the spot?
  • 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.
  • 19 Nov 2024
    • Cyber Security
    • Climate change
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    Tech and AI are changing the climate equation – for the worse

    Miah Hammond-Errey
    If not addressed, the skyrocketing growth of AI and cloud computing will derail emissions commitments.
  • 6 Nov 2024
    • Cyber Security
    • Technology
    • United States

    Where Harris and Trump agree on AI: Beat China

    Miah Hammond-Errey
    But can ethics keep pace with a desire for speed in development?
  • 6 Nov 2024
    • Indonesia
    • Trade
    • Technology

    Indonesia takes a bite out of Apple, and sets itself a test for future investment

    Hilman Palaon
    The Local Content Requirement may only be a temporary setback for the tech giant, but it could raise concerns among potential foreign investors.
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