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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 5 Dec 2025
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Africa

    Landlocked Africa is an open opportunity for Australia

    Christopher Burke
    Rather than compete on aid volumes, Australia could leverage remote logistics expertise as quality partner for major projects.
  • 4 Dec 2025
    • Aid & Development
    • Debt
    • Africa

    Markets have the money, developing countries need the projects – what’s stopping them?

    Natalia Beghin
    Investors assume developing economies are risky, but evidence shows the opposite.
  • 2 Dec 2025
    • Australia
    • Technology
    • Africa

    One size does not fit all for social media bans

    Aletana Ajulo , Afeeya Akhand
    With half its population under 18, Nigeria shows why Australia-style digital bans could stifle democratic activism.
  • 19 Nov 2025
    • G20
    • Africa

    The G20 faces a test of meaning as major powers stay away

    Isel Ras
    Trump’s attacks and some big absences steal the spotlight from what would be South Africa’s moment.
  • 5 Nov 2025
    • Australia
    • Trade
    • Africa

    Australia’s mineral diplomacy can connect Africa’s resources to Asia’s demand

    Christopher Burke
    Deeper engagement would help ensure Indo-Pacific partners are not hostage to China’s industrial dominance.
  • 30 Oct 2025
    • Pakistan
    • Türkiye
    • Africa

    Another Quad, with a plan that brings Sudan no closer to peace

    Matteo Boccia
    The generals have turned away from the West – and went East.
  • 14 Oct 2025
    • Russia
    • International law
    • Africa

    Outsourcing war: Holding Russia and its African partners accountable for Wagner’s crimes

    Shannon Bosch
    International law provides clear pathways to attribute Wagner and Africa Corps atrocities to both Russia and the states that hire them.
  • 26 Sep 2025
    • Debt
    • Energy
    • G20
    • Poverty
    • Trade
    • Africa

    Show or substance? The African Union’s G20 test

    Isel Ras , Jana de Kluiver
    Under this year’s South African presidency of the global forum, it’s more important than ever for the Union to speak as one.
  • 15 Sep 2025
    • Poverty
    • Multilateral Development Banks
    • Africa

    Ethiopia’s grand projects fail the human capital test

    Kurniawan Arif Maspul
    Despite immense infrastructure success, a neglected education sector risks turning concrete wealth into a hollow monument.
  • 25 Aug 2025
    • Defence & Security
    • Energy
    • Sustainability
    • Technology
    • Africa

    Congo’s mineral curse fuels US-China rivalry

    Isel Ras
    Boasting about a peace deal is belied by continued suffering on the ground.
  • 8 Aug 2025
    • China
    • Diplomacy
    • Human rights
    • International law
    • United States
    • Africa

    On Sudan: America and China take very different tacks

    Matteo Boccia
    A civil war in the African republic reveals the limits of moral authority in a world of competing strategic interests.
  • 7 Aug 2025
    • Asia
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Russia
    • Technology
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Africa

    How Burkina Faso’s strongman became the Indo-Pacific’s unlikely hero – and other tales of disinformation

    Jennifer Williams , Nava Nuraniyah , Jordon Borg , Julian Droogan
    Digital disciples are spreading false narratives in an effort to exploit anti-Western sentiment across the region.
  • 13 Jun 2025
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Africa

    Tigray can’t afford another war, and the world can’t afford to do nothing

    Sheridan Ward
    Australia should encourage international condemnation after a blockade of relief trucks in the northern regions of Ethiopia.
  • 11 Jun 2025
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Diplomacy
    • Africa

    Taiwan’s Africa gambit

    Joseph Black
    In a world where power is defined by networks rather than borders, Taipei’s quiet diplomacy is making headway.
  • 11 Jun 2025
    • G20
    • Africa

    With the G20 summit looming, South Africa wants Trump at the table

    Isel Ras
    Ramaphosa is making a risky bet in a bid to progress an economic and development agenda the US President doesn’t believe in.
  • 22 May 2025
    • Australia
    • Africa

    Why Australia should pay attention to Sudan’s deepening crisis

    Abdullah Ali
    Brutal conflict has created world’s worst humanitarian disaster, with spillover effects for the Australian diaspora.
  • 9 Jan 2025
    • Australia
    • Sustainability
    • Africa

    Responsible mining and Australia’s leadership opportunity in Africa

    Christopher Burke
    Ensuring environmental, social and governance standards isn’t just good practice – it’s an advantage commercially and in foreign policy.
  • 6 Jan 2025
    • India
    • Australia
    • United Kingdom
    • Africa

    Test Cricket’s world cup forgets what’s best about the game

    Hugh Piper
    Cricket’s centre of power has long outgrown its colonial roots.
  • 8 Oct 2024
    • United Kingdom
    • International law
    • Africa

    The UK deal on Diego Garcia is positive, but it won’t reverse declining support for the rules-based order

    Kate O’Shaughnessy
    China and Russia might argue this is just another example of Western countries gaming the system to suit themselves.
  • 26 Sep 2024
    • Australia
    • Africa

    Australia needs to take Africa seriously – really, this time

    Matthew Neuhaus
    Substantive engagement with the world’s next powerhouse region won’t carry big cost but will earn major returns.
  • 24 Sep 2024
    • India
    • Energy
    • Sustainability
    • Africa

    India seizes a small chance to make a big difference in Africa’s solar transformation

    Manish Vaid
    Decentralised power projects – rather than expensive grid networks – are the focus of a new phase in the International Solar Alliance.
  • 3 Sep 2024
    • Australia
    • Africa

    Australia needs to boost its engagement with Africa, but not for the reasons advocates say we should

    Kate O’Shaughnessy
    Africa’s demographic story won’t necessarily translate to economic opportunities for Australia. But the geopolitical tale matters more.
  • 9 Aug 2024
    • Asia
    • Southeast Asia
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability
    • Africa

    Without money, the global biodiversity target is just an empty promise

    Mohd. Yunus
    Beyond social responsibility, funding conservation in developing nations is critical to the global economy.
  • 4 Jul 2024
    • BRICS
    • Africa

    South Africa: Strange noises in the cabinet

    Ashton Robinson
    Some clever politicking has left ANC in the drivers’ seat, and this will direct foreign policy for the BRICS and beyond.
  • 27 Jun 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Australian Foreign Aid
    • Africa

    Aid discrepancies: Australia’s modest help to the Horn of Africa

    Christopher Burke
    The optics of such a small aid package against significant need could undermine Australia’s image as a significant player in international humanitarian assistance.
  • 13 Feb 2024
    • India
    • Laos
    • Russia
    • International law
    • Africa

    Russia’s shadow tanker fleet runs into trouble

    Selwyn Parker
    Every day, millions of barrels of oil are being transported by ships with obscured ownership and origin. But is the game up?
  • 17 Jan 2024
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Australia's Economy
    • Australia's Trade
    • Africa

    Australia and Africa: Economic diplomacy is out of sync with investment ties

    Ian Satchwell
    While other partners are taking care of business, Australia lacks the trade support it needs to thrive.
  • 18 Sep 2023
    • China
    • Seychelles
    • Australia
    • United States
    • Africa

    Seychelles: Washington comes calling

    Ashton Robinson
    Small island states are back on the diplomatic agenda with the West looking for strategic depth in the Indian Ocean region.
  • 4 Sep 2023
    • China
    • Africa

    Coup d’État in Gabon: Oil, champagne, and China’s geopolitical opportunity

    Cornelia Tremann
    Local dynamics might be a primary cause of strife, but France’s loss is China’s possible gain.
  • 8 Aug 2023
    • Russia
    • Africa

    Shadows of the state: How Wagner Group extends Russian reach in Africa

    Munira Mustaffa
    The mercenary operations sit at the heart of a complex web of geopolitical ambitions, covert operations, and influence peddling.
  • 4 Aug 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • Global Issues
    • Pacific Islands
    • Africa
    • Sex and Gender

    Women belong everywhere and this World Cup proves football can be the great equaliser

    Jessica Collins
    Respect for female athletes “tearing it up on the pitch” must translate into respect off the field, too.
  • 21 Jul 2023
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • Southeast Asia
    • Russia
    • Global Issues
    • Africa

    Who leads the world as longest in charge of their country?

    Daniel Flitton
    Put together a list and you can start to see a pattern.
  • 23 May 2023
    • Australia
    • Terrorism
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • International law
    • War Crimes
    • Africa

    It’s time Australia branded Russia’s Wagner Group a terrorist organisation

    Isabella Currie , Matthew Sussex
    A record of abuses in conflicts from Ukraine to Africa makes designating the Russian group the right choice.
  • 4 May 2023
    • Global Issues
    • Migration
    • Africa

    Five potential global consequences of Sudan’s escalating conflict

    Aly Verjee
    Even distant Australia could feel knock-on effects of a refugee crisis, gold smuggling and disruption to wheat crops.
  • 11 Apr 2023
    • China
    • India
    • Russia
    • Türkiye
    • Africa

    Russia foreign policy: the search for new friends

    Ian Hill
    Shunned by the West, Moscow is wooing the rest of the world. And so far it’s finding success.
  • 1 Aug 2022
    • Australia
    • Africa

    If you had 30 minutes with the PM, what would you ask?

    Daniel Flitton
    To kick off a new series with foreign envoys in Canberra, I quiz Botswana’s representative about dealing with Australia.
  • 27 Jun 2022
    • China
    • Africa

    Insights from Africa as China stumbles in the Pacific

    Cornelia Tremann
    Investment, infrastructure, and influence building – what worked for China before may not again elsewhere.
  • 25 Feb 2022
    • Diplomacy
    • United Nations
    • Russia
    • Africa
    • Ukraine

    Why was it left to Kenya to speak up for multilateralism?

    Mateo Szlapek-Sewillo
    Kenya’s UN envoy Martin Kimani was a sensation at an emergency Security Council session—with a message for all nations.
  • 14 Feb 2022
    • Defence & Security
    • United Kingdom
    • Africa

    The curious case of Blenheim Reef

    David Brewster , Samuel Bashfield
    A coral reef in the middle of the Indian Ocean, owned by no-one, is fast becoming a focus of international controversy.
  • 9 Feb 2022
    • Maldives
    • United Kingdom
    • Africa

    Mauritius sets sail to Chagos

    Samuel Bashfield
    The UK faces a lose-lose situation as demonstrators put disputed Indian Ocean archipelago in the spotlight.
  • 3 Dec 2021
    • Global Economy
    • The Americas
    • China
    • India
    • Russia
    • Africa

    Twenty years of BRICS

    Stephen Grenville
    As analysis by acronym, it has been a stunning success. But for reorganising global economic governance?
  • 3 Dec 2021
    • China
    • Africa

    FOCAC: No mention of controversies while China sticks to a game plan

    Cornelia Tremann
    While largely business as usual, China’s major summit with African leaders did signal some important shifts.
  • 23 Sep 2021
    • Global Issues
    • Africa

    Africa and the Caribbean, together, seek global bargaining power

    Carlisle Richardson
    Countries so often historically at the mercy of strategic interests wants to shape their collective destiny.
  • 29 Jul 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Africa

    Africa and Europe rally to contain Islamic insurgency in Mozambique

    David Brewster
    But it won’t be the end of the story.
  • 25 Jun 2021
    • Africa

    Ethiopia matters to the world

    Aly Verjee
    But a fast-growing economy and a Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister won’t solve its problems.
  • 21 Jun 2021
    • China's Economy
    • Africa
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    The battle for Africa

    Nadège Rolland
    A US-led coalition of Western democracies versus a China-led circle of developing friends.
  • 16 Jun 2021
    • Africa
    • Review

    An unwelcome wake up call

    Daniel Flitton
    A story of spies and deception and the deadly consequences of crossing a tiny nation in the heart of Africa.
  • 19 Mar 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • Terrorism
    • Africa

    The Mozambique Channel is the next security hotspot

    David Brewster
    An Islamist insurgency is spilling danger into a major shipping lane, and countries must decide who they want to fix it.
  • 4 Mar 2021
    • WTO
    • Africa

    Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO, and what’s next?

    Anthony Maliki
    It was a high hurdle to take charge, but Nigeria’s former finance minister has only just begun her run.
  • 2 Mar 2021
    • Defence & Security
    • India
    • Africa

    Agalega: A glimpse of India’s remote island military base

    Samuel Bashfield
    Satellite imagery reveals the transformation of an Indian Ocean island into a strategic outpost. Many questions remain.
Pagination
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