18 Sep 2023
Seychelles: Washington comes calling
Small island states are back on the diplomatic agenda with the West looking for strategic depth in the Indian Ocean region.
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4 Sep 2023
Coup d’État in Gabon: Oil, champagne, and China’s geopolitical opportunity
Local dynamics might be a primary cause of strife, but France’s loss is China’s possible gain. -
8 Aug 2023
Shadows of the state: How Wagner Group extends Russian reach in Africa
The mercenary operations sit at the heart of a complex web of geopolitical ambitions, covert operations, and influence peddling. -
4 Aug 2023
Women belong everywhere and this World Cup proves football can be the great equaliser
Respect for female athletes “tearing it up on the pitch” must translate into respect off the field, too. -
21 Jul 2023
Who leads the world as longest in charge of their country?
Put together a list and you can start to see a pattern. -
23 May 2023
It’s time Australia branded Russia’s Wagner Group a terrorist organisation
A record of abuses in conflicts from Ukraine to Africa makes designating the Russian group the right choice. -
4 May 2023
Five potential global consequences of Sudan’s escalating conflict
Even distant Australia could feel knock-on effects of a refugee crisis, gold smuggling and disruption to wheat crops. -
11 Apr 2023
Russia foreign policy: the search for new friends
Shunned by the West, Moscow is wooing the rest of the world. And so far it’s finding success. -
1 Aug 2022
If you had 30 minutes with the PM, what would you ask?
To kick off a new series with foreign envoys in Canberra, I quiz Botswana’s representative about dealing with Australia. -
27 Jun 2022
Insights from Africa as China stumbles in the Pacific
Investment, infrastructure, and influence building – what worked for China before may not again elsewhere. -
25 Feb 2022
Why was it left to Kenya to speak up for multilateralism?
Kenya’s UN envoy Martin Kimani was a sensation at an emergency Security Council session—with a message for all nations. -
14 Feb 2022
The curious case of Blenheim Reef
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
Mauritius sets sail to Chagos
The UK faces a lose-lose situation as demonstrators put disputed Indian Ocean archipelago in the spotlight. -
3 Dec 2021
Twenty years of BRICS
As analysis by acronym, it has been a stunning success. But for reorganising global economic governance? -
3 Dec 2021
FOCAC: No mention of controversies while China sticks to a game plan
While largely business as usual, China’s major summit with African leaders did signal some important shifts. -
23 Sep 2021
Africa and the Caribbean, together, seek global bargaining power
Countries so often historically at the mercy of strategic interests wants to shape their collective destiny. -
29 Jul 2021
Africa and Europe rally to contain Islamic insurgency in Mozambique
But it won’t be the end of the story. -
25 Jun 2021
Ethiopia matters to the world
But a fast-growing economy and a Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister won’t solve its problems. -
21 Jun 2021
The battle for Africa
A US-led coalition of Western democracies versus a China-led circle of developing friends. -
16 Jun 2021
An unwelcome wake up call
A story of spies and deception and the deadly consequences of crossing a tiny nation in the heart of Africa. -
19 Mar 2021
The Mozambique Channel is the next security hotspot
An Islamist insurgency is spilling danger into a major shipping lane, and countries must decide who they want to fix it. -
4 Mar 2021
Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO, and what’s next?
It was a high hurdle to take charge, but Nigeria’s former finance minister has only just begun her run. -
2 Mar 2021
Agalega: A glimpse of India’s remote island military base
Satellite imagery reveals the transformation of an Indian Ocean island into a strategic outpost. Many questions remain. -
25 Feb 2021
Australia’s silence on Chagos dispute doesn’t help
Ensuring a consistent approach to the “rules” would make it that much harder for China to break them. -
15 Feb 2021
The power of example: America’s presence in Diego Garcia
US claims to upholding the rules-based order don’t square with its silence on Mauritian sovereignty in the Chagos. -
8 Feb 2021
Chagos: A boundary dispute tips over a sovereignty ruling
A case between Mauritius and Maldives stands on the ICJ opinion on the former’s claim to the Chagos Archipelago. -
21 Jan 2021
The Diego Garcia dispute hits cyberspace
As internet domains go, .io is a money spinner. Would a change to the “British Indian Ocean Territory” cancel an asset? -
8 Dec 2020
Artefacts paving France’s return to Africa
As its economic influence shrinks in its former territories, France is trading in a new currency: history. -
30 Nov 2020
Russia’s red star in the Red Sea
A naval facility in Port Sudan signals a new thrust of Russian operations in the Indo-Pacific. -
13 Nov 2020
Jihadist attacks in Nice: The Tunisian connection
Hopes have been dashed for moderate Islamism to undercut dictatorships, eliminate terrorism and strengthen human rights. -
30 Oct 2020
Seychelles: New man, changing strategic environment
A long campaign has seen a prodigious organiser force a sea change in a nation Australia often mistakenly ignores. -
29 Oct 2020
Western Indian Ocean: Where trouble on land spells danger at sea
Piracy and smuggling are already a menace. Add a budding Islamist insurgency, and far-reaching implications may follow. -
4 Sep 2020
What is Turkey’s endgame in Libya?
Erdoğan’s strategy in Libya is about domestic legitimacy as much as regional projection – but past failures hang heavy. -
14 Aug 2020
Diego Garcia: The US has a clear choice
The Mauritian ambassador to the UN on recognising the country’s sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. -
15 Jul 2020
Decolonise Diego Garcia: Why America should not fear Mauritius
Only a deal with Port Louis can put the future of the US base beyond question and preserve a crucial staging post. -
7 Jul 2020
China eyes African prospects to iron out trade tension with Australia
Investing in largely untapped iron ore sources in Africa might be Beijing’s answer to diversifying import sources. -
26 Jun 2020
Finding compromise in the Chagos Islands saga
The US base on Diego Garcia needn’t be an obstacle to a negotiated settlement of a longstanding sovereignty dispute. -
3 Jun 2020
In India and Africa, women farmers lack land rights
Despite significant participation in agriculture, women across both regions face similar obstacles to ownership. -
29 May 2020
Are African nations putting policing over public health?
Across the continent, measures to keep Covid-19 at bay have been accompanied by strict and sometimes brutal tactics. -
26 May 2020
Mauritius, Diego Garcia and the small matter of nukes
Mauritius can’t have sovereignty over the Chagos and US nuclear weapons housed on Diego Garcia. Or can it? -
15 May 2020
To act, or not? Al-Shabaab’s response to a Covid-19 crisis in Somalia
Turmoil offers a chance to radicalise and recruit new members, yet violence also poses a risk of alienating supporters. -
15 Apr 2020
As Africa prepares to fight Covid-19, China steps up
In a fast and very visible way, China has sought to assume a role as a global humanitarian leader – and is succeeding. -
8 Apr 2020
Coronavirus in conflict: The fight has hardly begun
Covid-19 has brought wealthy nations to their knees. What will happen when the virus breaks out in a war zone? -
18 Mar 2020
Middle East dispatch: MBS purge, dam dispute, refugees in jeopardy
As Covid-19 threatens some of the world’s most vulnerable, power plays continue in northern Africa and Saudi Arabia. -
14 Feb 2020
The tiny African country making a big case against Myanmar
The plight of the Rohingya has had the world’s attention for years. What made Gambia stand up and do something about it? -
12 Feb 2020
In Africa, the US plays catch-up with China
The Secretary of State’s upcoming African visit reveals a US strategy fixated on hobbling Chinese momentum. -
18 Dec 2019
Diego Garcia: Unnerving neighbours and raising ghosts
Competing claims to the Chagos Archipelago involve regional rivals, colonial history, and security concerns. -
11 Dec 2019
Australia’s stance on Diego Garcia dispute is increasingly untenable
A window is fast closing to resolve Mauritian claims to the Chagos archipelago and secure a crucial US base. -
5 Dec 2019
Diego Garcia: The costs of defending an Indian Ocean outpost
Australian support for Britain’s contentious Chagos sovereignty claim risks delegitimising its South China Sea policy. -
12 Nov 2019
Russia’s southern strategy
The pace of Russian re-engagement in Africa and the Indian Ocean region has accelerated as US influence has waned.