Skip to main content
The Interpreter

Interpreter - Menu Links

  • Articles
  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • About

Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 6 Mar 2025
    • Aid & Development
    • Cambodia
    • Indonesia
    • Laos
    • Myanmar
    • Philippines
    • Singapore
    • Thailand
    • Timor-Leste
    • Vietnam
    • Australia

    Missed signals: What Southeast Asia wants vs what Australia delivers

    Mira Sulistiyanto
    With US aid disappearing, a new report shows Australia has a chance to align development cooperation with the region’s challenges and Australia’s strengths.
  • 10 Feb 2025
    • Laos
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Trade

    Sharing Australia’s coffee culture with Southeast Asia

    Shaun Cameron
    And getting far more than change in return.
  • 13 Feb 2024
    • Asean
    • Cambodia
    • Laos
    • Thailand
    • Australia

    ASEAN summit a chance for Australia to reach out to mainland Southeast Asia

    Hadrien T. Saperstein
    Melbourne gathering is a unique chance for Australia to relate to Cambodia, Laos and Thailand in ways that do not depend on geopolitical alignment.
  • 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?
  • 26 May 2023
    • Laos
    • Sustainability

    Home grown: Building a stronger food system in Laos

    Genevieve Donnellon-May
    Reducing reliance on imports should be the aim in ensuring the country is not hostage to global market volatility.
  • 2 May 2023
    • China
    • Laos
    • Global Economy

    What price will Laos need to pay to be saved, and will China pay it?

    Mariza Cooray
    The debt-burdened Southeast Asian nation offers China a chance to recast its reputation.
  • 14 Apr 2023
    • Laos
    • Southeast Asia
    • Sustainability

    Mekong River: Turning declaration into actions

    Andrea Haefner
    Millions rely on Southeast Asia’s biggest river and promises made in Vientiane last week must be kept.
  • 16 Mar 2023
    • China
    • Chinese Trade
    • Laos

    Economic diplomacy: unlocked Laos looks for new links

    Greg Earl
    The once isolated and landlocked nation has become an unlikely partner in Australia’s latest push into the region.
  • 6 Mar 2023
    • Laos

    Mekong River: Work has begun on the Luang Prabang Dam site

    Milton Osborne
    Environmental and heritage reviews are unlikely to stop the Lao government forging ahead with its hydroelectric plans.
  • 9 Feb 2023
    • Asia
    • Asean
    • China
    • India
    • Laos
    • North Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • United Nations

    With caution and tact: How Asian countries voted on Ukraine at the UN 

    Stéphanie Fillion
    A resolution forces nations to show their hand. After Russia’s invasion, consistency has not been to everyone’s liking.
  • 16 May 2022
    • Sustainability
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Cambodia
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Laos
    • Environment

    Diplomacy is indispensable to manage the Mekong

    Anoulak Kittikhoun
    The goal of a healthy river won’t be helped by misreading the shared mission of the Mekong River Commission.
  • 12 Apr 2022
    • Sustainability
    • Myanmar
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Laos

    How the Mekong River Commission ignores reality

    Milton Osborne
    Nothing is worth celebrating in how a once mighty wild river has been cruelly tamed.
  • 7 Mar 2022
    • Asean
    • Indonesia
    • Russia
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Singapore
    • Laos
    • Ukraine

    Reading Southeast Asia on Ukraine 

    Susannah Patton
    Russia’s invasion has unified the West with new clarity, yet exposed ambiguity and uncertainty in Southeast Asia.
  • 11 Jan 2022
    • Global Economy
    • Technology
    • Laos

    Kip-to-currency?

    Helen Clark
    One of Asia’s tiny communist nations is looking at blockchain to fuel an economic boom.
  • 29 Jul 2021
    • Sustainability
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • Vietnam
    • Laos
    • Environment

    Bad news for Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

    Milton Osborne
    Climate change, yes, but other factors, too.
  • 11 Aug 2020
    • Sustainability
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Climate change
    • Southeast Asia
    • Laos

    Chinese dams and the Mekong drought

    Milton Osborne
    The environmental impact of China’s dam building upstream is undeniable. The silence from some quarters is surprising.
  • 28 Jul 2020
    • Cambodia
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Southeast Asia
    • Laos

    What’s the secret to Southeast Asia’s Covid success stories?

    Dominic Meagher
    There is no secret.
  • 10 Mar 2020
    • China
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Laos

    On the Mekong, Khon Pi rapids saved – for now

    Milton Osborne
    The drive to dam the river continues to outpace real understanding of the dams’ impact.
  • 15 Jan 2020
    • China
    • Vietnam
    • Laos

    Another dam on the Mekong

    Milton Osborne
    In the face of environmental destruction and threats to livelihoods, a new dam project is being pushed through in Laos.
  • 11 Feb 2019
    • Myanmar
    • China
    • Thailand
    • Laos

    The fight to preserve the Khon Pi Luang rapids

    Milton Osborne
    China is pushing to expand its navigation of the Mekong River, raising tricky questions of sovereignty and environment.
  • 25 Jul 2018
    • Laos

    Laos dam collapse and stress on the Mekong

    Milton Osborne
    The dam collapse in Laos once again focuses attention on the massive expansion of hydropower in the Mekong Basin.

Stay informed with the latest commentary and analysis on international events from experts at the Lowy Institute and around the world.

Register

The Interpreter features in-depth analysis & expert commentary on the latest international events, published daily by the Lowy Institute.

© Copyright 2025 Lowy Institute

  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • Articles
  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Log In
  • My bookmarks