10 hours ago
When the war is over: The limits of civilian storytelling
A new TV series reinforces the sentimental way Australia represents wars and military service.
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17 Dec 2025
2025 in review: Insta influencers, murder trials, and divisive politics
Lowy Institute staff nominate the most notable books, trends, ideas, and people of 2025. -
9 Dec 2025
2025 in review: Trump, Substack, Europe, and fertility
Lowy Institute staff nominate the most notable books, trends, ideas, and people of 2025. -
2 Dec 2025
Australian universities: A waning soft power
Driven by political mood rather than long-term strategy, higher education has become fast, fragile and transactional. -
21 Nov 2025
Great aspirations? Examining Russia’s role in Southeast Asia
A new book examines Russia's decade-long engagement with the region and finds more rhetoric than real influence. -
15 Oct 2025
Is this the Asian Century?
A new book that cuts through hype, ignores moods and intellectual trends, and focuses on the epochal forces shaping the region. -
8 Oct 2025
In defence of darkness
Exploring a tradition built on fatalism rather than historical fact. -
31 Jul 2025
Food Delivery: The Filipino documentary film that exposes China
China’s efforts to block a Philippine documentary reveal its habit of media censorship and increasing diplomatic overreach. -
28 Jul 2025
How autocrats and tech billionaires are disintegrating history
A striking new political analysis by Giuliano da Empoli explores a threat so thoroughly novel that it has paralysed the old guard. -
22 Jul 2025
The financial crisis Asia failed to see
The late 1990s was a time of soaring expectations built on hidden rot. -
8 Jul 2025
War stories: Our fascination with the grease and guts of conflict
Long after armies have left the field, the tales of conflict endure. -
4 Apr 2025
When the internet displaces the town square
At the intersection of urbanisation, technology and culture, a major geopolitical transformation is taking place. -
1 Apr 2025
What matters a sense of history
Young and old alike, we need to think harder about how we think about the world. -
7 Feb 2025
Revealing India’s Cold War secrets
Indians worried about interference by “the foreign hand” in their affairs might have over-estimated their adversaries. -
8 Jan 2025
Manmohan Singh: Remembering an Indian reformer and internationalist
Singh’s leadership ended India’s economic and nuclear isolation from the world and lifted hundreds of millions out of multidimensional poverty. -
20 Dec 2024
Your Top 10 most-read Interpreter articles in 2024
After a year of momentous events, it’s time for a short break. See you in the New Year. -
10 Dec 2024
A wonky memento and a China metaphor
A scale model kit offers an insight into Chinese manufacturing. -
5 Dec 2024
Loyalty over competence: A historical novel for the modern age
Malcolm Knox’s dark comedy about power and paranoia in Stalin’s Russia carries an enduring wisdom. -
3 Dec 2024
What should world leaders read?
Unlike polls and social media, the classics teach humility. -
30 Oct 2024
The Translator: What is "strategic infrastructure"?
Building lines of influence in the Pacific. -
17 Sep 2024
The Translator: What is “economic statecraft”?
The power of carrots and sticks in the world of geoeconomics. -
8 Aug 2024
A reckoning with empire
Two very different volumes on the legacies of imperialism expose the parallax of coloniser and colonised. -
2 Aug 2024
Shots around the world: The influence of assassins on international affairs
Leaders are always going to be hard to protect, especially if demonstrating a common touch means touching commoners. -
24 Jul 2024
Shakespeare as life coach
Two new books examine how the Bard’s wit and wisdom can serve as guides for modern day policy and prophecy. -
4 Jul 2024
Eyes on India
The burdens of history should not be confused with sentimentalism in forging a modern relationship. -
19 Jun 2024
How to broaden the political gene pool
With the United Kingdom headed for the polls, Alastair Campbell has a few suggestions on what makes a good leader. -
7 Jun 2024
The forgotten weapon of mass destruction
Preventing the spread of unconventional tools of warfare requires constant vigilance. -
30 May 2024
Fibs, squibs, and trading digs
Is it any wonder the public is often bemused about the merits of trade policy? -
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23 May 2024
The month the world changed
New research brings a valuable insight into the role of people not usually seen or heard in stories of war. -
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10 May 2024
Noble Rushdie will not be silenced
Physically, Rushdie will never be the same after his attack. But as a writer, he is back. -
30 Apr 2024
The God in the rubble
Germany’s struggle with morality is not only a concern of history but an animating factor in contemporary politics. -
19 Apr 2024
Girt by sea: Redrawing Australia’s mental map
A big part of the challenge is asking the hard questions – and a new book does just that. -
17 Apr 2024
Telling tales about “Civil War”
Politics isn’t the only strange omission from what is undoubtedly a captivating and relentless movie spectacle. -
9 Apr 2024
Life on Earth: From beginning to end
A new take on the history of the world starts 3.8 billion years ago and offers conclusions about our future. -
8 Apr 2024
India's turbulent history newly revealed
Two recent history books that improve our understanding of India's present -
26 Mar 2024
Opium and the colonial narco-state
In an attempt to control 19th century trade with India and China, Britain dumped tea and resorted to a new addictive drug. -
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7 Mar 2024
Spy novels and unicorn hunting
Seeking perfection among the dead ends, red herrings and lost causes, a lover of espionage lists the must-haves. -
29 Feb 2024
When war-planning and politics collide
The rhythms of the electoral cycle are too often overlooked in the conduct of conflict. -
22 Feb 2024
Words as weapons in the war of ideas
A new book explores the power of literature on history's battlefields. -
13 Feb 2024
How to fix Japan
Embracing the lost art of “creative destruction” will allow the once booming economy to flourish again. -
29 Jan 2024
Why big projects fail: Climate change and AUKUS submarines
Construction lessons – from the Empire State to the Sydney Opera House – can inform Australia’s most pressing problems. -
15 Jan 2024
Manager of the internet, controller of the world?
Power is much more than GDP and tank numbers. But the US monopoly on the digital age is eroding. -
3 Jan 2024
Why do we travel to unsettling places?
Whether the DMZ or sites of historic atrocities, place carries a connection to remind us of the precariousness of life. -
21 Dec 2023
Manila’s killing fields: Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on the poor
It’s best to not only take populists seriously, but also literally, especially when they threaten mass murder. -
13 Dec 2023
The Fix: Nationalist theatre, with a twist
An action film where the climax features a gritty anti-hero urging the importance of an informed vote? Watch and learn. -
11 Dec 2023
Espionage top ten
From George Smiley to Jackson Lamb, the best spy fiction relies not on heroes but masters of the plot. -
6 Dec 2023
The Fix: A death in Malta
Uncovering the murky business of corruption and graft too often puts journalists’ lives at risk.