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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 26 May 2023
    • India
    • Vietnam
    • Review

    India’s underperforming ties to Vietnam

    Jitendra Nath Misra
    India’s weak cultural imprint fragments into insignificance faced with China’s.
  • 6 Apr 2023
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Review

    What “Utopia” got wrong about China and defence policy

    Sam Roggeveen
    If Australia didn’t have a Defence Force, would China have turned to force rather than economic coercion?
  • 30 Mar 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji
    • Review

    Fiji: lessons under a dictator’s heel

    Ariela Zibiah
    Laisenia Qarase’s prison memoir after he was deposed in a coup tells a national story to cherish freedoms.
  • 27 Mar 2023
    • Digital Disruption
    • Review

    Binary error: How and why governments need a cyber security rethink

    Ben Scott
    Deterrence of hostile states in cyberspace misses the point when operations concentrate on only “offence” vs “defence”.
  • 7 Mar 2023
    • North Korea
    • Global Issues
    • Human rights
    • Review

    Why do we travel to unsettling places?

    Melissa Conley Tyler
    Whether the DMZ or sites of historic atrocities, place carries a connection to remind us of the precariousness of life.
  • 20 Jan 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Review

    How an Australian freed an unfinished nation’s history

    Duncan Graham
    The fascinating story of how Indonesia came to better know itself through a time of repressive regimes.
  • 10 Jan 2023
    • China
    • Review

    Avenging the century of humiliation, one artefact at a time

    Mercedes Page
    The looting of Beijing’s “Garden of Eternal Brightness” by European armies in 1860 lingers in tales of the diaspora.
  • 29 Dec 2022
    • China
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Global Issues
    • United States
    • Review

    Pop culture politics: How to Interpret 2022

    Daniel Flitton
    “Soft power” or reputation risk, the cross-over of popular entertainment and global politics is never far from the news.
  • 23 Dec 2022
    • Defence & Security
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Review

    How to Interpret 2022: Russia invades Ukraine

    Clare Caldwell
    Vladimir Putin seemed convinced Kyiv would fall in days. We look back at ten months of war.
  • 21 Dec 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • Timor-Leste
    • Australia
    • Public Diplomacy And International Broadcasting
    • Bougainville
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Review

    Seeking independence: three books to read this summer

    Jessica Collins
    From Timorese history and Bougainville’s dreams to Australia’s regional stories, catch up on essential background.
  • 16 Dec 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Review

    Beyond binary choices in Australia China relations

    Jennifer Hsu
    Trade partner or security threat? Might we escape the trap of over securitisation with more diversity in leadership?
  • 13 Oct 2022
    • China
    • Australia
    • Review

    Found in translation: Australia and China’s shared history

    Angela Lehmann
    A memoir on collective historical baggage has much to teach about the evolution and maturation of both nations.
  • 12 Sep 2022
    • Terrorism
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Review

    Understanding global right-wing extremism

    William Allchorn
    Tackling the threat first means appreciating the scope, appeal and transnational character of the narratives driving it.
  • 6 Sep 2022
    • China
    • North Korea
    • Russia
    • Review

    China, Russia and North Korea: the wars that never end

    Mateo Szlapek-Sewillo
    A new book explores pride and defiance as weapons of history in the world’s socialist and autocratic bloc.
  • 5 Aug 2022
    • Aid & Development
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • Development Assistance
    • Asia
    • Review

    Development finance in Asia: a memoir

    Robert Wihtol
    A former president of the Asian Development Bank reminisces about dealing with the rise of China.
  • 27 Jul 2022
    • Malaysia
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Review

    Semut: Australia’s secret war against the Japanese in Borneo

    Henry Storey
    A reconstruction of incomplete archives reveals one of Australia’s most audacious independent special forces operations.
  • 13 Jun 2022
    • Administration
    • Review

    Public holiday reading: the Queen’s Birthday

    Daniel Flitton
    What explains the fascinating and “strange persistence of monarchies”?
  • 10 Jun 2022
    • Japan
    • Review

    How the Abe era reshaped Japan’s foreign and security policy

    Ryosuke Hanada
    Abe Shinzo put in place a strategy that will not only endure but also influence other nations in view of China.
  • 6 May 2022
    • United States
    • Review

    Understanding the rise of Trump – and how it might happen again

    Erin Hurley
    Fixing America’s broken electoral system means understanding how elites crafted self-serving rules and procedures.
  • 14 Mar 2022
    • Russia
    • Review
    • Ukraine

    Saving democracy from Russian rage

    John West
    The threat posed by Vladimir Putin has long been obvious to those prepared to look.
  • 10 Feb 2022
    • Global Economy
    • Review

    US monetary policy: the ripple effect

    Stephen Grenville
    A new book probes the inner workings – and functional failures – of America’s enigmatic central banking system.
  • 20 Jan 2022
    • Review
    • Antarctica

    Cold front: Antarctica and its military future

    Claire Young
    Repurposing scientific equipment on the frozen continent is possible but would give little military advantage.
  • 12 Jan 2022
    • Global Economy
    • Review

    History lessons from “The Great Crash”?

    Stephen Grenville
    Optimists always get more airplay than spoilsports predicting an end to the good times. But hindsight tells all.
  • 24 Dec 2021
    • Review
    • Coronavirus

    Covid-19 and -20 and -21 … Best of The Interpreter 2021

    The Interpreter
    As vaccines rolled out, hope that pandemic lockdowns would end proved short-lived as variants took hold.
  • 23 Dec 2021
    • Administration
    • Review

    Top 10 of 2021: The most-read articles on The Interpreter

    The Interpreter
    Covid, coups, LBGT rights in Asia, and Afghanistan’s collapse: articles that drew the most eyeballs this past year.
  • 22 Dec 2021
    • Review

    That 70s show for an Interpreter 2021 favourite

    Daniel Flitton
    No, not a television re-run. A book about the enduring power of personality over world politics.
  • 21 Dec 2021
    • Review

    Ear worms for The Interpreter’s 2021 favourites

    Sam Roggeveen
    Podcasts-a-plenty for the end of year break, a new beat for world politics.
  • 20 Dec 2021
    • New Zealand
    • Review

    How New Zealand recognises the people there first: 2021 favourites

    Jessica Collins
    New Zealand is taking its indigenous identity to the world in a way that will no doubt bolster its reputation.
  • 17 Dec 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Review

    The multilateralism menu: The Interpreter’s 2021 favourites

    Teesta Prakash
    Want a slice of the regional pie? Or to understand the spaghetti strands of national ambition? We’ve just the dish.
  • 16 Dec 2021
    • Pacific Islands
    • Review

    Team Pacific serves up a revolution: Interpreter 2021 favourites

    Mihai Sora
    A reality TV cooking show that is about so much more than simply food.
  • 15 Dec 2021
    • Review

    Red obsession: The Interpreter’s 2021 favourites

    Clare Caldwell
    A cult 1980s film serves as a useful lesson on how to deal with China’s wine tariffs.
  • 14 Dec 2021
    • United Kingdom
    • Review

    From Brentford to the world: The Interpreter’s 2021 favourites

    Ben Bland
    Watching his hometown team take on the English Premier League after a seven-decade hiatus was worth the wait.
  • 13 Dec 2021
    • Australia
    • Review
    • Coronavirus

    The Interpreter’s 2021 favourites: reconnecting with music and art

    Jennifer Hsu
    Australia might have been locked off from the world in Covid times, but culture knows no bounds.
  • 4 Nov 2021
    • Technology
    • Review

    Regulate against the machine

    Xueyin Zha
    AI is becoming a routine aspect of daily life, but can the law – and informed social policy – truly keep pace?
  • 8 Sep 2021
    • United States
    • Al Qaeda
    • Terrorism
    • Review

    9/11: A President reacts on a day of fear and anger

    Michael Fullilove
    An absorbing new documentary captures the first response of the Bush administration to the horror inflicted on America.
  • 30 Aug 2021
    • United States
    • Australia
    • Review

    Debating the alliance

    Susannah Patton
    An ambitious attempt to open new avenues to assess the US-Australia alliance misjudges the chance of independent action.
  • 23 Aug 2021
    • United States
    • Review
    • Coronavirus

    Why politics and pandemics don’t mix

    John West
    Michael Lewis’ stranger-than-fiction take on how America’s public health mechanisms failed in the face of Covid-19.
  • 18 Aug 2021
    • China-Australia Relations
    • Review

    China debate not just a matter of hawks and doves

    Sam Roggeveen
    Two new volumes explore Australia’s economic, cultural and security relationship with the emerging superpower.
  • 21 Jul 2021
    • Review

    Defending the liberal international order

    Ben Scott
    John Ikenberry takes a long view of the success and failures of efforts to make “a world safe for democracy”.
  • 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.
  • 28 May 2021
    • Review
    • Coronavirus

    Putting the pandemic in perspective

    John West
    Fareed Zakaria’s new book tells of tiny moments that have led to massive change.
  • 28 Apr 2021
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Bougainville
    • Review

    Power politics lies behind how new countries are born – or not

    Gordon Peake
    History shows a resounding referendum – like recently in Bougainville – is not alone in deciding future independence.
  • 19 Apr 2021
    • United States
    • China
    • Review

    America and China: Imagining the worst

    Erin Hurley
    A little well-crafted speculation can shake off complacency and allow people to focus on the true challenge.
  • 6 Apr 2021
    • Review

    Ordinary Nazis

    Marcus Colla
    A growing understanding of interwar German society helps explain the popular embrace of National Socialist ideology.
  • 24 Mar 2021
    • Climate change
    • Technology
    • Review

    The greening of Bill Gates

    Christian Bennett
    The Microsoft founder has produced a solid primer for understanding the climate challenge. The next step is action.
  • 12 Mar 2021
    • China
    • Review
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative

    The Belt and Road, and the pandemic detour

    Stephen Minas
    An important book illustrates the different hopes and dreams of partners to Beijing’s big infrastructure drive.
  • 5 Mar 2021
    • Diplomacy
    • Australia
    • Review

    Her brilliant career

    Michael Wesley
    An entertaining and informative memoir about a woman’s career through a deeply patriarchal profession in diplomacy.
  • 15 Jan 2021
    • Climate change
    • Review

    Book review: The Ministry for the Future

    Sam Roggeveen
    Putting the fate of the world in the hands of boring bureaucrats might not seem compelling – might just also be right.
  • 22 Dec 2020
    • Review

    Favourites of 2020: Women make excellent spies

    Daniel Flitton
    Chauvinist assumptions are a big part of the reason the West lost its nuclear edge.
  • 18 Dec 2020
    • Review

    Favourites of 2020: Love on the Spectrum

    Erin Bassett
    The world is full of characters. A reality TV series offers a playful chance to get to know more of them.
Pagination
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