4 Sep 2020 Book Review: The seeds of authoritarianism Warwick McFadyen Anne Applebaum’s latest book is a forensic and humane study of a world where methods change, but lust for power doesn’t.
21 Aug 2020 Book Review: The deadly legacy of the Cold War in the modern world John West The anti-communist purge in Indonesia in the 1960s is retold in a compelling examination of US Cold War policy.
17 Aug 2020 Book review: “The false promise of liberal order” Ben Scott A contrarian view on a cherished historical narrative and the necessity of “dark bargains with illiberal forces”.
31 Jul 2020 Book review: Superpower showdown Robert Wihtol The fraught relationship between the United States and China is set to deteriorate further.
24 Jul 2020 Book review: The memory of a massacre in Thailand David Hopkins Survivors and perpetrators alike have preferred silence as a way of coping with a traumatic past.
6 Jul 2020 Book review: The making of Putin’s Russia Robert Wihtol How did an uncharismatic former mid-level KGB spy rise to the pinnacle of Russian politics?
25 Jun 2020 Book review: What’s holding China’s economy back? John West The CCP’s discriminatory hukou system is a great obstacle to changing from world’s factory to a service-driven economy.
13 Apr 2020 Book review: The Indo-Pacific contest John West A meditation on the region – the arena of Australia’s greatest strategic focus – puts China’s rise in historic context.
20 Mar 2020 Books for quarantine: Hugh White suggests, plus a time for classics Daniel Flitton More reader responses to the call for books to collect for social isolation.
18 Mar 2020 Books for self-isolation: Revisiting Why Nations Fail Scott Robinson Looking to past examples of state collapse offers a predictive guide to why nations will fail in the future.
11 Mar 2020 Book review: Contest for the Indo-Pacific Ric Smith How a “mental map” became a physical space facing “the risks of multiple plausible futures”.
10 Mar 2020 Books I’ve been meaning to read: Covid-19 and preparing for quarantine Daniel Flitton Toilet paper is piled high in the laundry cupboard. Now to make a dent on the stockpile of books.
24 Jan 2020 Book Review: Can we do good without it really costing anything? Paul Ronalds To be seduced by “MarketWorld” thinking is one thing – to grapple with how to break the cycle is quite another.
17 Jan 2020 Book review: Where Power Stops Alasdair Nicholson Replete with wry observations, this quick read will appeal to political insiders – and so achieves less as a result.
10 Jan 2020 Book review: A very private enterprise Stephen Grenville Aggressive advocates of free markets, the Koch brothers amassed a fortune by exploiting market imperfections.
6 Jan 2020 Book review: Betraying Big Brother Tiffany Teng In a #MeToo age, censorship has largely shielded China’s citizens from joining the feminist movement – but not entirely.
20 Dec 2019 Favourites of 2019: Babylon Berlin Hervé Lemahieu A well-crafted look back at the Weimar Republic’s fragile democracy in 1929 shows how societies come apart at the seams.
20 Dec 2019 Favourites of 2019: Hasan Minhaj’s incisive yet accessible comedy Aarti Betigeri A bitingly satirical, sometimes subversive, series that offers a deep dive into topical issues.
19 Dec 2019 Favourites of 2019: Yangyang Cheng Natasha Kassam “When this part of history is written, my people will be remembered for what you have done.”
18 Dec 2019 Favourites of 2019: Richard Holbrooke, “almost great” Michael Fullilove He was the diplomat who in many ways embodied the US with his idealism and his egocentrism.
13 Dec 2019 Favourites of 2019: The Trauma Cleaner Bec Strating A reminder that politics can be messy, complex and seemingly contradictory – and that’s just one person.
12 Dec 2019 Favourites of 2019: The Twitterverse Sam Roggeveen Occasionally inspiring and frequently very funny, Twitter is the great modern meeting point – mostly.
9 Dec 2019 Favourites of 2019: Slow Horses on Spook Street Daniel Flitton What better way to understand the upside-down world of today than with fiction masquerading as fact?
6 Dec 2019 How many Cold Wars does it take to make a “new” one? Ian Li In the divide between capitalist West and communist East, it was often regional politics that mattered more.
21 Nov 2019 Book review: China, the US, and the big break Stephen Grenville Detailed reporting enlivens what is a substantive and important look at the world’s big economic test.
15 Nov 2019 Book Review: The original corporate raiders John West Historian William Dalrymple looks at how a small trading company in London became a mighty army and conquered India.
11 Nov 2019 Review: Australia, real and imagined John Fitzgerald It’s time to inject new content into the hardy ideal of a free and equal Australia.
1 Nov 2019 Film review: Torture, lies, and videotape Sam Hendricks Adam Driver stars as Daniel Jones, who spent more than six years uncovering the dark secrets of the US war on terror.
10 Oct 2019 Asia’s diversity, made all the same John West Parag Khanna’s The Future is Asian is a perfect example of “Asian Century” hype.
1 Oct 2019 An educated idealist is still a believer Erin Hurley Samantha Power’s memoir is no reflection in despair but instead a continuing call to action in support of rights.
30 Sep 2019 Book review: Common enemies Natalie Sambhi A look at law-enforcement cooperation between Australia and Indonesia will interest experts and curious observers alike.
25 Sep 2019 Book review: Hidden histories of Australia’s cameleers Aarti Betigeri A historian retraces the links between South Asia and Australia, uncovering a rich and complex legacy.
16 Jul 2019 Xi Jinping: much more than just one man Geoff Raby Xi has sworn enemies and many hold grievances, but many more support him and the system of which he is a creature.
2 Jul 2019 Book review: Hugh White’s How to Defend Australia Sam Roggeveen This quietly radical book calls on Australia to plan as if our US alliance will diminish to the point of vanishing.
18 Jun 2019 Book review: The Great Successor Nazanin Zadeh-Cummings Tracing the life of Kim Jong-un delivers a captivating account of a chubby, cartoonish dictator that graces the screen.
30 May 2019 Book review: unruly waters shape South Asia’s history Ruth Gamble An engaging study of the consequences of over-exploiting precious water reserves is missing some important local voices.
1 May 2019 Film review: On Her Shoulders Pishko Shamsi ISIS persecuted her community in Iraq yet Nadia Murad’s quest for justice again shows the indestructibility of spirit.
5 Apr 2019 Book Review: Utopia For Realists Paul Ronalds Bold policy ideas are welcome, so is Rutger Bregman’s “radical” challenge to the supposed wisdom of critics.
25 Mar 2019 Film Review: The Wandering Earth Bruno Maçães The film makes us think about the way in which civilisational differences can lead to new forms of artistic expression.
11 Mar 2019 Book Review: A Partnership Transformed John West For three decades, the Asian Development Bank successfully helped the People’s Republic of China in opening up.
1 Mar 2019 Book review: Winners take all Stephen Grenville Giridharadas reminds us that “win-win” is the motto elites live by.
13 Feb 2019 Film review: They Shall Not Grow Old Joan Beaumont Peter Jackson has reclaimed the voices of veterans, and with technical prowess offered a glimpse of the battlefield.
18 Jan 2019 Book Review: the Clinton fiction Sam Roggeveen Clinton’s book has nothing new to say about politics but it may offer some insight into his assessment of the world.
9 Jan 2019 Book review: Protecting the international order from Trump trauma G. John Ikenberry Kori Schake’s sober and clear-eyed analysis punctures both the realist sceptics and the liberal triumphalists.
7 Jan 2019 Book review: Grappling with the legacy of Barack Obama Alastair Davis Ben Rhodes’ memoir of his years in the Obama White House defends his record but is tinged by doubt.