Articles | Lowy Institute

18 Jun 2025
Human rights

International law

United States
Why DEI won't DIE: 80 years of protecting rights and fighting for equality

Fiona McGaughey

The protection of human rights and principles of equality are fundamental to international law and can’t be dismantled overnight by one state alone.
23 May 2025
Malaysia

Human rights
Tackling forced labour in Malaysia begins with re-examining its migration model

Yvonne Tan

A zero-cost migration model can break the cycle of debt and exploitation.
12 May 2025
North Korea

South Korea

Human rights
Time for a consistent approach to North Korean human rights

Jiwon Kim

South Korea’s upcoming election offers a crucial chance for a policy reset.
7 May 2025
Australia

Human rights
Promoting human rights makes Australia stronger

Daniela Gavshon

Quiet diplomacy only engenders bullying. It’s time to speak up.
14 Mar 2025
Philippines

Human rights

International law
Duterte’s ICC arrest: A day of reckoning

Andrea Chloe Wong

Duterte’s legal battle puts the spotlight on the International Criminal Court and the future of Philippine politics.
7 Mar 2025
Diplomacy

Human rights

International law

Multilateral Institutions

Sustainability
The realists and their limits in the world today

'Alopi Latukefu

A belief in “might is right” is not set in stone – rules in global affairs are shaped by the choices we make.
4 Mar 2025
China

Hong Kong

Human rights

Sex and Gender

China's Government
Feminism is still a dirty word in China

Ciara Morris

Organised feminist activism is nearly impossible in China in 2025, but Chinese women are still talking.
23 Jan 2025
Al Qaeda

Islamic State

Human rights

International law

United Nations

United States
What does the Trump presidency mean for Women, Peace and Security?

Susan Hutchinson

International peace and security requires due consideration of the world’s women. This is no radical social theory.
16 Jan 2025
Human rights

United Nations

United States
Melting ice caps reveals the scourge of colonialism

'Alopi Latukefu

Donald Trump shows no regard for the rights and autonomy of the Indigenous Inuit population who make up the majority of Greenland’s residents.
16 Dec 2024
Indonesia

Indonesia and the Death Penalty

Malaysia

Singapore

Southeast Asia

Human rights

International law

United Nations
Southeast Asia’s death penalty laws: The ultimate political game

Kirsten Han

The region’s diverse policies on executions are about more than the war on crime.
4 Dec 2024
Australia

Diplomacy

Global Issues

Human rights

International law

Transnational Challenges
Australia’s chance to align global efforts against “hostage diplomacy”

Sean Turnell

A new senate report has set out sensible recommendations for a fresh approach on wrongful detention of Australians overseas.
13 Nov 2024
Human rights

International law

Middle East
The declining fortunes of Afghanistan’s women

Stéphanie Fillion

Is the International Court of Justice a toothless tiger, or can a new legal battle truly turn the tide for women and girls?
14 Oct 2024
Global Issues

Human rights
Succumbing to the parochialism of the present

Daniel Flitton

The world always looks dangerous, depending on your vantage point.
6 Sep 2024
Bangladesh

Human rights
The rights-based priority in relations with Bangladesh

Mubashar Hasan

Sheikh Hasina’s downfall holds a lesson for the international community to ensure support for political freedoms.
28 Aug 2024
Australia

Diplomacy

Human rights

International law

Migration
Maid in Australia: When international relations and industrial law collide

Daniel Flitton

Two recent court cases have raised uncomfortable questions about diplomatic immunity.
27 Aug 2024
Diplomacy

Global Issues

Human rights

International law

Transnational Challenges
Hostage diplomacy: Fresh ideas to end a modern blight

Sean Turnell

A new Australian senate inquiry into the practice of imprisonment for leverage offer a chance to learn from international experience.
16 Aug 2024
Bangladesh

Human rights
Bangladesh: Finding justice and reconciliation

Roshni Kapur

International experience holds lessons for the interim government to deliver on the change demanded.
7 Aug 2024
Human rights

International law
The dehumanisation danger

Terry Hackett

Language matters and the protections of international law are crucial for persons deprived of liberty.
31 Jul 2024
China

China's Government

Hong Kong

Human rights

International law
Long arm of the law: China’s extraterritorial reach

Danielle Ireland-Piper

Political as much as legal considerations dictate the way Beijing exercises its laws – from Hong Kong to beyond.
25 Jul 2024
Asean

Southeast Asia

Human rights

Migration
Child marriage in Southeast Asia: When a harmful practice becomes an international crime

Leisha Lister , Indira Rosenthal

ASEAN can lead the way in tackling a practice that regularly results in the trafficking of persons.
19 Jul 2024
China

Diplomacy

Russia

BRICS

Human rights

International law

Multilateral Institutions
Does democracy still matter in the ‘New Cold War’ between the US and China?

Sushil Aaron

Contradictions between the two models of governance make coexistence among superpowers difficult.
2 Jul 2024
North Korea

France

Russia

Ukraine

Human rights

Iran

Israel
Pariah states and the Olympic Games

Gabriela Bernal

With the Paris Games only weeks away, the controversy around athletes from “rogue” countries is set to intensify.
17 May 2024
Russia

Ukraine

Human rights
Time to recognise the Crimean Tatar genocide

Jon Richardson

Acknowledging the crimes in the 1940s would underline the attachment to Ukraine and rebuff changing borders by force.
30 Apr 2024
Human rights

International law
The need for a convention on crimes against humanity

Priya Pillai

Closing a legal gap would ensure the spirit of the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals is established in international law.
17 Apr 2024
Asean

Southeast Asia

Human rights

Migration

Transnational Challenges
Invisible victims: How counter-trafficking efforts leave people with disability behind

Elisabeth Jackson

It is often those who should be responsible for protecting people with disabilities who exploit them.
13 Mar 2024
Bangladesh

Myanmar

Asylum seekers and refugees

Human rights

Migration
A ring-fence around the Rohingya can’t last – Australia’s policy needs to change

Arunn Jegan

Seven years on, a temporary aid agenda is only extenuating the problem.
22 Feb 2024
Myanmar

Human rights

International law
In defence of Aung San Suu Kyi

Derek Tonkin

Many in Myanmar have condemned what they perceive as seriously flawed Western criticism of the Burmese ex-leader.
15 Feb 2024
Nepal

Human rights

Migration
Dying to work abroad: Why Nepalese migrants are fighting other people’s wars

Harris Amjad

In Russia and beyond, those desperate for work are sacrificing their lives and livelihoods.
11 Jan 2024
Global Issues

Human rights

International law

Migration

United Nations
By default not design: the end of the asylum consensus

Khalid Koser

Ever since Australia adopted the “Pacific Solution”, norm busting has become the norm.
3 Jan 2024
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.
21 Dec 2023
Philippines

Human rights

Review
Manila’s killing fields: Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on the poor

Richard Javad Heydarian

It’s best to not only take populists seriously, but also literally, especially when they threaten mass murder.
15 Nov 2023
Human rights

Migration

Technology

Transnational Challenges
Human trafficking: Harnessing technology to help those most vulnerable

Cate Sumner

Delivering legal services to victims often means overcoming barriers in language, information and distance.
8 Nov 2023
Bangladesh

Myanmar

Australia and Asia

Human rights
Australia’s chance to show global leadership on Rohingya displacement

Jessica Marsh

Honouring a pledge to be tough on borders without being “weak on humanity” will bolster Canberra’s aim of regional stability.
10 Oct 2023
Southeast Asia

Human rights

Transnational Challenges

United Nations
Online scams in Southeast Asia create double victims: those targeted and those forced to carry them out

Jitsiree Thongnoi

There are those deceived by scams, and those coerced into crime.
27 Sep 2023
Afghanistan

China

Pakistan

Human rights
The Kalash are under threat from Pakistani Taliban

Adnan Aamir

A remote and persecuted religious minority is an easy target for militants set on gaining territory by any means.
21 Sep 2023
Pakistan

Human rights
Pakistan at a crossroads on blasphemy

Syed Fazl-e-Haider

Draconian interpretations of Islamabad’s laws violate human rights and are stoking violent religious extremism.
19 Sep 2023
Global Economy

Human rights

Technology
The future of gig work

Hilman Palaon

The new world of on-call, contract and temporary work is only sustainable if it is fair and safe for those who power it.
18 Sep 2023
Cambodia

Human rights

International law

War Crimes
Testimonial therapy: Buddhism’s influence in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge tribunal

Andre Kwok

Faith-based interventions and criminal prosecutions can innovatively meet.
31 Aug 2023
Climate change

Human rights

Pacific Islands
Cultural security in the Pacific: Why it matters for regional security

Anna Naupa

Of all the complex and evolving threats to the region’s cultural heritage, climate change remains the most calamitous.
13 Jul 2023
Indonesia

Human rights

Review
For Indonesia’s haunting past, Jokowi’s resolution is non-judicial

Warief Djajanto Basorie

A new book throws light on the 1965 massacres – but the government’s redress for victims is yet to extend to justice for the perpetrators.
1 Jun 2023
India

Australia

Human rights
How Australia can speak up on human rights in India

Hugh Piper

Modi won’t be prime minister for ever, so finding ways to air concerns now will actually strengthen relations long term.
22 May 2023
India

Australia

Human rights
Albanese should raise human rights concerns with Modi

Elaine Pearson

Australia must not to repeat the mistake of allowing the promise of trade to override a need to stand up for values.
5 Apr 2023
Myanmar

Russia

Ukraine

Human rights

International law

War Crimes
What of the Rohingya? The ICC, Ukraine, and limits of “international” justice

Aakash Chandran , Jennifer Keene-McCann , Emma Palmer

The International Criminal Court will always be seen as a selective tool unless states agree to decide cases on need.
8 Mar 2023
China

China's Government

Human rights

Sex and Gender
Beijing and the birth rate: a question of human rights for women

Yun Jiang

Despite the government's gender positive rhetoric, Chinese women are still viewed as resources of the party state.
1 Feb 2023
Myanmar

Australia

Human rights
Australia’s Myanmar sanctions: now for the real decisions

Susannah Patton

Two years after the coup, there are still many reasons why Canberra is stepping cautiously with its punitive measures.
15 Nov 2022
Malaysia

Myanmar

Human rights

Migration

United Nations
Refugees may become victims of Malaysia’s electoral politics

Max Walden

The plight of Myanmar Rohingyas exposes Southeast Asia’s disjointed policies and fragile human rights protections.
14 Oct 2022
Afghanistan

Pakistan

Terrorism

Human rights
Enemies of education are back in Malala’s hometown?

Syed Fazl-e-Haider

Fresh attacks by the Pakistani Taliban mark an alarming regression in the decade-long progress made in the region.
29 Sep 2022
Human rights

Papua New Guinea
Ending capital punishment for good in Papua New Guinea

Moses Sakai

In PNG’s history, the death penalty has now been abolished twice. The country can take a step to see it never returns.
20 Sep 2022
Bangladesh

Myanmar

Human rights

International law
The Rohingya issue requires a regional solution

David Brewster

Leaving close to a million people in limbo poses a danger not only for the refugees but to regional peace.
9 Sep 2022
China

Human rights

United Nations
Beijing three-step: China denies, deflects and dissembles on Xinjiang

Michael Clarke

The UN human rights report has exposed China’s hollow propaganda claims – but won’t stop them.