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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 14 Nov 2023
    • Australia
    • Maritime Security
    • Trade

    Australia needs to resource a merchant fleet

    Richard Dunley
    Virtually all Australia’s trade moves by sea, yet relies almost exclusively on foreign flagged and foreign owned vessels.
  • 13 Nov 2023
    • Administration

    University challenge: Win tickets to the 2023 Lowy Lecture and Dinner

    The Interpreter
    Write us your best caption for a chance to see Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
  • 13 Nov 2023
    • Australia
    • Cyber Security

    What can – and should – we expect from Australia’s new cyber security strategy?

    Miah Hammond-Errey , Tom Barrett
    International alignment and coordination will be key to countering cyber threats that have no respect for land borders.
  • 13 Nov 2023
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • China

    Belt and Road 2.0

    Grace Stanhope
    China’s Belt and Road Forum last month showed the initiative is not dead but changing shape.
  • 13 Nov 2023
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Middle East
    • Israel
    • United States

    1947 and now

    Steve Casey
    Strife in the Middle East, hyper-partisans in the US Congress, and Russian troops on the march. We've been here before.
  • 10 Nov 2023
    • China
    • Australia

    The Coalition risks the general’s lament, of fighting the last war over China policy

    James Laurenceson , Michael Clarke
    Labor was right to suspend the WTO case against Beijing and should not be gulled into a confrontational stance.
  • 10 Nov 2023
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Israel

    Israel-Palestine: It’s not too late for the two-state solution

    Ben Scott
    But the world can’t expect Washington to make it happen.
  • 10 Nov 2023
    • Australia
    • Asylum Seekers
    • Migration

    Where did the Afghan refugees go – and where next?

    Sadiq Amini
    While the world is still figuring out the politics, the people are paying the price.
  • 10 Nov 2023
    • China
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    China-Australia: Smartening up people-to-people links

    Angela Lehmann
    Universities play an essential role in everyday diplomacy, fostering a genuine affection between the two countries.
  • 9 Nov 2023
    • Singapore

    Lawrence Wong’s ascent as Singapore’s 4th generation leader

    Rahman Yaacob
    The island-state will have a new prime minister next year, but old hands will help guide the challenge from growing China-US rivalry.
  • 9 Nov 2023
    • China
    • Australia
    • Energy
    • Trade
    • WTO
    • Climate change
    • Environment

    Economic diplomacy: Labor’s green security state rises

    Greg Earl
    From Chinese wind turbines to temporary foreign workers, Australia faces difficult intersections between domestic and foreign policy.
  • 9 Nov 2023
    • Climate change
    • Sex and Gender

    COP28: Why a gender power divide threatens climate progress

    Sarah Morley , Isabelle Zhu-Maguire
    Global negotiations often sideline gender as a “women’s issue” rather than being essential to the response.
  • 9 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • IMF
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • Sustainability

    Private finance cannot lead the global response to climate change

    Arth Mishra , Connor O’Brien
    Misplaced faith in private sector solutions delays the redistribution of trillions from developed countries and multilateral institutions.
  • 8 Nov 2023
    • China
    • Australia
    • Coronavirus

    Haunted by a plague

    Joel Keep , David Heslop
    Almost four years since the advent of Covid-19, the world still awaits answers on how the most devastating pandemic in 100 years first began.
  • 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.
  • 8 Nov 2023
    • India
    • Recommendations
    • Review

    The Fix: Escape banality, shun labels

    Ved Shinde
    Your weekly Interpreter feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed.
  • 8 Nov 2023
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Energy

    Ukraine’s energy fightback

    Stephen Minas
    Expert crews are risking their lives to keep the lights on amid Russia’s invasion – with help from far away, too.
  • 7 Nov 2023
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia
    • Coronavirus

    Learning the right lessons from Australia’s Covid response

    Tom Chodor , Shahar Hameiri
    The pandemic measures that took us from lucky country to locked-up country have their roots in 1980s neoliberalism.
  • 7 Nov 2023
    • Indonesia
    • Energy
    • Climate change
    • Environment

    Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Partnership is a glass half full

    Tiza Mafira
    Momentum is building, but global pledges for no new fossil fuel expansion come with a lot of caveats.
  • 7 Nov 2023
    • Myanmar

    Myanmar: a new abnormal

    David Scott Mathieson
    From enforced remittances to escalating drug use, non-conflict factors reveal a war-ravaged country in civil decline.
  • 6 Nov 2023
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Middle East
    • Israel

    Gaza and re-imagining international order

    Bobo Lo
    The events of the past month show that the usual recipes for global problem-solving are no longer fit for purpose.
  • 6 Nov 2023
    • India
    • India's Economy

    E-rickshaws turn the tide for India

    Selwyn Parker
    The continent’s ubiquitous two and three-wheelers are driving the transition to EVs, with an ambitious 2030 target in view.
  • 6 Nov 2023
    • Australia's Economy
    • Global Economy

    Fighting risk in everything, everywhere, all at once

    Jenny Gordon
    Most government institutions are not designed to consider more than their portfolio of interests – and that doesn’t work in a more complex world.
  • 6 Nov 2023
    • North Korea
    • South Korea

    How vulnerable is South Korea to a “Hamas-style” attack from the North?

    Khang Vu
    History makes Seoul’s concern understandable – but the best way to deter surprise is through engagement.
  • 3 Nov 2023
    • Middle East Conflict
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Israel

    Russia seeks benefit from the Gaza conflict

    Ian Hill
    Moscow hopes the Middle East will distract the West from supporting Ukraine – but old troubles at home could stir again.
  • 3 Nov 2023

    The world energy outlook: The good, the bad, and the ugly

    Robert Walker , Melanie Pill
    Where does the global transition to net zero currently stand, where can it improve and where can it go wrong?
  • 3 Nov 2023
    • Australia in the World
    • Australia and Asia
    • Australian Diplomacy
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament
    • Nuclear Weapons

    Australian leadership in Indo‑Pacific nuclear diplomacy

    John Tilemann
    With growing state capabilities in the region, “guardrails” are more important than ever. Canberra can help.
  • 3 Nov 2023
    • China
    • Australia
    • Resource security
    • Technology

    Mineral futures: A critical step for Albanese’s Beijing trip

    Marina Yue Zhang
    Trade in rare earth elements and numerous minerals is essential for the energy transition – but can Australia and China find complementary ground?
  • 2 Nov 2023
    • Technology

    Artificial Intelligence: The regulatory race to ensure a democratic future

    Lydia Khalil
    Authoritarian governments have their own designs for AI in this new arena for strategic rivalry.
  • 2 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Climate change
    • Vanuatu

    Measuring the climate cost to Pacific development

    Riley Duke , Gilliane De Gorostiza
    International assistance is not keeping up with intensifying rate and scale of disasters in the region.
  • 2 Nov 2023
    • Europe
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • United States

    Ukraine: 2024 headwinds

    Mick Ryan
    A country already severely tested will face challenges in politics, maintaining global attention, and ensuring the necessities of war.
  • 1 Nov 2023
    • India
    • India's Economy
    • Europe
    • Europe's Economy
    • Trade
    • Middle East
    • Iran
    • Israel
    • Saudi Arabia
    • United Arab Emirates
    • United States
    • US Economy

    History repeats: A new (old) economic corridor emerges

    Ved Shinde
    Renewed connectivity between India, the Middle East and Europe shows how maps are temporary, but geography persists.
  • 1 Nov 2023
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Recommendations
    • Review

    The Fix: An evolving Saudi Arabia

    Gabriela Bernal
    Your weekly Interpreter feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed.
  • 1 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea

    Loans, not grants, already proving costly for PNG

    Maholopa Laveil
    The latest Pacific Aid Map shows the PNG debt burden is growing and risks loom on the horizon.
  • 31 Oct 2023
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Australian Development Assistance
    • Australian Foreign Aid
    • Debt
    • Pacific Islands
    • China and the Pacific

    Infrastructure for influence: Pacific Islands building spree

    Meg Keen
    Even with stabilising debt and higher revenues, the region’s needs still outpace funding. Partnerships are key.
  • 31 Oct 2023
    • Australia
    • Australian trade, investment & economy

    Outward bound: We should celebrate Australian investment overseas

    Ian Satchwell
    Undervaluing what business achieves internationally as if somehow having a cost at home makes for bad policy.
  • 31 Oct 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Australia and the Pacific

    Pacific aid enters a new era

    Alexandre Dayant
    The latest Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map demonstrates that there is no going back to the way things were.
  • 30 Oct 2023
    • Australia
    • European Union
    • Trade

    Dashed hopes for Australia, Europe still has blind spots on trade

    Justin Brown
    The collapse of FTA negotiations illustrates that protectionist sentiment is still powerful in the bloc.
  • 30 Oct 2023
    • Australia in the World
    • Global Issues
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Sustainability
    • United States
    • US Elections

    The future isn’t what it used to be

    Mark Beeson
    Will a revolution be the way the world’s young people right the wrongs of the modern era?
  • 30 Oct 2023
    • Australia
    • United States

    Instead of worrying about Trump, see the benefits of Biden

    Erin Hurley
    The opportunity now is to grow the understanding in Washington of the value provided by the US-Australia alliance.
  • 30 Oct 2023
    • Germany

    Left behind: Sahra Wagenknecht’s new populism

    Marcus Colla
    Germany’s forgotten voters are finding voice in anti-mainstream parties that defy classical definitions of “left” or “right”.
  • 27 Oct 2023
    • Diplomacy
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • United Nations
    • United Arab Emirates

    Climate negotiations in a fossil fuel state: What to expect from COP28

    Melanie Pill
    Even with outcomes uncertain, there are three big topics likely to dominate the upcoming talks in Dubai.
  • 27 Oct 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • China – Belt and Road Initiative
    • Development Assistance
    • Emerging Donors
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Indonesia's Economy

    Geopolitics and the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway

    Teesta Prakash , Jack Sato
    Has the bullet train project strained the once tight relationship between Indonesia and China?
  • 27 Oct 2023
    • Indonesia

    An election loophole could tarnish Jokowi’s legacy

    Warief Djajanto Basorie
    Family drama rarely translates into good politics as Indonesia already knows all too well.
  • 26 Oct 2023
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
    • Review

    A Marshall Plan for Ukraine?

    John West
    History can be a useful guide, but the geopolitical circumstances of today are vastly different.
  • 26 Oct 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Defence & Security

    Not only the dragon: Understanding Southeast Asia’s complex security landscape

    Rahman Yaacob
    Yes, US-China rivalry creates unease. But so do more pressing threats closer to home.
  • 26 Oct 2023
    • Central Asia
    • China
    • China's Economy
    • Chinese Trade
    • Caucasus
    • Trade

    Beijing’s interest in the Middle Corridor

    Genevieve Donnellon-May
    An economic gateway through Central Asia could provide China a much less messy trade route to Europe.
  • 25 Oct 2023
    • China
    • Philippines
    • South China Sea
    • Defence & Security

    As the world looks elsewhere, China stirs trouble in the South China Sea

    Peter Layton
    The Chinese Communist Party-controlled Global Times is already forecasting “more serious collisions”.
  • 25 Oct 2023
    • Recommendations

    The Fix: The Stans have it

    Jack Sato
    Your weekly Interpreter feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed.
  • 25 Oct 2023
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • United Kingdom
    • Technology
    • United States

    AUKUS as Big Science?

    Marigold Black
    With all the focus on nuclear-powered submarines, are we missing a chance to achieve something truly transformative?
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