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.
-
-
8 Dec 2025
The Marshall Islands’ experiment with a universal basic income
The scheme tests whether microstates can sustain widespread cash transfers, with the Pacific watching on. -
8 Dec 2025
Sumatra floods: Indonesia stuck in a cycle of crisis management
President Prabowo must address years of institutional neglect to tackle the structural failures fuelling disasters. -
8 Dec 2025
Cyclones to coups: Crises drive violence against women
Governments treat gendered violence as an afterthought, leaving millions vulnerable across the Indo-Pacific. -
8 Dec 2025
Head in sand, the way of the ASEAN ostrich
Malaysia’s chairmanship sidestepped divisive issues. Manila’s turn will force ASEAN to confront its paralysis. -
5 Dec 2025
Landlocked Africa is an open opportunity for Australia
Rather than compete on aid volumes, Australia could leverage remote logistics expertise as quality partner for major projects. -
5 Dec 2025
Fighting China’s subsidies means copying China’s economic model
Rather than just raising trade barriers, countries should predict where Chinese subsidies will move next to compete there. -
5 Dec 2025
Trump to cast a shadow over coming Greenland talks
Officials from the US, Denmark and Greenland are expected to hold talks on Monday and Tuesday – the first since the President mused about taking the territory by force. -
5 Dec 2025
Has the Second World War finally ended for Germany and Japan?
Doubts about US commitment are pushing Berlin and Tokyo toward military self-reliance they haven’t sought since 1945. -
4 Dec 2025
Markets have the money, developing countries need the projects – what’s stopping them?
Investors assume developing economies are risky, but evidence shows the opposite. -
4 Dec 2025
What happens when Cambodia graduates from aid but isn’t self-sustaining?
Cambodia’s “missing middle” means economic growth hasn’t yet produced the managers and technicians the country needs. -
4 Dec 2025
Japan’s analog bureaucracy holds back a digital economy
Obtaining a criminal-record check should be a simple task, yet in Japan reveals a state capacity problem. -
4 Dec 2025
A survival guide for advisers to the powerful
From Nixon’s downfall to Merkel’s success, history offers hard lessons for those behind the throne. -
3 Dec 2025
Rethinking the Indo-Pacific as a single ocean system
The waters that connect the region matter more than the distances between its shores, and 2026 will test that principle. -
3 Dec 2025
Japan lost its climate leadership – and now Australia can help
Japan’s largest supplier of coal and LNG has just pledged to transition from fossil fuels – creating both tension and opportunity. -
3 Dec 2025
Australia bets on old laws to manage new AI risks
Relying on legacy laws may seem pragmatic, but other countries are racing ahead with purpose-built AI regulation. -
3 Dec 2025
High stakes in India’s refusal to send former Bangladesh PM to trial
A carefully worded extradition treaty means New Delhi can hedge its bets, but it should be prepared for blowback. -
2 Dec 2025
Want to fix Defence? Start by cutting bureaucratic bloat
Same people, same jobs, new structure – but somehow performance will improve. This story has been told before. -
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. -
2 Dec 2025
One size does not fit all for social media bans
With half its population under 18, Nigeria shows why Australia-style digital bans could stifle democratic activism. -
2 Dec 2025
Why xenophobia won't solve South Korea's China problem
A rise in anti-Chinese sentiment damages Seoul’s image and fails to address the real issues of defence and security. -
1 Dec 2025
Foreign interference and Indonesia's buzzer networks
New X data reveals the networks amplifying false narratives, yet attribution remains frustratingly elusive. -
1 Dec 2025
Australians risk becoming “strangers in our own region”
A parliamentary inquiry confronts decades of decline in language learning and cultural knowledge of the region. -
1 Dec 2025
Is G20 becoming what it sought to replace?
Rather than a sharp and agile forum, the G20 has blown out more to matter less. -
1 Dec 2025
How China views its economic relations with Indonesia
Economic dependence, not alliance, suits Beijing’s interests. -
28 Nov 2025
The two Koreas: Could a North-South summit be in the works?
Kim’s renewed military confidence and Lee’s pragmatic diplomacy create the ideal conditions for a meeting. -
28 Nov 2025
Vietnam’s race between speed and stamina
To Lam has fast consolidated power, but this new logic of control is not reform in the Western sense. -
28 Nov 2025
The anatomy of hate: How misogyny drives extremist engagement
Young men are being exposed to online hatred early and often. Intervention is key to countering the breeding grounds. -
28 Nov 2025
Can the Pacific still shape COP31 after Australia’s compromise?
Even without a co-hosting arrangement, Canberra can still push outcomes that matter for the region. -
27 Nov 2025
Critical minerals: Why fast-tracking undermines democratic legitimacy
With mineral projects taking years to move from exploration to production, Australia must hasten carefully. -
27 Nov 2025
From Kabul to Kyiv, Trump’s pattern is clear – negotiate with enemies, sideline allies
Australia and other partners must plainly see that America’s commitment to defending democracies is fading fast. -
27 Nov 2025
How Russia tried to manipulate Moldova's election – and what it reveals
Small states aren’t destined to remain passive targets when faced with sophisticated influence operations. -
27 Nov 2025
Don’t believe everything you read in the media about Japan’s strong anti-immigrant sentiment
Social pressure pushes people to sound tougher on immigrants than they feel. -
26 Nov 2025
Australia’s “deep concern” at multilayered persecution of Afghanistan’s Hazaras
A parliamentary motion highlights systematic violence against a community facing ethnic, religious and gender-based repression. -
26 Nov 2025
Sudan’s civil war spills well beyond the battlefield
Washington’s sanctions and Tehran’s expanding reach are exposing deeper power struggles and ideological networks. -
26 Nov 2025
Redirecting COP31 funds could deliver Australia’s most important climate contribution yet
The $1 billion saved from not hosting could deliver more impact through Pacific infrastructure than any summit. -
26 Nov 2025
Stablecoins for a universal basic income: The Pacific Islands model
Digital payment systems are emerging as a substitute for inadequate regional banking infrastructure. -
-
25 Nov 2025
What I learned about North Korea’s nuclear paranoia in Pyongyang
Misreading threats in Pyongyang two decades ago preceded nuclear weapons. Now similar fears spread across Asia. -
25 Nov 2025
Southeast Asian manufacturing: No longer immune from geopolitics
The region’s industrial sector must adapt in a new climate of supply-chain weaponisation. -
25 Nov 2025
The world proves thirstier than ever for energy
But the Trump administration is trying – and failing – to play a spoiler role while China focuses on the long game. -
24 Nov 2025
AI didn’t fire you. The board did
From Silicon Valley to Shanghai, the new excuse for redundancy has ripple effects everywhere. -
24 Nov 2025
EU processes move in years. Kosovo also needs partners who move in months
Türkiye shows that availability is becoming a form of influence for middle powers in the Western Balkans. -
24 Nov 2025
Modi courts Putin with an eye on Trump’s disapproval
Strategic autonomy worked when Washington was indulgent. Now India must choose what matters more. -
24 Nov 2025
Cheap weapons reshape the character of war
Railguns, nuclear-powered missiles and laser weapons could make sustained conflict more affordable. -
21 Nov 2025
Quiet strength? Regional friends pitch for issues-based coalitions
From the Quad to trilateral arrangements, purpose-driven partnerships are delivering where multilateral institutions struggle. -
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. -
21 Nov 2025
Of hedgehogs and foxes: It’s time for a school of Australian statecraft
As a middle power, Australia needs both bold decision-makers and quick-witted rationalists. Those skills can be taught. -
21 Nov 2025
India and the Blue Pacific: A partnership for climate security
Pacific Island countries demand respect for sovereignty and self-determination. Can India help build that vision? -
20 Nov 2025
Climate change: Compromise and progress in the heart of the Amazon
Though outcomes might be less than hoped, important deals are being done at COP30.