20 Mar 2023
Australia, China, AUKUS and the squandered advantage
Canberra appears to have overlooked the tyranny of distance as its chief asset in regional military deterrence.
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20 Mar 2023
AUKUS in the Pacific: Calm with undercurrents
Pacific neighbours understand the drivers behind Australia’s bid for nuclear-powered subs, but still harbour concerns. -
20 Mar 2023
Indonesia’s nickel superhighway
There are vast opportunities to build new industries when you’re sitting on the globe’s largest reserve of rare earth. -
17 Mar 2023
AUKUS: The pillars of Hercules
Wishful thinking will not make the world more benign. Ambition carries a cost, but Australia has a responsibility, too. -
17 Mar 2023
The limits on Australia’s submarine industry
Long before the last boat is delivered, the business will be winding down. -
17 Mar 2023
Is a stable Afghanistan where China, Russia and the US cooperate?
Three of the world’s most influential powers have skin in the game when it comes to preventing another civil war. -
16 Mar 2023
Is the sun setting on the era of Bainimarama and FijiFirst?
A web of alleged interventions in university business has had a cascading effect on Pacific politics. -
16 Mar 2023
Economic diplomacy: unlocked Laos looks for new links
The once isolated and landlocked nation has become an unlikely partner in Australia’s latest push into the region. -
16 Mar 2023
What went right in Iraq
Twenty years on, the former Coalition Provisional Authority head reflects on his year in charge of the country. -
15 Mar 2023
A jurisdiction over the high seas
Australia will be a key player in the new agreement governing the globe’s largest natural habitat. -
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14 Mar 2023
AUKUS: Many questions, revealing answers
What Lowy Institute’s analysts have so far made of the nuclear-powered submarine announcement. -
14 Mar 2023
Japan and South Korea: a logical but uneasy alignment
Is a compensation deal to right colonial-era wrongs part of a strategic shift towards rapprochement? -
14 Mar 2023
Will China really funnel weapons to Russia through Belarus?
With war on his doorstep, the Belarusian president is juggling Beijing and Moscow to reap the benefits of geography. -
13 Mar 2023
The Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier dilemma
Seen as a vital asset to maritime strategy, large “supercarriers” are nonetheless very expensive. -
13 Mar 2023
Taking Australian statecraft from good to great
To remain effective in Asia, Canberra must do more with less, multiplying the effects of its bureaucratic tools. -
10 Mar 2023
AUKUS: Asking a veteran submariner what to think
What are the big issues still lurking beneath the surface of the AUKUS debate? -
10 Mar 2023
A tenuous tourniquet: Iran’s nuclear program
Monitoring alone cannot overcome the reality that Iran’s capability remains potent, and a headache for the West. -
9 Mar 2023
Finding the right approach to India as a “Civilisational State”
Australian diplomacy must be careful about the domestic political messages that accompany any complex relationship. -
9 Mar 2023
A first for Australia, and First Nations Australians
Now the hard work begins to ensure a First Nations Foreign Policy amounts to more than words. -
9 Mar 2023
Indonesia: the buck stops with Sri Mulyani
Indonesia’s finance minister has built a brand for cracking down on corruption. Could she campaign all the way to the top? -
9 Mar 2023
A strategy for securing Australian democracy
Rising right-wing extremism threatens the liberties we take for granted, which means Canberra needs a new plan. -
8 Mar 2023
Beijing and the birth rate: a question of human rights for women
Despite the government's gender positive rhetoric, Chinese women are still viewed as resources of the party state. -
8 Mar 2023
“Amplify their voice”: Promoting gender equity in Asia and the Pacific
The regional head of UN Women has a simple but crucial message on this International Women’s Day. -
8 Mar 2023
Women and politics: a new world order
With geopolitical oxygen so often depleted by autocratic strongmen, how might a globe dominated by female leaders look? -
7 Mar 2023
Why do we travel to unsettling places?
Whether the DMZ or sites of historic atrocities, place carries a connection to remind us of the precariousness of life. -
7 Mar 2023
Getting India right
Shared concern over China is one thing but Anthony Albanese must also overcome misapprehensions about India’s rise. -
7 Mar 2023
PNG voices: regional partnerships must be based on respect
Righting perceptions of an asymmetric relationship between PNG and Australia comes down to listening. -
6 Mar 2023
Mekong River: Work has begun on the Luang Prabang Dam site
Environmental and heritage reviews are unlikely to stop the Lao government forging ahead with its hydroelectric plans. -
6 Mar 2023
The sky is no longer the limit: Australia and East Asia in Space
Canberra needs to strengthen its engagement with the region to grow a sustainable Space economy for the benefit of all. -
3 Mar 2023
A new era of democracy for Fiji – but where are the women?
A steep decrease in the number of women representatives after the election suggests growing disengagement. -
3 Mar 2023
Why does Putin persist?
For all his mistakes, the Russian leader knows the objectives of Ukraine and its Western backers don’t exactly coincide. -
2 Mar 2023
Economic diplomacy: Arming up for war and trade
Sovereign capability is the government’s answer to an old political trade-off in the face of geoeconomic fragmentation. -
2 Mar 2023
North Korea remains a hermit even as food runs short
With a population cut off behind a border, Kim Jong-un sees ideology as the answer to warnings about empty plates. -
2 Mar 2023
AUKUS and intellectual property
In an era of economic entanglement, IP theft has the potential to threaten democracy. Governments need to be vigilant. -
1 Mar 2023
Reflections on the 29th Australia-Papua New Guinea Ministerial Forum
More action led outputs needed. -
1 Mar 2023
How will voters swing in Indonesia’s 2024 general elections?
Gen Zs, Millennials, TikTok and climate change: it’s going to be a numbers game for next year’s presidential candidates. -
28 Feb 2023
Vietnam’s challenge to wean off coal
Fossil fuels have driven rapid growth but the country has pledged – with global help – to be carbon neutral by 2050. -
28 Feb 2023
Malaysia’s Anwar steps out abroad to bolster his standing at home
The new PM has thrown himself into travel to raise Malaysia’s profile on regional challenges after years of turmoil. -
27 Feb 2023
Answers needed on the Pacific Engagement Visa
Beyond practicalities, it’s unclear whether this is a genuine “Pacific family” partnership or geopolitical convenience? -
27 Feb 2023
What recent changes at the top mean for Vietnam
Don’t expect major shifts in economic or foreign policy. The key challenge is a nest of structural obstacles at home. -
24 Feb 2023
The Australia-New Zealand alliance in a war with China
The potential for conflict in the region should have Canberra and Wellington thinking about shared strategic risks. -
24 Feb 2023
Russia has already lost. The next year will decide if Ukraine can win
A revitalised NATO and unflagging Western support will help, but it is still up to Ukraine to defeat the Russian army. -
23 Feb 2023
Gusmão, Alkatiri and Greater Sunrise: Timor-Leste calls parliamentary election
Australia’s northern neighbour approaches a political inflection point. -
23 Feb 2023
Chinese interference is dangerous – but also often ineffective and counterproductive
Understanding Beijing’s failures now is crucial ahead of a time when efforts to shape opinion are more sophisticated. -
22 Feb 2023
Wang Yi’s fruitless diplomacy in Europe
Beijing misunderstands that Russia’s war in Ukraine – and China’s failure to condemn it – has vastly changed views. -
22 Feb 2023
Russia in Ukraine: accountability and global order on the precipice
Not since the Second World War has international security been so inseparably tied to the prosecution of atrocity crimes. -
21 Feb 2023
Will India’s G20 deliver more than hot air?
Big goals are on the table. But matching aims with outcomes is a challenge for any host. -
21 Feb 2023
Confronting the mounting human costs of Sri Lanka’s debt spiral
More than just urgent debt relief, the country also needs help addressing a humanitarian crisis. -
20 Feb 2023
Papua New Guinea: Reining in MP slush funds
Allowing individual MPs to decide where money should be spent – and who should be rewarded – comes at too high a price.