5 Mar 2026
Kim Jong-un is in no rush to talk
With Moscow’s backing and a growing nuclear arsenal, Pyongyang thinks it can afford to wait out Washington and Seoul.
-
-
5 Mar 2026
Iran’s threat to airline travel: The Gulf’s skies are now a chokepoint too
By targeting passenger terminals rather than runways, Iran has opened a new front in economic coercion. -
5 Mar 2026
Mark Carney’s Pacific pivot
Canada’s Liberal PM is reorienting Ottawa’s world view – and eating the Conservative Party’s lunch while doing it. -
5 Mar 2026
Taiwan is still working itself out
A complicated history and constant threats from China keep one of Asia’s youngest democracies alive … and alert. -
4 Mar 2026
Southeast Asia’s nuclear weapons-free zone needs reinforcement
As nuclear risk returns globally, Southeast Asia's weapons-free status looks less secure and more worth defending. -
4 Mar 2026
Yes, it’s legal to shoot narco-subs in the Pacific – but the law has better options
Australia can counter drug traffickers without following Trump’s playbook. -
4 Mar 2026
The real AI gap between China and the West isn’t chips or models but the stories we tell
Risk-framing is creating regulatory paralysis. -
4 Mar 2026
Deep-sea mining: Australia’s dilemma in the Pacific
As Pacific unity fractures on the controversial practice, Canberra’s inaction risks ceding ground to China. -
3 Mar 2026
After Khamenei: China is watching, and so should Taiwan
The harder lesson from Iran may be what comes after a decapitation strike. -
3 Mar 2026
What the Iran conflict means for Russia
The Russia-Iran relationship was never a true alliance – but the attack still stings Moscow. -
3 Mar 2026
What the Iran war means for the US-China balance
Even in the best-case scenario, China losing a friend in Tehran won’t be the blow Trump might assume. -
3 Mar 2026
Want higher productivity? Replace backpackers with Pacific workers
Australia needs to adapt its Pacific labour scheme to attract more workers and reward them more fairly. -
2 Mar 2026
Can the US train enough welders to win a war?
Budgets and force plans mean little if no one can surge production when it counts. -
2 Mar 2026
America’s ambassador problem
Transactional diplomacy doesn’t just insult allies – it destroys the patient work that keeps the world stable. -
2 Mar 2026
Japanese investment in China keeps rising, despite political tensions
A decline in diplomatic relations masks a surge in Japan’s economic ties to China. -
2 Mar 2026
The commercialisation of space surveillance
A US push to use commercial satellites for space surveillance raises hard questions about who controls strategic knowledge. -
27 Feb 2026
The data sovereignty fault line dividing Washington and its allies
The US wants open data flows, but its fractured digital governance at home makes that argument hard to sell. -
27 Feb 2026
Immigration: Trump’s puzzling Australia exemption
Why is Australia let off the hook when it presents a bigger target than Europe? -
27 Feb 2026
Cricket legends are speaking up for Imran Khan. Why won’t governments?
Celebrity activism can only go so far in relieving the plight of Pakistan’s former PM. -
27 Feb 2026
Hard conversations on Australia’s defence
The three uncomfortable truths that Australia needs to confront about the gap between perception and reality. -
26 Feb 2026
Myanmar’s junta – next to fall?
China’s support, however self-destructive in the long run, is holding upright Myanmar’s weak and discredited regime. -
26 Feb 2026
Sabah’s borders: Indonesia joins Malaysia-Philippines dispute
A border row between Malaysia and Indonesia is reviving memories of older unresolved territorial fights. -
26 Feb 2026
Southeast Asia trade after the US Supreme Court tariff decision
How Trump rebuilds his tariff wall will shape future trade with the region. -
-
25 Feb 2026
Manufacturing winter: The Olympic Games in a warming world
New venues, old problems: the Winter Olympics cannot build its way out of climate change. -
25 Feb 2026
The hard part of net zero: mobilising big emitters behind reforms
Backing from key firms on climate policy, while not unconditional, can help translate net-zero ambition into progress. -
25 Feb 2026
What the aunties miss about tariffs
A good tariff deal means little if permits crawl and customs stumble. -
25 Feb 2026
A second gold rush in Solomon Islands but a familiar extractive trap
Gold is replacing logging as a mainstay for the economy but the government must balance revenues with stability. -
24 Feb 2026
Myanmar and Timor-Leste quarrel
A fallout between two ASEAN members highlights Timor-Leste’s unique international personality. -
24 Feb 2026
Cambodia can’t afford to wrap its solar power opportunity in red tape
Outmoded electricity rules stand in the way of the kind of environmental progress investors want. -
24 Feb 2026
Andrew is a symptom of the monarchy’s existential crisis, not the cause
Tectonic shifts in English society are fundamentally reshaping the monarchy. Australia must be ready to adapt. -
24 Feb 2026
The Russia–Ukraine conflict: 1461 days of war
It is the human spirit, not hi-tech warfare, that has produced the most valuable lesson from four years on the battle front. -
23 Feb 2026
The Supreme Court ruling means we need international institutions more than ever
Only multilateral action will ensure trade’s full benefits flow to all countries. -
23 Feb 2026
Trump’s international strategy is becoming clearer
Action by the US President is methodically stripping China and Russia of their partners. -
23 Feb 2026
Freeport’s Papua mine deal buys time
The harder test will be downstreaming, decarbonisation and Papuan equity. -
23 Feb 2026
The case for universities as Australia’s soft power engine
Education is Australia’s fourth-largest export and a tool of statecraft yet is so often undervalued in public debates. -
20 Feb 2026
India’s fleet review was as much diplomacy as pageantry
The country is expanding maritime influence without formal alliances. -
20 Feb 2026
Peace in Ukraine is still out of reach
A Minsk-style ceasefire may be the best achievable outcome – and that’s not promising much. -
20 Feb 2026
Turning AI against the conspiracy theorists
Young people no longer trust institutions – and AI may be the tool to fight back against the radicalisation risk. -
20 Feb 2026
Bangladesh charts a new multipolar course
Dhaka has little incentive to allow its territory to become a theatre for proxy competition. -
19 Feb 2026
The Chinese warships Australians never got to debate
The silence around a second Chinese naval deployment near Australia cost the public a chance to understand the risks. -
19 Feb 2026
Who’s afraid of Diego Garcia?
Behind Trump’s “DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA” bluster lies a careful deal that actually protects American power. -
19 Feb 2026
Australia’s power play in Southeast Asia
The region’s energy transition is stalling. An ASEAN electricity grid could change that. -
19 Feb 2026
European industry faces an existential China challenge
Exports will continue to be the linchpin of Chinese prosperity. This is not good for the global economy. -
18 Feb 2026
To succeed in Southeast Asia, Australia must balance security and trade
Australia ranks second in defence networks but ninth in economic capability – and the region has noticed. -
18 Feb 2026
Bangladesh’s election gives India a chance to reset relations
With the BNP’s landslide victory, can the neighbours move past the Hasina era? -
18 Feb 2026
The UN budget crisis is a security crisis
The funding shock arrives as conflicts grow more complex, not less. -
18 Feb 2026
London rules: Slow Horses and the modern security state
The Apple TV satire drawn from the popular books captures a security state more concerned with managing blame than confronting threats. -
17 Feb 2026
Misreading the Monroe Doctrine is creating a true gulf in the Americas
Military dominance without diplomacy is creating the very foreign influence the doctrine was meant to prevent. -
17 Feb 2026
New START expired. Now what for global nuclear stability?
Without US-Russian limits on nuclear arsenals, Australia faces a more dangerous Indo-Pacific with fewer guardrails.