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Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 17 Feb 2026
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia

    Bringing back conflict prevention as a priority in Australia’s aid program

    Lisa Denney , Thushara Dibley
    Understanding local drivers of violence can make aid more effective, but resurrecting the capability will take time.
  • 17 Feb 2026
    • India
    • Japan
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Quad
    • United States

    Can the Quad regain momentum after the India–US reset?

    Shameek Godara
    If Washington and New Delhi can compartmentalise their disagreements, the Quad becomes more predictable.
  • 16 Feb 2026
    • Russia
    • Ukraine

    For Ukraine’s population, this is the hardest stretch of the war

    David Kirichenko
    Russia’s intensifying strikes on civilians reflect battlefield frustration, not impending victory.
  • 16 Feb 2026
    • Indonesia
    • Japan
    • South Korea
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security

    Indonesia–Australia Security Treaty: Middle powers choosing consultation over blocs

    Emirza Adi Syailendra
    Regional states are furthering security ties to retain autonomy, not to balance a single adversary.
  • 16 Feb 2026
    • Climate change
    • Diplomacy
    • Pacific Islands

    Why location matters for the Pacific Pre-COP

    Sarah Thompson
    A contest between Fiji and Palau should not distract from the main aim to ensure regional priorities are met.
  • 16 Feb 2026
    • AUKUS

    Putting the UK back into AUKUS?

    David Vallance
    Australia’s focus on American submarines leaves Britain as the overlooked partner in a program bearing its name.
  • 13 Feb 2026
    • Asean
    • Singapore
    • Space exploration
    • Technology

    Can Southeast Asia extend its AI data centre advantage into Space?

    Karryl Kim Sagun Trajano , Iuna Tsyrulneva
    The race to build orbital computing initiatives now taking shape leaves the region facing a choice to catch up.
  • 13 Feb 2026
    • Europe

    Denmark plays a royal flush in Trump Greenland saga

    Lisa Martin
    Danish King Frederik’s upcoming trip to Greenland will send dual messages: a morale boost to locals and a show of unity aimed squarely at the White House.
  • 13 Feb 2026
    • India
    • European Union
    • Climate change

    Climate diplomacy has moved beyond the days of a single grand bargain

    Sharon Sarah Thawaney
    Environmental governance is fragmenting into trade deals and beyond, and the Global South is adapting.
  • 13 Feb 2026
    • Aid & Development
    • Global Issues
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji

    Pacific Islands must act now on Fiji’s HIV lessons

    Connor Graham
    Fiji now has the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemic. Public education campaigns could stop it spreading across the region.
  • 12 Feb 2026
    • Australia
    • Terrorism
    • Technology

    Australia’s social media ban is only half the solution for online radicalisation

    James Paterson
    Tackling the supply side buys important time – but demand conundrum needs attention too.
  • 12 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Indonesia
    • Diplomacy
    • United States

    Indonesia’s multi-alignment dilemma under Prabowo

    Ahmad Rizky M. Umar
    The president’s ambitious foreign policy agenda relies on already stretched diplomatic and economic capabilities.
  • 12 Feb 2026
    • Brunei
    • Defence & Security

    Fighter jets or missiles? Rethinking Brunei’s air defence priorities

    Rahman Yaacob
    Small budgets and limited personnel mean prestige purchases deliver less security than ground-based systems.
  • 12 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Technology
    • United States

    Chinese EVs … made in the USA?

    Henry Storey
    The fortress built by Washington to keep Chinese electric vehicles out is no longer looking so impregnable.
  • 11 Feb 2026
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security

    Australia’s new National Defence Strategy must embrace adaptation as warfare evolves

    Mick Ryan
    The foundation to rapidly adapt a military institution and its society to a time of war must be set down in peacetime.
  • 11 Feb 2026
    • Defence & Security
    • Pacific Islands
    • Samoa
    • Solomon Islands

    Pacific women in policing: Seen but still not heard

    Danielle Watson
    The patriarchal power that has dominated the region’s law enforcement remains alive and well, albeit in a new guise.
  • 11 Feb 2026
    • Japan

    The power of surprise: How Takaichi’s snap election delivered a LDP landslide

    Peter Chai , Willy Jou
    Japan’s first post-war two-thirds majority was won by avoiding economic debate and overwhelming a fractured opposition.
  • 11 Feb 2026
    • Aid & Development
    • Solomon Islands

    Solomon Islands faces a graduation it may not be ready for

    Alexandre Dayant
    Moving beyond “Least Developed Country” status may be a sign of growing incomes – but not less vulnerability.
  • 10 Feb 2026
    • Indonesia
    • Philippines
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
    • Global Economy
    • Debt
    • Technology

    What Southeast Asia’s platform-based credit boom doesn’t show

    Hanif Santoso
    Automated lending creates exposure faster than traditional risk metrics can detect it.
  • 10 Feb 2026
    • India
    • Australia
    • Trade

    India and Australia’s trade deal remains half-finished

    Sanchari Ghosh
    Economic integration hasn't kept pace with geopolitical convergence.
  • 10 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Singapore
    • Technology
    • United States

    Has Singapore made itself indispensable as a gateway for Chinese AI?

    Aylon Berger
    Chinese AI firms need Western capital. US giants want Chinese talent. Singapore is building the bridge and testing both superpowers' patience.
  • 10 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Defence & Security

    Zhang Youxia: the fallen general

    Seong-Hyon Lee
    Zhang may avoid execution, yet face a punishment designed to outlast his political life.
  • 9 Feb 2026
    • Australia
    • Africa

    Why Australia should look west … to East Africa

    Christopher Burke
    Maritime security, critical minerals and digital resilience connect East Africa directly to Australian interests.
  • 9 Feb 2026
    • Asean
    • Bangladesh
    • Malaysia
    • Myanmar
    • Asylum seekers and refugees

    Rohingya boats: Out of mind but still coming

    Gerhard Hoffstaedter , Antje Missbach , Chris Lewa , Erik Ramadhanil
    Regional states may prefer not to see what is happening, but wilful blindness does not make the boats disappear.
  • 9 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Philippines
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    Trump hands Beijing a gift: nervous Asian allies

    Richard Javad Heydarian
    US unpredictability emboldens pro-China voices in Manila and Taipei.
  • 9 Feb 2026
    • European Union
    • Energy
    • Climate change

    Rebranding Europe’s energy transition from climate policy to survival

    Imran Khalid
    Brussels is turning climate policy into industrial strategy, hoping to step beyond populist anger over costs.
  • 6 Feb 2026
    • Indonesia
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security

    The placebo risk to the Australia–Indonesia “common security” treaty

    Hangga Fathana
    The language focuses on consultation and coordination without requiring concrete action when it counts.
  • 6 Feb 2026
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia

    Australia doubles down on Pacific infrastructure

    Roland Rajah , Riley Duke , Georgia Hammersley
    Shifting more funds to infrastructure makes sense but implementation is the real test.
  • 6 Feb 2026
    • The Americas

    Exploiting old gripes in Trump’s grab for a 51st state

    Grant Wyeth
    The President’s instinct for exploiting fractures has found a target in oil-rich Alberta’s decades-long grievances with Ottawa.
  • 6 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security
    • Israel

    Why the “Taiwan Dome” won’t survive a Chinese attack

    Aswin Lin
    Modelled on Israel’s Iron Dome, Taiwan’s proposed defence trump card has many shortcomings.
  • 5 Feb 2026
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands

    Carney's guide to Australia’s middle power dilemma in the Pacific

    Hansley Gumbaketi
    Australia’s paradox between climate policy and alliance loyalty will test a vision of flexible multilateralism.
  • 5 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Australia
    • Global Economy
    • The Americas

    Up the canal without a paddle: The lessons from Panama for Australia

    Carolin Kautz
    A case study in the costs of being seen to cross China.
  • 5 Feb 2026
    • Australia
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament
    • Nuclear Weapons

    Can Australia help stay the nuclear doomsday clock?

    Tom Barber
    Even without an intermediary role, Australia could support confidence-building measures to reduce nuclear risk.
  • 5 Feb 2026
    • Energy
    • Sustainability
    • Technology

    Policy, not tech, is stalling sustainable data centres

    Harris Amjad
    Batteries are the key to powering the global surge in data hubs. So why aren’t governments jumping at the chance?
  • 5 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Defence & Security

    Xi’s military purges will make him wary of invading Taiwan

    Phillip C. Saunders
    The removal of Xi’s most trusted military ally suggests corruption undermined combat readiness and political control.
  • 4 Feb 2026
    • Bangladesh

    Bangladesh’s election: Can culture counter extremism?

    Abhijnan Rej
    Artists and writers are uniquely positioned to defend the secular space carved out since 1971.
  • 4 Feb 2026
    • Global Issues

    The problem with banning flags at international sporting events

    Charles Crabtree
    Restricting national symbols targets the wrong actors and risks being counterproductive.
  • 4 Feb 2026
    • Global Economy
    • Technology

    What to ask when choosing a career in the age of AI

    Niusha Shafiabady
    How societies adapt to technological change will be an important marker of national power.
  • 4 Feb 2026
    • Trade
    • Global Issues
    • International law
    • United Nations
    • Canada

    Mark Carney is wrong about the rules-based order

    Sandy Hollway
    Declaring the system a fiction ignores real achievements and only makes it easier for big powers to demand their way.
  • 3 Feb 2026
    • Myanmar
    • Human rights
    • International law

    The Rohingya case could redefine genocide and that matters for ASEAN

    Yuyun Wahyuningrum
    A ruling that sexual violence constitutes genocide would expose weaknesses in ASEAN's human rights framework
  • 3 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Defence & Security
    • United States

    Despite US offer, no “stable peace” with China

    Denny Roy
    Beijing will read the NDS’s modest goals and friendly tone as America acknowledging it can no longer speak from strength.
  • 3 Feb 2026
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security

    Reinvigorating Australia’s Naval Reserve

    Jennifer Parker
    A reserve force that served its purpose during more peaceful times no longer meets Australia's mobilisation needs.
  • 3 Feb 2026
    • Global Economy
    • United States

    The hidden cost of central bank independence

    Srijan Shukla
    Behind the drama playing out over the US Federal Reserve lies a story about compromises made in every Western economy.
  • 2 Feb 2026
    • China
    • Defence & Security
    • Africa

    China's security offerings gain traction in Africa

    Isel van Zyl , Piers Pigou
    Africa's security marketplace is crowded, but China has an increasingly prominent position.
  • 2 Feb 2026
    • Philippines
    • South China Sea
    • Terrorism

    The unseen front in the Philippines’ China challenge

    Haroro J. Ingram
    A fragile Bangsamoro peace has wider implications for stability in the region.
  • 2 Feb 2026
    • India
    • Trade
    • United States

    India-EU trade deal: Beyond the “mother of all deals”

    Shameek Godara
    Trump’s trade tactics have misfired, pushing two of the world’s largest economies into a landmark partnership.
  • 2 Feb 2026
    • Defence & Security
    • Intelligence and security
    • United States

    War games: Thriving on strategic turbulence

    Henry Yep
    Washington is deploying a disruptive statecraft that pushes competitors and allies alike to their limits.
  • 30 Jan 2026
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy

    Why are Australia’s top diplomatic jobs still for men only?

    Elise Stephenson
    Recent appointments of male envoys to London and Washington highlight persistent gender gaps at DFAT's highest level.
  • 30 Jan 2026
    • Myanmar
    • Human rights
    • United States

    US policy in post-election Myanmar

    Nicholas Coppel
    Trump’s silence on Myanmar exposes the growing divergence in Western responses to global issues.
  • 30 Jan 2026
    • Climate change

    Climate change is a shared problem that needs shared solutions

    Jawad Khalid
    A just climate transition requires fossil fuel companies and state-owned emitters to move together on climate finance.
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